Hot Air

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In the days when George Knoblock first decided he wanted to pilot hot air balloons, the way to go was as a member of a ground crew. Like many others who wanted to learn, he put in his time setting up the nylon envelope, or iconic balloon, assisting in preflight checks and dutifully helping to pack everything up after his mentor landed.

After learning the ropes for a few years, he became a hot air balloon pilot in his late 30s. While most newcomers still learn that way, Knoblock, 64, sees the number of beginners diminishing. “I see fewer and fewer young people being able to start,” he says, pointing to prohibitive spikes in costs. “That’s the biggest trend I see for the future of hot air ballooning.”

He says that everything from fuel to parts has gotten more expensive. “It used to be that you could buy a balloon system for $10,000 to $12,000,” he says, referring to the mid-1980s, when he started. “That model isn’t even available now. The cheapest you can get one now is from $25,000 to $30,000.”

At the same time, some things have gotten better. More heat-resistant envelopes can withstand double the amount of time in the air, now generally lasting 300 hours of flight. GPS systems also help the ground crew to navigate roads in the chase vehicle. Despite the innovations, the basic principle — hot air rises — remains the same. In the 18th century, when the sport was first developed, people lit a log-fueled fire under a balloon, first sending animals up. When they returned undamaged, the adventurous tried their hand at it.

Though Knoblock estimates he balloons an average of every other weekend per month, usually to take tourists up, summers are generally out of the question. In his home town of Las Vegas, where he works as a real-estate agent, the scorching desert heat means that the air in balloons doesn’t get hot enough to rise. Strong winds also keep balloons grounded, which is why the calm of early morning is often the favored time for flight.

Understanding wind is one of the few ways for pilots to race. The idea of a hot air balloon race sounds like something akin to a banana slug derby — directionless and slow moving. Since balloons have no mechanisms for piloting, only air currents can move them. It would seem that if all balloons were to start together, they would be carried along by the same breezes and come to an anti-climactic finish at about the same time.

Not so, says Knoblock. “The key is altitude. You have to know the direction of winds at different altitudes. Then you can go higher or lower to be carried by them.” While some balloons will sail off across neighborhoods and fields toward the finish line, others will quickly get sidetracked by an errant breeze and attempt to find a wind current at the right elevation to get back in the running.

Races are also a way for balloonists to meet each other and compete for thousands of dollars of cash rewards. Knoblock estimates $20,000 in prize money at this year’s Great Reno Balloon Race, made up of some 90 balloons. Major sponsors include Shell Oil, Wells Fargo and key casinos from the area. They cover major costs of the event, as well as the pilots’ board. “Most of us compete in races in our region,” says Knoblock. “Since most of us work, we can’t take a lot of vacation time and then spend most of it driving to and from a race.”

If racing balloons seems to be a contradiction in terms, terming these behemoths “aircraft” would also appear incongruous. Nevertheless, hot air balloons are governed by the Federal Aviation Administration. They always have right of way over helicopters and airplanes, and pilots must fly at least once every 90 days to keep their FAA-issued certificates valid.

Knoblock emphasizes hot air ballooning is not a solo sport. “You have to have your ground crew,” he says. “It’s definitely not something you do alone.” In Las Vegas, that’s a group of friends, and at competitions the crew is often made up of volunteers employed by the balloon’s sponsor. Ultimately, ballooning is about sharing an experience. “There is nothing like taking a person up for their first ride,” he says. “That is my favorite part.”

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