by Tom Hamilton
In 1966 Bob Sparks (in
the red shirt standing next to Tony Fairbanks in the picture to the left)
saw his first hot air balloon. More than 30 years later he reflects on that
day with, "I thought to myself, I can do that, I would like that, I
did, I am."
He took his flight training from Charles McArthur. By 1973 Sparks was flying balloons as a full time profession for companies like Coke, Exxon, McDonalds, and Lark cigarettes. Today, after more than 5,000 hours, he has been involved in every facet of ballooning from instruction to building.
In his travels he has flown balloons in 49 states, only Hawaii eludes him, 37 countries, and the only hot air balloonist to have crossed all five Great Lakes. Twice he attempted to be the first across the Atlantic by balloon.
While Don Cameron is credited today with perfecting the Roziere hybrid concept of using a gas and hot air combination balloon for long distance ballooning, Sparks was among the first to use the idea in his trans-Atlantic attempts.
In 1973 he lifted off in a Mark Semich built Semco gas/hot air hybrid. "It was the first time that anybody had ever attempted to use the hybrid balloons. I used to get threatening letters. They are not signed. People said that you are ruining the business and you are neither fish nor fowl and I haven't had the displeasure of meeting you but if I ever do I shall be happy to punch you in the nose. They were really [iratated] at me because you were not suppose to combine hot air and gas.
"It seemed to me to be the logical way to go. I knew that in a hard rain storm I would probably pickup a few hundred pounds of water which means that I would have to throw over a few hundred pounds of ballast. Eventually you are going to run out of gas or ballast. So why not use a burner. The balloon is rather dumb, when the sun goes down at night and the gas cools you start a descent. By simply heating the gas you keep it expanded. Instead of using a regular net I used a solid net. All I had really was a hot air balloon on the outside with a sphere insidea regular gas shape balloon, a ball. At the very bottom of that I had a small amount of space. I don't remember any more but probably about 15,000 cu. ft. I just keep heat under there."
The flight ended when a fast developing thunderstorm awoke him. "Whack! This lightening woke me up. I thought it was a fighter jet that had just come by. The balloon was struck by lightening, I would estimate 45 to 50 times. It vulcanized the rubber cement holding the rip panel in place.
"Lightening is very interesting. It has a core, I'd say about three inches right in the middle. It is like a bucket of worms, you see stuff moving. Then out from that about eight inches is what I think we basically see when we see a bolt of lightening from the ground. I am no authority on this, I am only telling you what I saw. The lightening stayed there for a moment and started flattening out a little bit on each side, like the CBS eye. It went crack off my left shoulder. I am talking it was no more than two and a half feet from me.
"I called [weather service] on Prince Edward Island and told them I was in a thunderstorm. The fellow said, `Are you sure?' And I said, `Well yea, there is thunder and lightening and rain like crazy and I am pretty sure it is a thunderstorm.' He said standby one and he went and checked it. He came back, and these guys are real professionals, they know how to calm you down and make you feel good. This guy says, `Wow! You should see this thing building up on radar, it is terrific.'"
The situation went from bad to worse. At one point he was lying on the floor unable to move almost drowning from the rain and dying of hypothermia. Eventually he was able to get to his feet. The next morning he cut away the balloon and landed at 55 mph in 12 foot seas. The Canadian Coast Guard had been alerted and picked him up.
Bob says that eleven stories were written about his attempt. Seven by people he knew. None ever contacted him to get his story. He made a second attempt in 1975 which ended when the envelope developed a leak early in the flight.
During the trans-Australian balloon rally in 1988 he met a balloonist from the old Soviet Union. After the event he went to the Soviet Union and spent the next seven years flying balloons in Russia, building balloons in Hungary, and helping the former Yugoslavia to write their aviation regulations.
Today he is back in Pennsylvania working on a new project. He and partner Dick Schriebmaier expect to complete development this month on an ultralight gas airship. The system will weigh less than 254 pounds to meet the ultralight category. It will accommodate a couple of people. Registration with the FAA as an airship is optional. The semiridgid airship uses an electric motor, the envelope is approximately14,000 cu. ft., 65 feet long and 17 feet in diameter. Bob expects the system to be priced less than $30,000. Also available will be a hangar for about $4,000.
Editor's note: In 1970 Malcolm Brighton from England and an American couple, Rod and Pam Anderson, lifted off in a Semich built hot air and helium balloon. All three perished 30 hours later which they ditched in the stormy Atlantic. No wreakage was ever located.
Highlights:
1966 Became interested in ballooning.
1970 Earned balloon rating.
1973 1st Atlantic attempt, Yankee Zephyr
1975 Crossed all five Great Lakes by hot air balloon.
1975 2nd Atlantic attempt, Odyssey
1988 Begins seven year ballooning career in former Soviet Union.
