Landowner Relations

www.balloonlife.com

01.2001

Whether you get up early in the morning
or wait for the air to stabilize in the after-
noon,theworkofpreparingtheequip-
mentisrewardedbythe romanticism of
floating overthe countryside. People honk
as theydrive under you, wave from their
backyards,greetyouafterlanding. Ata
balloon rally thousands of people come to
seethemagicyoucreate.Driftingina
balloon has its own magic. Unfortunately
you have toland.
Unlike the launch from your favorite,
carefullychosen site,thelanding spotis
may not be known until just prior to touch
down.Anditisherethatyoumaydis-
coverthefactthatnoteveryoneisso
excited to see balloons floating across the
sky.
Theterm “Landowner Relations”was
coinedinthemid-70’swhenballoonists
begantorealizethattheavailabilityof
landingsiteswasgoingtobeone of the
importantaspectsofballooninginthe
future. Rapidgrowthbroughtthefuture
soonerforsome.Todaytherearefew
spots in the country where ballooning is a
novelty.
Some pilots have experienceda less
than pleasantconfrontation withanirate
landowner.Storiesaboundofballoons
being held forransom, guns being wielded,
and the local sheriff arresting and/or tick-
etinganaeronaut.Onedisputeleadto
proposedlegislationinNewJerseythat
wouldsorestrictballooningastoelimi-
natethesportthere.Fortunatelycooler
heads prevailed and the legislation died in
committee.
Below we will examinefiveelements
thathelpexplainwhythesesituations
ariseandwhatcanbedonetoprevent
them. Flight planning, crews, public edu-
cation, exercising good judgement during
a flight, andthanking the landowners for
their generosity.
There are very few landowners who
irrationallyrefusetoallowballoonsto
land on theirproperty. Permission is a key
word here. After all, how would youlike

itifsomeone helda partyonyour front
lawn? What if you were at a balloon rally
and someone you didn’t know came over
toyour chase vehicle andstartedplaying
theradio/stereosystem?Howaboutif
somebody uses your yardfor a short cut?
Whatwould your reactionbe?
As balloonists we are uninvited guests
onsomeoneelse’sproperty.Thatindi-
vidualhasconcerns;liability,privacy,
damage,robbery,intimidation,control,
nuisance,fire, theunknown. Thesecon-
cernscausethemtofeelthreatenedor
angryor both byyour presence.

FlightPlanning
Knowyourownflyingarea.The
windsareoftenconsistentsoyouknow
thedirectionthatyounormallyfly. You
also know howfar you normally fly. Look
the area over. Tryandlocate andcontact
the landowners.
Drive around the area andintroduce
yourself tothe landowners. Askthem if
you can land on their property should the
occasionariseandhowwouldtheylike
you to handle the situation.
Gettwosetsofmapsoftheentire
area,oneforyouandoneforthecrew.
High altitude photographicmaps, detailed
countymaps, andtopographic mapscan
helpyou planwhere to fly andland. Go
overthemwiththelandowner andhave
themhelpyoumarktheirproperty, red,
yellow, andgreenzones.
Ask the landowners about crops and
animals.Oftentheycanhelpyouwith
information about how to identify various
typesoffieldsfromtheair.Showan
interestintheir business.Become anex-
pert.
Plantheflight.Yourweather brief-
ingshouldprovide adequate information
thatwillallowyoutoconstructaflight
profile. By determining where you would
like to land at the end of the flight you can
select an appropriate launch site. Identify
sensitive areas aheadof time.
Whenchoosingthe launchsite con-

siderwhomayberudelydisturbedat
0:Dark:30 in the morning with an inflator
fanrunningandthat noisy burner.
Ifyouareflyinginanew location
contact thelocal balloonists to learn about
the area. Manyparts of the countryhave
balloonclubswhichmaintainmapsand
haveon-goinglandownerrelationspro-
grams.
Don’tassumeyouhavepermission
to use a launch site because other balloon-
ists use it, evenon the same flight. Make
sure youandyour balloonandcrew are
welcome. Renew permission to uselaunch
siteson a regular basis.

Crews
The crew is a big part of this discus-
sion. Our crews, whether they be friends,
family,orhiredprofessionalshavean
important impact on landowner relations.
Oftentheyarethe firsttomakecontact
withthelandowner.Yourcrewisyour
representative onthe ground.
Makesurethattheyareinformed
aboutballooning.Theyneedtounder-
standtheimportanceofbeingpoliteto
peopleandhavingapleasantattitude.
This is not the place for on-the-job train-
ing.Gooverwithyourcrewhowyou
wantthem tohandle differentsituations,
from initial contact toconfronting a buzz
saw.
Give the crewasmuchinformation
as you can about your plan to fly, and the
estimated direction and location ofknown,
appropriate landing sites youmayuse.
Whenever possible have the crew try
and contact the landowner for permission
beforeyouland.Ifcontactisn’tmade
before,thentrytofindtheownerafter-
wards to acknowledge hishospitality.
Respectinvolvesmorethanbeing
nice to the landowner. As the crew drives
down the roadinpursuit of the balloon it
is important toremember the rules of the
road. Apainted truck driving fast, squeal-
ingtires,orengaginginunsafemaneu-
vers gives onlookersa bad impression of

Landowner Relations

by Tom Hamilton

www.balloonlife.com

01.2001

balloonists.
Remember theballooncanland with-
out you. Don’t do anything dangerous or
destructive because you believe you must
be at the landing site at the time of land-
ing. If your balloon is in an inaccessible
site, you won’t be able to be there. Don’t
cut fence,ordestroy property. If your
pilotcan’t land withoutyou, he shouldn’t
be flying.
As crew you are the ambassador of
ballooning with whom most people will
come incontact. Again, being an expertin
the sport will make people feel more com-
fortable about the activity going on.

