April 1999
Flying
byGeorgeDenniston
fewyearsago,Iwasdoingalotof
ballooningfor a watchcompanyhere in
the U.S.A. I was flying a special shape—
a balloonthatlookedlikea huge watch.
The envelope was approximately 67,000
cubic feet and weighed450 pounds.
It was only able to carry the pilot and
one passenger. It hadascent anddescent
flightlimitationsof 200fpm, andwhen
theselimitationsweregreatlyexceeded
(accidentally),itgotyourattentionby
going horizontal. It looked good, it was at
timeschallengingtofly, andwhata pain
topack up!
Theballooncame totheU.S.from
Switzerland.Itwasa verynewconcept
forthecorporate guysinNewYork, as
theydidn’tquitegraspwhatthisthing
coulddo.Theycontactedtheirregional
salesandmarketing personnelandmen-
tionedthatthisgiantflyingwatchwas
available.At the time,they had just started
sponsoringoutdooreventshereinthe
U.S., and were using theirown “in house”
creativity to come up with marketing ideas.
Thiswaschallengingforthepilotsbe-
causewehadtofindahappymedium
betweensomeofthewildthingsthey
wanted us to do, and what we could actu-
ally do.
The balloon was definitelyanatten-
tion-getter.Althoughwetried,mostof
our jobs weren’t at balloon events. When
theymentionednine daysinSeattlefor
summer fun at Seafair, I was ready for the
change of pace... no “Rambo” jobs... fly-
ingwith other balloons! Signme up!
OnceinSeattle,wepickedupour
and the balloon, fueled up and
drove north toour hotel in Bellevue. For
the next7 days, we flew north of the city
in Snohomish, Woodinville, and the Red-
mondarea.Theweatherwasgreatthe
entiretime.Ourcorporatesponsorwas
pleased.
After our seventhflight, my fearless
corporate leader, Gumby (don’t ask), de-
cided that thenext day should be the grand
finale. He asked if I could fly across Lake
Washington. There wasto bea bigcon-
cert at Magnuson Park on Sand Point, and
he would like to have the balloon fly over
justasthecrowdisshowingup.(Sand
Pointisjust that...a point thatprotrudes
from the western shore of Lake Washing-
ton. It’s about 5,000 feet west to east, and
10,000 feet north to south). I think he had
hadthisideainhisheadtheentire time,
but waited until he knew me better before
springing it on me ...or he and his buddies
came up with the idea over beers the night
before!
I showed him things on my sectional
wehadtoavoid.Iexplainedthecon-
trolled airspace tothe south, the town of
KirklandwhichwasonebigProhibited
Zone, and the Naval station on Sand Point.
I showed him the lack of landing sites and
said, “It doesn’t lookreal good, but we’ll
try.” I told him that I needed atleasttwo
boats.Notlittleboats—butgood-sized
boats! Heassuredmethatthis wouldn’t
be aproblem.Boatsareeasytofindin
Seattle.
We then checked out a couple launch
sites, decidingon Juanita Beach. Now if
to Juanita Beach,it’s
on the eastern shore of the lake in a little
cove just northof Kirkland. It’s about 60
feetwideand80feetdeep,andissur-
rounded by tall trees. I know what you’re
thinking: theballoon won’t fit (that’s what
mycrew said too)! Don’t worry...
ThenextdaywearriveatJuanita
Beach at the prescribed time, 8:00 am. We
hauledtheballoonovertheguardrails
ontothebeachandbegantowaitfor
Gumbyandtheboats. Andwewaited...
Gumbyfinallyshowedupwith3nice
boats after 10:00 am. I’m a little ticked by
this time becauseweare now starting later
thanweshouldhave,andmycrewis
about to quit because they think I’m crazy.
I jumped into a boat. We went south
a couple of miles to check on the winds at
Sand Point. They were very slowfrom the
northuntilwegotsouthofSandPoint.
Herethey picked up alittle. Idecided to go
forit.Wewoulddrivetheboatstothe
north side of Sand Point, towing the teth-
ered balloon. From there, I could free-fly
to the park where my ground crew would
be waiting, after driving around the north
end of the lake in the chase van. The total
distance isonlyabout 2miles, andonce
there, I can leave the balloon inflatedon
static display. That wasthe plan.
To inflate the balloon on this postage
stampofabeach,Ilaiditoutwiththe
crowntowardsthelake. Igavethe dual
crownlines tothe guysinthe boatsand
told them to hold on as tight as they could.
Since the basket was up against the trees,
I hadtouse anoldtrick—insteadof the
