by Glen Moyer
The beginning of her story
is
much the same as many others... Glo Kehoe was a housewife living in Albuquerque
in the early 1980's when she took her first balloon ride. Less than a year
later she had earned a commercial certificate and has never looked back.
Unlike many others, that first ride was not a birthday or anniversary gift or even a purchased commercial ride. "My first husband's boss had his own balloon at the time and he took us for a ride. He offered to provide me with instruction in return for my crewing, so I got my license 10 minutes at a time at the end of each of his commercial flights," says Kehoe.
It was not long after earning her license that Glo, her husband and another couple purchased Aerco, a local balloon ride/repair business and soon she found herself becoming enmeshed deeper and deeper into all phases of ballooning - rides, commercial sponsor work and learning the repair business.
In 1983 Glo and her then husband sold their interest in Aerco and she went to work for Sid Cutter at another of Albuquerque's signature balloon businesses - World Balloons. There she was involved in the construction of Sid's competition balloon, Small World and managed the parts department. It was while working for Sid that she also flew her first special shapes - a career development that she continues to pursue today.
In the mid 80's Glo remarried (Don Kehoe) and together they ventured out on the road as commercial balloonists flying one of the Oldsmobile balloons for Marsha and Sanford Neal. That tour of duty lasted three years and thereafter Glo and Don formed their own company and "freelanced" as commercial pilots.
In the summer of 1996 she spent the summer flying for Buddy Bombard in France, Italy and Austria. "It was great fun," she says. "We were based in France, and flying there over the chateaus was just gorgeous." But one year was enough. "You're really isolated while there and I was living with 13 boys! (all part of the crew). Of course there were the clients, but they changed every week so you really didn't have time to form any lasting friendships."
With 1700 balloon hours logged, Kehoe has extensive experience as a special shape pilot. Since March of this year, Kehoe has been flying commercially for Mel Hanson usually in the Sea World Shamu special shape which she describes as her favorite of the many shapes she has flown. "It's such a hit at anyplace we go, so that makes it fun. I'm still learning some of the ins and outs of it, it's a little bit different with all that weight on top, and I haven't had to do a high wind landing in it yet... that might be a real challenge!" And just what does she find most challenging about flying special shapes? "Packing up!"
As a commercial pilot Kehoe spends almost every weekend in a different city. The current season began last April and runs until early November, but it's a life she has come to love. "You develop friendships with the other commercial pilots and we become like this little traveling family. For me it's even more enjoyable because I have family spread out over the country so this way I get to see them all. I have my Mom and Dad in Tennessee, a brother in Chicago and another brother in California so by traveling with the balloon I get to see all of them at least once a year."
And there is also the occasional sight-seeing along the way. "We try to see the sights," she says, "but we've had some pretty rough trips this year, like from Vermont to Oregon in one week, so that didn't leave much time. But on the way to Billings, Montana we stopped in South Dakota and visited the Aerostar plant and Mount Rushmore so that was really impressive. Of course even the scenery just going cross country can be very interesting."
Like so many pilots who've been in the sport for a decade or more Kehoe says she has seen the nature of balloon rallies change a great deal over the years. "My favorite rallies are those that are laid-back fun events, where there is no real pressure to fly. So many of the bigger events have become so commercialized - they're all about making money.
"For a while there everything was going toward the direction of competitive flying, the events were all BFA sanctioned and there was this hard-core group of pilots at each event. Now I think it's beginning to swing back the other direction - maybe we're just all getting older and we really don't need any more stress in our lives."
For Glo Kehoe ballooning is a way of life and one she is happy with. "I'm happy I discovered ballooning; it gets under your skin. I took a couple of years off and went back to Albuquerque to get my real estate license but even then I flew a lot of local rides. After a while it became apparent to me that I was ready to get back on the road."
CAREER NOTES:
1980 - 1st balloon ride
1981 - earned commercial certificate
1981-83 part owner of Aerco, Albuquerque repair station
1983 - commercial pilot for Sid Cutter
Mid 80's - commercial pilot for Marsha Neal
1996 - commercial pilot for Buddy Bombard
1997 - commercial pilot for Mel Hanson
Special Shapes Flown:
Labatt's Beer Bottle
Swatch Watch
Kodak Film Can,
Miss Penny and Little Buck
Burger King Whopper
Pepsi Can
WTBS Anniversary Cake
United Van Lines moving van
Sea World Shamu