PublicEducation
Publiceducation can play a very im-
portant role in preventing problems from
arising. The more thatpeople know about
ballooningandthemore peoplewhoknow,
the less chance there is for a misunder-
standing. Anexample of how thepublic’s
perceptioncanhave anegative impacthas
happened in a number of different com-
munities. A balloonistflyingover a body
of water made a time honored splash ’n
dash. People saw the balloon go down in
the water, thought that an emergency ex-
isted and called police to report a crash.
Whenthe pilot landed later thepolice
werethere tocite him for recklessactions.
Thepilotdid whatheperceivedasa
perfectlynormalflightmaneuver, butthe
publicwho wasnot familiar withballoons
thought an emergency existed,and the
police who knew nothing of balloons re-
sponded.Threedifferentpeoplewiththree
different perceptions.
Publiceducation includes gettinglo-
calnewspaperstowritestorieswhich
reflectthatballooningisaresponsibleand
legitimate sport.Balloonistsneedtomake
sure that they are perceived as certified
pilots who areconcerned and aware of
landownerproblems(farmer’sand
rancher’s). There have been surveys that
show some people think balloonists are
thrillseekers. Thus itisimportant todem-
onstrate that balloonists are responsible
members ofthecommunity who work
hard and have families.
Several other public relation venues
areavailable. Both TVand radio have
local talk shows that provide opportuni-
tiesto present the sportof ballooningin a
positive manner. Speaking to civic orga-
nizations, farming and ranching associa-

tions, and schools helps to put a face to
those who conduct ballooning activities.
If there are farmand ranching associa-
tions in your flying area invite themto
senda representativeto your balloonclub
meetingsaswell.Whensomeonecan
meet you in a positive non-threatening
way, you have a better chance of getting
your message across.
Take time and go to meet the local
officials with the police department, fire
department,sheriff’soffice,andother
emergencyservicesand/orhavethem
come to your balloon organization’smeet-
ings. Both the officials and balloonists
benefit from the exchange of information.
These meetings help to establish rapport
with people that you may deal with later.

ExercisingGood Judgement
As mentioned earlier, when you fly
anarea frequentlyyouusuallyknow where
you aregoing since winds patterns are
consistent.Theplanningdiscussedearlier
helps to select good potential landing ar-
eas.
Practice flying skills so you can se-
lectlandingsites.Themoreskill you
achieve, themore youwillbe able tomake
correct decisions and exercise choices.
The skilledpilotselects a fallowfieldand
flies to it, or makes a return flight to the
launch area, whilethe beginner, unskilled
pilot, or arrogant aeronaut lands in the
crop or a citystreet and creates a problem.
A goodplace to practice flyingskills
is at aballoonrally.Thecompetition
eventsprovide anexcellenttooltosharpen
yourflyingskills.Andviceversa, whenat
home practicing flyingtospecific landing
sites willmake you a better pilot in com-
petition. Pilots who live in hilly/moun-
tainousand heavilywooded country learn
to “fly”their balloons to the few landing
sites available.Being astudent ofmi-
crometeorology willimprove your flying
skills.
Noise is a major contributing factor
to landowner problems. Selection of the
earlymorning launch site, flightpath, and
landing site are important.
A non-flying consideration that will
help make a good impression is wearing
reasonable clothes. Don’t wear a clown
suit, silly T-shirts, top hats or other cos-
tumesthat detract from the seriousnessof
your endeavor. Remember thatif you run
into a farmerat 7a.m.,he’s probably

working and might well resentsome silly
dilettante infunnyclothes who spouts
poetry at him after justhaving leveled 20
feet of beans.
You want to represent yourself and
actlike aprofessional whomakeshis
livingflyingballoons, or a decent person
taking his family and friends out for a
weekend ride.

ThankingThe Landowner
When youmeeta landowner, farmer,
orworker,alwaysintroduceyourself.
Offer your hand, give your name and say
“thankyou.”Balloonistsaroundthe coun-
try generally giveoneormoreofthe
following; a bottle of champagne, wine,
sparkling cider,certificateof apprecia-
tion, photo of the balloon signed by the
pilotand crew, balloon pins and patches,
Polaroid photosof the landowner’s prop-
erty before landingor the landowner and/
or family with or in the balloon (prefer-
ably with his house in the background).
Many balloon clubs and rallies have
a certificate or letter that they present to
the landowner. On a periodic basis(inthe
case of a rally at the end of the event) a
drawing isheld for a free balloon ride(s),
merchandise gifts, or cash prizes for the
lucky landowner.
Newspaperadvertisements,espe-
cially around Christmas time,thanking
thecommunity fortheirgenerosity in
allowingyou fly and land in thearea have
been used by individuals and clubs. De-
pendingon adratesandnumber of partici-
pantsin the ad they can range in size up to
a full page. The message may be a short
thank you or a longer open letter to the
community.
Communications between landown-
ers and balloonistsall year is very impor-
tant. Some balloon associations have a
listed phonenumberforpeople to call
with complaints or problems. The num-
ber is advertised and given to the local
authorities. The associations then have a
member or committee that addresses any
problemsthat arise and attemptstorectify
the situation.

StayingAhead
Landowner relations is a program of
preventative maintenance. The constant
mining of goodwillin the community isa
vitalpart of ballooning. As the sport con-
tinues,landownerrelationsbecomesmore