November 2000
down in 1793, it landed in Depford, New
Jersey,rightacrosstheDelawareriver
fromPhiladelphia.More than200years
later, New Jersey is still a popular landing
spot for balloonists, although pilots admit
thestatehasbeendevelopedabitmore
over the past twocenturies.
Notonlyisitoneofthemostcon-
gestedstatesinthecountry,thereare
airspace concerns around New York City
andNewarkinthenortheast,theU.S.
Naval Ammunition Depot to avoid, cran-
berrybogsandpineforestsinthesouth
and coastalbreezes next to the ocean.
Yet pilots—there more than100 ac-
tive balloonists in the state—know flying
there is worth all the planning they have to
do.
“Onadecentday,Icanclimbto
2,500feet andsee the World Trade Cen-
ter,Phi lad elp hi a,t hesm ok efro m
PottstownNuclearPower Plantandthe
historichangarsatLakehurst,”saidAl
Dashevsky,whofliesnear thecenter of
the state.
Landing spots include backyards,cul-
de-sacs and an occasional farm field.
“Wekindofgetusedtolandingin
tighter spots,” Dashevskysaid.
There are several full-time commer-
cialballoonistsinthestate,andmany
more who offer commercial rides juston
theweekends.Twodozencommercial
operatorsarelistedonthe GreatEastern
BalloonAssociationwebsite.
“We really find that most ofthe people
fromNew York Cityare really weekend
people,”onepilotsaid.“There’sjusta
differentdemographichere.Mostdoit
commercially. Theminority would befun
fliers.”
Theaveragerate foraballoonride
thereis$150to$200perperson, pilots
say, andmost operate from Maythrough
November.Somespecializeinoffering
flightsfor two.
The largest concentration of balloon-
ingin the state is probably inHunterdon
County, in northwest New Jersey.
“We have rolling hills, andwe don’t
have todeal withthe seabreeze that the
guys down south have to deal with,” said
Joseph Doerer, former GEBA president.
KnownastheGardenStateforits
agriculture inthe 18thcentury, balloon-
ists hardly everfly over toxicwaste dumps.
“That’saverybadrapwehave,”
Doerer said. “It’s true, we can’t flyin the
eastern part of New Jersey because it’s so
dense, but out here in Hunterdon County,
it’s truly farmland.”
Earl MacPherson,one ofabouttwo
dozenballoonistswholiveinsouthern
New Jersey,southof Trenton, saythere
aremanyacresofpineforestsinthe
southeast, but balloonists there manage to
findareasawayfromcitieswherethey
also flyover farmland.
“Thereare some rolling hills in north-
ern Jersey, but it’s pretty flat down here,”
he said. “We have to contend with both a
sea breeze out of Atlantic City as well as
a bay breeze out of the (Delaware) river.
But it’sa nice area to flyin.”
Paul T.Wille, of Freehold, the only
designatedexaminerforballoonsinthe
state, helda smallballoonfestivaltwice
near Atlantic City, on the southeast coast.
Butnormally, “youcan’t fly byAt-
lanticCitybecause the prevailingwinds
are going out over the water,” Dashevsky
said.
Mostralliesinthestatearesmall,
some with just a few balloons tocompli-
ment a community festival. The largest is
theQuickChekNewJerseyFestivalof
BallooninginReadington,thatfeatures
125 balloons and 150,000 spectators.
Oneunique differenceabout balloon-
ingin New Jerseyisthatall commercial
flightsin the state are supposedto begin
whichinvolves a $15annuallicense and
townshipapproval.
Thatmeanscommercialbackyard
passenger flightsaren’tallowedby law.
“Ifyoudoabackyard,yourunthe
risk of a $1,000 fine,” Doerer said. While
thelaw hasn’tbeenenforced, itappears
that it couldbe atanytime.
A bigger problem existed in the mid-
’80s,whenstate officialswereaboutto
stiffen trespass laws. Designed to include
balloon landings,anyoffense,including
an unnannounced balloon landing, could
have resulted in a fine of several hundred
dollars.
“PartoftheproblemisthatNew
Jerseyis a denselypacked state,” Doerer
said. “There’s not a lot of open land that is
inexpensive in this area. Farmers are feel-
ingalot ofpressurefrom alotof direc-
tions to sell their land. They aren’t always
happy about things that can inconvenience
them, and sometimes balloons can incon-
venience them.”
Balloonfestivalsandthethousands
of spectators theyattract may addtothe
problem, he said.
“Theballoonistsinthisareahave
been very good about not damaging crops,
but sometimes there are so many specta-
tors at some ofthese festivals, the damage
gets done bythem,” he said.
Tensions got so bad once that a pilot
wholandedinafieldduringaballoon
festivalwasassaultedbythe farmerbe-
fore he ever got outof the basket.
“Wecamerealclosetohavinga
major landowner problem,” Doerer said.
