August2000
Flying
byGeorgeDenniston
Without Them
people intheballooncom-munity
know very well whoare the most impor-
tant people ona balloonfield. Of course
I’mtalkingaboutcrewandvolunteers.
Youpilotsthoughtitwasyou.Haha,
thinkagain.
The pilot’s reward is the exhilaration
of anticipation, the liftoff, the flight, the
beautyoftheearthfromatrulyunique
vantage point. Your crew has the satisfac-
tionof participating in another safe, well
executedflight.Oh yeah? The crew also
getstarpfolding, fanlifting, truckdriv-
ing, landowner talking and landowner lis-
tening.Without question, the biggest con-
tribution to each flight is thehauling ofthe
balloon in and outof the truck.
We,the pilots, the owner operators,
forgetthattheragged-looking,coffee-
flushing, doughnut-injected person stand-
ingbefore you has dragged herself out of
a warm bed just to help you. She joins you
on her dayoff, typicallytothe dismay of
her significant other, whohas beenbeg-
ging for help with someproject formonths.
Whydotheydoit?Whoarethese
people?Astrangebreedtheymustbe.
Lets explore thisconundrum.
They are prospective pilots. They are
thrill seekers who want their adventure by
association. They are adventurers trading
for theopportunity to fly. They areadven-
turers who would scratch, kick and bite if
yousuggesttheyfly.Theyareallthe
above andmore. Butmostof all, they’re
responsible, hard working individuals who
can be counted on to show up at what most
people think is an ungodly hour. They are
are spouses and
“mainsqueezes,” butthisopportunity at
adventuresometimeswearsthinaftera
couple ofseasonsof gettingupearlyto
work hard, get dirty and sweaty, drink hot
coffee, eat stale doughnuts,andafter the
flight,chokedowngreasyhardsalami
and cheap warm champagne. It’s no won-
derwehaveourownAIDS(Aviation
Induced Divorce Syndrome).
Over the pasttwelve years our crew
experienceshavebeenrichandwarm.
Mostofourcrewhasbeenwithusfor
many years. Atthe beginningof our bal-
looning tenure, there were Russ and Lau-
rel who crewed forseveral years, morning
andnight,sometimesfourtofiveflight
operations per weekend. Then came Gary
andNorm.Thesetwowouldsometimes
fight like theywere married, but—like a
good marriage—they never fought in front
oftheneighbors.Andwhatwerethey
fighting about? The best directionto turn
togettome!Whatacoupleofgreat
dudes! Nancyhas beenwithusover the
years when her workschedule wouldal-
low and when Renaissance Faires did not
interfere.Mostrecentlytherehasbeen
Larry and Mike. Both caught the pilot bug
early andwentdirectly tolessons. After
each flight they would want to debrief me
abouthow I did thisor did that.I would
answer with my patented, “I don’t know.”
Ilostallofthemtoseductive,sexily
dressed,comehither,smilingaerostats.
What a horrible waste of good crew! And
we can’t forget Marty. On topof a tento
twelve hour, six and seven day a week job
chasing. He wantsto be a pilot, but most
of his personal time goes into his family,
singing, and music writing.Maybehe will
write the next “Up, Up and Away!”
As Al Underwood said in a Reno TV
interview, “They are our ambassadors on
the ground.”Ourcrew and theirdemeanor
have been clearly one of the keystones of
our flight operations, whether it would be
acommercialflight,afunflightora
competitionflight.Onafunflight, they
laugh,giggleandcringe witheachmo-
ment the morningbrings. Ona commer-
cialflight,theyentertainthe passengers
who haven’t flown yet as well as the ones
whohave.Duringacompetitionflight,
they are gold. Local crews are very help-
ful and much appreciated at events where
your regular crew cannot attend, but only
ahugfromyourmotherdeliversmore
confidence thanwhen youhave your fa-
miliar crew withyouatanevent.Flying
withoutthem is like flying naked.
I’vewatchedOwenKeown’screw
walk hisinflatedballoon 300 feet this-a-
way, then 200 feet that-a-way,and then 50
feet another wayuntiltheyfelttheyhad
found the sweet spotof launch sites. Would
he have done as well without the familiar
crew?
Sadly,I’vewitnessedpilotsyelling
attheircrew.Worseyet,theyyelland
scream at volunteer crewsupplied to them
for an event. This is inexcusable behavior
atanytime,especiallysoinballooning,
where poetryinmotionandserenity are
the keywords. These folks do not volun-
