July 1999
Flying
byGeorgeDenniston
TheGreat
Air Fishing Derby
assoonasthereweretwobal-
loons, people were trying to think of ways
totesttheskillsofone pilotagainstan-
other. In the United States, the first event
wasa climbingcontestbetweenthe bal-
loonsof JohnWise andWilliam Paullin
as they ascended from Philadelphia on the
Fourthof Julyin1840.Since then,bal-
looneventshavetakentwodifferentdi-
rections.Firsttherewereeventsdevel-
oped as pure competitions for distance or
duration,such as the Gordon Bennett races.
Latercameeventssuchasthe keygrab,
designed not only to test the maneuvering
skillof pilots,buttoprovide adramatic
and colorful show for spectators. Several
events have also been based on the idea of
fishing: some literally dropping hook and
line from a balloonintoa body of water,
withothershavingpilotstryingtograb
small fish balloons tied on strings near the
ground.
Very entertaining, you say? Well, all
this pales bycomparisontoaneventthat
tookplaceforseveralyearsinCanada
during the 1980’s. The Great Air Fishing
Derbywasdevisedbyadementedad
agencyexecutiveandthenembellished
and enacted by the mischievous genius of
a world-classBalloonmeister.Thechal-
lengewasgreat,butsowasthepayoff,
and the spectacle was something that will
be long remembered by those who saw it.
TheCanadianFantasyFestivalin
Barrie,OntariogottogetherwithICG
CanadianPropanetoputonehundred
thousand dollars up for grabs. Teams made
to fly in to the festival site at Molson Park
inBarrie andbe there at the precise mo-
ment when the quarry was to be released.
Fiftyfish -shapedmylarballo onsand
20,000littleheliumballoonswerere-
leased.Asthehugecloudofballoons
floatedup,theintrepidfisherswereto
cruiseinamongthemandcatchafish
balloonwithalong-handledlanding net
of standardsport fishingdesign.
Troops of scouts workedfor daysto
inflateabout20,000balloons—itwasa
realchallengetokeeptrackof thenum-
ber.Theballoonswereinanenclosure
aboutthirtybyfiftyfeetandmadeof
netting supported on telephone poles. The
topwas hingedso that someone standing
inacherry-pickercouldopenitfrom
above.The 50fishballoonsbore secret
identification marking and were kept un-
der close guard until they joined the other
balloons in the enclosure, just before the
launch.
The rulesfor the event were written
by Tom Sheppard. Sheppard had worked
closely with the Fantasy Festival and was
the director ofseveral events in Barrie. He
hasbeeneventdirectoratmanyevents,
includingfiveCanadianChampionships
and two North American Championships
hostedbyCanada.Hislegacyalsoin-
cludesthisunusualevent,buthe’snot
taking the credit.
“I don’t think I can lay claim to being
the mastermind of the Balloon Fishery in
Barrie,”saysTom,“AsIremember the
adagencyinToronto.Atameetingin
Toronto I was asked if it was feasible and
if so, couldI developthe idea.”
Tom came up withrulesthat were a
variation on the competition event known
asWatershipDown. Pilotswere givena
minimumandmaximumdistancefrom
thefish enclosure for their launchpoint,
the minimum altitudeon approach and the
time thatthe fishwould be launched.To
preventthedoggedlydeterminedfrom
chasing fishinto the stratosphere, a three
hour time limit was set for the return of a
fish. The first team back with a fish was to
beth ewin ne ran dth ep ilo tan d
aerofishernaut were each toreceive fifty
thousand dollars.
Theaerofishernautswererepresen-
tatives from the local news media. At the
pre-flightbriefing,eachonewasissued
the landing net and a very sturdy looking
four-pointsafety harness. Anchoredtoa
structural part ofthe basket, the fishernaut
wassafefromaccidentallyjoininghis
quarry infree flight.
Greatflyingskillwasrequiredto
even give the fishernaut a swipe at a fish.
Itwasmuchmore complicatedthanjust
arrivingovertheenclosureattheap-
pointed time. The pilot then hadto inter-
cepttherisingmassofballoonsashort
distancedownwind,matchtheirclimb
rate, find a fishamongthousands of bal-
loons and maneuver into tight formation.
In the three years this event was held
nofishwerenetted.Mostteamsgotto