“Thelawstartedtobeenacted,butit
quelleditselfdown.Balloonistsatthat
time through GEBA and other small orga-
nizationstriedhardtobringbackthe
goodwilltowardsthe farmer.”
More charityflights for community
eventswere heldandlandowner lottery
November2000
bonds are awarded to the winners.
“That gave balloonists an opportu-
nity to breakthe icewith the farmer,”
Doerer said.
In 2000, balloonists thought of an-
other way to thank the community. They
held a landowner appreciation day and
invited local farmers to a picnic and fly
away. Whilethe weather didn’t cooperate
forthe flight that day,some made ar-
rangements for flightslater, Doerer said.
Perhaps the most famous balloonist
from New Jersey was publisher Malcolm
Forbes, who died in 1990. Denny Fleck,
who remains employed as director of the
Forbes Balloon Ascension Division, re-
callshow Malcolm gotstarted inballoon-
ing in the 1970s.
“I was his chauffeur at the time and
he saw an ad in a magazine about balloon
rides,” Fleck said. “I picked him up one
morning and he saidhe was going to take
a detour to Princeton to take aballoon
ride.”
When they arrived, they found there
was too much fog for aballoon flight.
“Malcolm was a littleimpatient and anx-
ious to see the thing, so he asked if he
None,butmostofthe350+membersoftheGreatEasternBalloonAssociation,basedin
Pennsylvania, live inNew Jersey. Contact: P.O. Box635, Holland, PA 18966.
www.dca.net/geba/geba.htm
Flight for Sight, in Turnersville, last weekendinJune, 25-30balloons glow Friday, fly four fun
competitionflights Saturdaymorning throughSundayafternoonfor donatedprizes;somepaid
rides; a benefit for the localLionsClub. Contact: Robert Friedel, 20 Dorset Drive, Medford, NJ
08055. 856-228-8626.
Monmouth County Fair Balloon Event, in Freehold, around the third weekend in July, 8 balloons,
three afternoonflights in funcompetition, Wed. throughSat., in conjunctionwith a county fair.
Contact: Paul T. Wille, 370 Park Ave. Freehold, NJ07728. 732-462-9555.
QuickChekNew JerseyFestivalof Ballooning, inReadington,last full weekendinJuly,125
balloonsflyfiveflights,fromFridayafternoonthroughSundayafternoon;competitionfor
$15,000 in prizes, passenger rides; Saturday night Amazing Balloon Glow; major-name concerts,
carnivalrides,150,000spectators.Contact.Contact:1140BloomfieldAve.,Suite 209,West
Caldwell, NJ 07006. 1-800-hot-air9. www.balloonfestival.com
Colts NeckFair, mid-August, 8balloons flytwo afternoon flights, ThursdayandFriday, infun
competition; carnival rides. Contact: Paul T. Wille, 370 Park Ave. Freehold, NJ 07728. 732-462-
9555.
RaritanTownshipCommunityDay, inFlemington,thirdorfourthSaturdayinSeptember,40
balloons fly one evening fun flight; party for pilots. Contact: Mike Zemlachenko, 111 Locktown-
Flemington Road, Flemington, NJ 08822. 908-788-5415.
Delaware Township Community Day, in Sergeantsville, 30 balloons, last weekend in September,
oneafternoonflight,SaturdaywithSundayasabackup.Contact:MikeZemlachenko,111
Locktown-Flemington Road, Flemington, NJ 08822. 908-788-5415.
Freehold•• Princeton
• Trenton
•
•
putitupsowecouldseeit.He
talked the guy into inflating it, and he tied
it to a tree and had it going up and down a
little bit. Malcolm thought that was pretty
neatand asked, ‘Whatdo you have todo
tofly one of these?’”
As it turned out, their pilot was will-
ingto instructthem.
“Malcolmturnedtomeandsaid,
‘Whatdoyouthink?We’llgetoneof
these, we’ll put the name of our magazine
on it and you and me can get our licenses.
Are you game?’”
Theyendeduptakinga flightafter
the fog burnedoff.
“We were both hooked,” Fleck said.
“Andbeforewegotintotheofficethat
day, he knew what it was going to say and
looklike.HegottoNewYorkandhe
calledthepresidentof RavenIndustries
an dorderedab al loon .Hehadthe
magazine’sartdepartmentinthenand
orderedpins andjackets.”
Sincethen,themagazinehaspur-
chased 28 balloons—half of them special
shapes,includinganelephant,sphinx,
Harley-Davidsonmotorcycle,theSanta
Maria,achateau,temple,abus tof
BeethovenandFaberge egg.
Malcolm’s son, Tim Forbes,who now
helps run the family’s magazine, also has
hisballoonratingandremainsactivein
the sport.
ForbesMagazinedonates60to70
balloons rides a year to charities, so Fleck
remains busy flying the winners as well as
business VIPs.
“Ith in kweflewth eDu keof
Wellington one time,” Flecksaid.
