George Denniston
niston is presented to enhance safe flying
by providing balloonists the opportunity
to gain experience from others without
actually flying. The column is edited b y
George Denniston who is a d octor and
balloonist living in Seattle, Washington.
Articles may be signed or anonymous to
protect the privacy of those involv ed, as
the author wishes. If you have an experi-
ence th at you would like to share with
others, send your manuscript to Balloo n
Life magazine, Hangar Fly ing wi th
George Denniston, 2336 47th Ave SW,
Seattle, WA 98116-2 331. Submissions
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tom@balloonlife.com. Balloon Life pays
$35 for each story used.
at last Memorial Day’s Farmington (New
Mexico)Rally,Iheardthepilotofthe
balloon on the next launch site yell: “Hel-
mets!Whatdoyouneedthose for?We
don’tflysobadwe needhelmets!Yuk,
yuk!”
Asa25 -yearveteranofflying
Piccards,wherehelmetsarerequiredto
beworn, I’d heard that comment a million
times. But now I was unloadingmynew
(tome)Aerostar.Alwaysbefore,that
commenthadbeenanattackuponmy
brandofballoon.AndI hadalwaysre-
bylistingadvantageslike:“They
keepour ears warmandthe radiantheat
off our hair.” Infact,I couldlista lot of
advantagesofhelmets.Theycutburner
noise. Theykeeptheradioear buttonin
myear.Theydokeeptheradianthear
fromtheburnerfromcurlingmyhair.
Theyare warminthe winter. Theylook
cooland“extremesport-ish”.Those are
not really reasons to wear helmets. There
is only one reason to wear ahelmet: Safety.
Thiswasgraphicallyillustratedto
meon the last day ofAlbuquerque’sFi-
esta 2000. During a high-wind landing in
aCityPark,Ihitapavilionroof,was
ejectedviolentlyfromthebasket,rico-
chetedoffthepavilionroof,anddida
headplanton the sidewalk 8feetbelow.
One crewpersonreportsthathe stillhas
nightmares of the “Thwok” soundof my
head striking concrete. As the paramedics
were takingmyvitals,someone showed
thedentinmyhelmet.Oneparamedic
said:“Hewaswearingahelmet?Well.
You guysare finally starting tolearn!”
EvenwithaheavyDOT-approved
motorcyclebrainbucketon,Iwasstill
confused, couldn’t tell them where I was,
andcouldn’trememberanythingabout
how Igotthereforhalfanhour.What
would my injuries have been if not for the
helmet?Theparamedicthou ghtthey
wouldhavebeensimplertodealwith,
because body bags are easyto zip.
Sowhydoweputourhelmetson
theflight,insteadofwhenwe
“need”them?Firstandforemost,any-
thingthattakesthepilot’sattentionoff
flying during the flight is pilot load. Fas-
teninghelmetsonfirst-timersduringan
approachislike talkingona cellphone
whiledrivinginfreewaytraffic.It’sa
distraction youdon’tneed. Does putting
on a helmet before a flightscare passen-
gers?No.Ihaveaskedthemandhave
beentoldthatit reassuresthemthatyou
are a safe pilot, whopays attention to the
details of their safety. Does putting on the
helmetsduringtheflightalsoreassure
them? No. Then it scares them and makes
them thinkthat the landing is likely to be
rough. Helmetsin a bag are uselessbag-
gage. Helmets onhead are safety.
Mayyou alwayswear yourhelmets
throughoutyour flights,andneverneed
them.
(Ednote: Aerostar requires that hel-
mets be onboardwhile flyingitsequip-
ment. They can lead a horse to water, but
they can’t make him drink. Also, it occurs
tous that a seat belt, which is required in
mostaircraft,wouldhavepreventedthe
dent in the helmet. There were two other
“out-of-basket”experiences that sameday
at Albuquerque. The FAA has, asyet, no
certifiedballoon restraint device.)
Thisarticlewasfirstpublishedin
Cloudbuster in December 2000.
