Flying with the birds
Phoenix hot-air balloon adventure begins under cover of darkness
PHOENIX— If someone had told me I would be taking a selfie inside a wicker basket under a massive colourful balloon drifting over the desert, at sunrise no less, I would have said they were crazy. Yet here I am. I nervously extend my arm outside the basket and smile into my phone for the perfect photo that will later become my most prized Facebook image. But burning hot dragon fire above me, that makes my head feel like it’s melting, interrupts my photo shoot. The bright orange flames have started again — without them our balloon would not float towards the clouds. Standing in the middle of our basket in the sky is our charming, smiling captain, Craig Kennedy, from Hot Air Expeditions.
This family-owned business is where Kennedy has worked full time since 2009. He has been around balloons for 35 years, however, since his father first introduced him to flying.
All balloon flights start with the inflation of the balloon using motorized fans. Kennedy uses a propane-fired burner to heat the nylon balloon so it’s significantly warmer than the air outside, so we can fly up, up and away.
He explains that when the air starts to cool, we drift downwards.
“The basic idea is about exiting the air molecules inside the balloon to make them scatter, thereby becoming less dense than the air outside the balloon.”
I am shocked at how calm and light everything feels up in the air. The balloon is peaceful and still because there is no sensation of motion when you fly with the wind — so no ginger pills needed. I look out at the unobstructed 360degree view in awe.
Our captain continues: “Jetliner pilots have told me there’s often much more actual ‘flying’ to do aboard a balloon than on their aircraft.”
“A balloon requires fairly constant attention to the burner control to maintain level flight. There is no autopilot. Each change in elevation can result in the balloon travelling a different direction or speed. This is how a pilot ‘steers’ or navigates a balloon. You can steer, but not always precisely.”
This magical adventure of a lifetime began an hour earlier.
Like an episode of Homeland, a large, unmarked van picks me up from my hotel at 4 a.m. In darkness I’m whisked past the vast Sonoran Desert and groggily make out shapes of huge mountains. Prickly cacti line the desert on both sides of the road. There are so many shapes and varieties, such as succulents, saguaros, yuccas, organ pipes, chollas, agaves and prickly pear.
Up in the balloon basket, I see something furry moving in the desert down below. Kennedy says it’s a coyote. We also see mourning doves flying by. I am flying, literally, with birds.
Just when I start to relax, Kennedy announces it’s time to land and teaches me how to brace for a “controlled crash.”
Um. What? The crash position, which resembles a yoga move, protects your landing bump and if you follow your captain’s directions you will be totally fine.
We land in a private gated community and the ground crew chase team can’t get in to drive us back to base camp. I wave to random strangers in bathrobes staring at us from their front porch. They wave back, smiling. They must be used to seeing hot air balloons while drinking their morning coffee.
Kennedy smiles and says, “No two flights are ever the same.” Miriam Porter travelled as a guest of Visit Phoenix, which didn’t review or approve this story.