February2000
Island offers giant sights from a hot air
balloon. “I’ve had grown men come to
tears,” said Dave Gifford, a Massachu-
setts balloonist who regularly flies over
Rhode Island’s Narragansett Bay. “We
see the coast and the ocean and all the
rivers and ponds and sand dunes. You
just seethingsyou can’t believe,like
rainbows coming up over the ocean into
the clouds. We can see Long Island and
northof BostonandNantucket,seaturtles
and whales.”
Being able to see such treats isn’t
easy, or cheap. Passengers wanting a bal-
loon ride in Rhode Island must shell out
$175 to $275 per person, depending on
the balloonist.
“We should be charging $500,”said
balloonistPaulStumpf.“Mostofthe
flights areone-of-a-kind flights,really
unique. These coastal flights will knock
your socks off.”
Stumpf isconsidered Rhode Island’s
most senior active balloonist. He began
ballooning in Providence in 1975. “My
very first flight in Rhode Island, I landed
onPrudenceIslandinthemiddleof
Narragansett Bay,” he said.
Stumpf estimates there were about
25 active balloonists in the state in the
mid-80s. Now, youcan count the number
of active balloonists on two hands.
About a million people call Rhode
Island home. The state is 48 miles long
and 37 miles wide, making it one of the
mostdenselypopulated statesinthe coun-
try.
“Still,there are three or four areas in
the state that are pretty nice for balloon-
ing,”Stumpf said, includingin the north-
east near Cumberland and the Massachu-
setts border.
Even flightsoriginating from Provi-
dence, the state capital and most popu-
louscity, aren’tmuchof a problem. Open
landingareas canwelcome pilotsthree or
four miles from town, he said. But much
ofStumpf’sflights havebeeneast of
Newport, in one of the last undeveloped
areas of coastal land between New Jersey
“A lot of the state coasts got wiped
out in the hurricanes and they’ve never
been able to rebuild,” he said. Preserva-
tionistssee to that.
He’snever hadanoceanlanding, but
onthe beach. “I usually finda nice stretch
ofbeach withoutanypowerlines,”Stumpf
said. “If we didn’t have a low approach
without powerlines, we would have had
trouble getting in.”
February2000
It’s a pretty foreign concept to bal-
loonists in otherparts ofthecountry.
“When we show people our flying area,
they just think we’re nuts,” Stumpf said.
“We literallyflywithina couple miles of
the ocean all the time. It’s like competi-
tive flying.”
He’s also flown overseveral huge
mansions, the ones Newport is famous
for. Many today are owned and operated
by preservation groups.Stumpf recalls
landing in the front yard of one particu-
larly stately shack. “They were coopera-
tive, but I wouldn’t say they were hospi-
table landowners,” he said.
Each year, Stumpf and Gifford fly
from Ft.Adams Park inthe heartof New-
port for specialevents. “We can skim the
masts of America’s Cup boats,” Stumpf
said.
Gifford, too, enjoys flying over the
mansionsoverlooking the ocean. “I think
ballooning sets the scene,” he said.
He said onemansion’s owner was
overjoyed helandedin her yard.“She
was a ladyin her 80s and saidthe last time
they had a balloon there, he was a friend
of her father’s inthe late 1800switha gas
balloon,” Gifford said.
While some balloonists like to fly
out over the ocean in the morning and
catchareturnbreeze backtoshore,Stumpf
doesn’t.“Idon’thaveahighcomfort
level with that,” hesaid. Afterall, the
nextmajorchunkoflandoffRhode
Island’s coast is in the Caribbean.
But Gifford likes the challenge. He
startledan out-of-state balloonist once
whooverhearda radiotransmissiontohis
chase that hewas 5,000 feet overthe
beach.
On a typical flight, Gifford crosses
Narragansett Bay where it is just over a
mile wide. Nearly all of his flights are at
dawntoavoidthestiffafternoonsea
breeze. Two hours prior to meeting his
passengers, he’s out of bed to determine
which ofhis 20 launch sites he’ll use.
“Every one of my flights is like a mini-
expedition,” Gifford said. “The weather
isthoroughlyanalyzeduntilthelast
minute.”
The brisk evening sea breezes can
oftenmeanatrickyinflation,but less
anxiety about a water landing. “You can
be creative with it,” said Stephen Good-
year,anotherRhodeIslandballoonist.
“Youcanlaunch close tothe coastandfly
SouthCountyHotAirBalloonFes-
tival in Kingston, fourth weekend
in July, 25 balloons, five scheduled
flightsfrom Fridayafternoon through
Sundayafternoon,plusaFridayglow.
CompetitionflightSundayafternoon
with $1,000purse. Contact: Larry
Fortin, 31 FortinRoad, Kingston, RI
02881. 401-783-9386.
your instruction.”
Pilotssay mostof their flying isdone
MaythroughSeptember.Giffordesti-
mates he flies about 50 mornings a year.
“We’re not lacking in the people, we’re
lacking in the days we can fly,” he said.
Stumpf operated the only repair sta-
tion forballoons in thestatewhen he
livedin Bristol. Buthe’s inthe processof
moving his operation tohisnew home in
Andover, VT, a three hour drive to the
north.
And you’d have to go to Massachu-
setts tofind the closest designated exam-
iner for balloons.
RhodeIslandhasjust oneannual
balloon festival. About 25 balloons fly
fromthe University of Rhode Island at
Kingston each July. The launch site is
about 10 miles from the ocean.
“There are lots of woods and there
are farms and places to land, but it is a
challenge,”said Larry Fortin, a full-time
balloonist from Kingston. “You have to
steer.”
Only the final flight at the festival
hasacompetition: auniquehareand
hound.“First prizeis anold trophy,”
Fortin said. “Second prize is $500. You
don’t want to be the first balloon to drop
the marker because everybody wants to
be second.” The previous year’s winner
gets to be the hare balloon, and receives
$100.
Pilotsand crew members are treated
toa pig roastSaturdayevening, and com-
mercial pilotsmay sellrides tothe public
once their sponsors have been flown.
Despite the fun events and camara-
derie offered at the rally, Gifford rarely
flies at balloon festivals, which he calls
“too boring.”
“Why would you want to do them
when it’s so good here?” he said.
Newport •
Kingston •
