July 1999
television show, there’s a good chancethe
pilotwasGaryCerveny,ofMalibu.A
professionalstuntcoordinator,Cerveny
has traveled theglobe trying to accommo-
date producerswhohavehadhimcross
theEnglishChannel,flyintheCongo
jungle and other exotic locales.
“Most of the time we go out of Cali-
fornia,” he said. Thebroad expanse of Los
Angeles—469square miles—is not con-
ducivetoballoonflights.“Allpoweris
above ground,”he said.“Youjustdon’t
do free flights here. And the FAA will cite
you for an unsafe flight.”
That’s not to say Cerveny hasn’t had
somememorableflightsinCalifornia.
He’s had passengers intentionally fall out
of the basket and was the mid-air landing
pad for a skydiver whojumped out of an
airplaneat20,000feet, landedontopof
hisballoon at10,000feet, changed para-
chutesthen jumpedagain.
In the ‘70s, he launched a hang glider
at 34,720 feet, causing his 400,000-cubic
footenvelopetosplitfromequatorto
crown.
“Ihadlotsofburners,”hesaid
nonchalantly.
He said doing stunts for the movies is
like beingin the military.
“It’s a whole lot of hurry up and wait.
You’rethere for 16 hour days and work an
hour. And often they’ll want you to work
atthe worsttime of the day. Sometimes
they listen to you, sometimes they don’t.”
Cerveny,alsoastuntdouble,isa
member oftheScreenActorsGuildand
receives base pay for pilots as such: $978
for eight hours.
“I don’t go out until I get twice that to
showup,”hesaid.Andhazardpayis
added to some of his flights, which can be
$5,000or$10,000perflight, depending
on the amount of risk.
He’s taken manycelebritiesfor bal-
loonrideswhileshootingmovies,com-
mercialsandtelevisionshows,buthe
doesn’tconsider himself star struck.
“They’rejustpeople,justlikeany-
body else,” he said.
Working in the land of movies, where
anything is seemingly possible, Cerveny’s
phoneoftenringswithoutrageousre-
quests.
“Every Christmas people want Santa
Claus to be flown to themiddle ofLA,” he
said. “People never worked with balloons
before,sotheywantballoonstoflyto
Point A around Point B, or want a balloon
inflatedonatenniscourttolifteight
peopleandthepilot.Theydon’tquite
fully understand.”
Formanyofhisflights,Cervenyis
hidden from the camera whilehe crouches
downinthebasketandlooksthrough
cracks in the wicker. He can maintain his
altitudebytalkingtoanotherpilotina
nearby helicopter.
Television studios also rent baskets a
fewtimesayearforsceneswherethe
actorsmaybesuspendedfromacrane.
You know the scenes - where the basket is
swaying and the wind is blowing in their
faces.
Plentyof adventurousflightscan be
attemptedwithoutamoviecrew.Brent
Stockwell, of Oakland, hasflownacross
SanFranciscoBaymorethanadozen
times, but not without extensive planning
andpermission.Withmillionsofresi-
dents in the area, you can imagine the lack
oflandingspotsandcomplicationsof
flying through Class B, C, D and military
airspace.
“The flights are incredibly difficult,”
Stockwellsaid.“SanFranciscoInterna-
tionalisaveryunfriendlyairport.They
never letyou in an area even if equipped
witha transponder.”
Stockwell’sfirstcrossing,in1972,
buckedalawthatprohibitedballoons
fromlaunching,landingoroverflying
San Francisco.He saidthe lawwascre-
atedin the early1900’s after smoke bal-
loonists parachuted into Golden GatePark.
“They said you need to have a permit
tofly over the city, but they never issued
a permit,” he said.
No one knows how many active bal-
loonists live in California, the most popu-
lous state, with fourof the largest 20 cities
the country.
“Ican’tevenmakeaguess,”said
DekeSonnischen, anexaminer whohas
issued certificatestomore than300bal-
looniststheresince 1967.“I’dsaythere
are 400, easily.”
Other than the population, the broad
expanse of Californiamakes it an interest-
ingplace tofly.
“Wehaveveryvariedterrain,”said
Stan Finberg, who lives near Sacramento
andhasbeenflyingballoonssincethe
‘70s.”Californiahaswhateveryother
state has: hills, desert, crops in the valley,
seashore and mountains.”
Majestic redwoodsare foundinthe
north, palmtrees inthe south.Mountain
ranges sometimes allow pilots to go from
rainandfoginoneareatosunshine20
milesaway.
They also haveplenty of earthquakes,
although most aren’t even felt. Five years
ago, Dale Wong, of Rancho Cucamonga,
was hovering a few feet off the ground in
a balloon during an earthquake that mea-
sured6.8on the Richter scale.
“We could see it coming,” he said. “I
could see the ground rolling. The crew is
bouncing and we are perfectly calm.”
An informal rally celebrates the earth-
quakeseachspring,ofteninAprilwhen
thewildflowers areinbloom. CalledA
BalloonistReunionandEarthShaking
CampOut (ABRESCO), pilots fly along
the San Andreas Fault and either camp out
or rentoneof the 10roomsinthe local
motel.
“It’s a rinkydinkdeal. Everybody’s
on their own,” said Gordon Bennett, who
bearsthesamenameastheunrelated
publisher and founder of the long distant
gas balloonrace.
Bennett (who calls himself “the live
one”)helped organizeABRESCOin 1976.
Held in California Valley about60 miles
eastof San LuisObispo,the eventisnot
heavilyadvertisedsodustfromvehicles
iskepttoa minimum.
“It’s so far away from anything, no-
body comes anyway,” Bennett said.
Balloonists from the Bay Area travel
July1999
valleysnestledbetween mountainranges.
Of the eight or nine areas to fly in that
region, you’d see up to a dozen balloons
flying ineach location on any nice week-
end morning, Stockwell said. The flying
is often done over farmland.
“Evening flights are very unusual in
Pacific Coast Aeronauts:About 100
members,monthlymeetings,informal
flyouts,aChristmasPartyandformal
MontgolfierdinnereachNovember.
Membership is $25, or $35 a couple and
includesamonthlynewsletter.E-mail
membership for non-voting members at
$10ayear.Contact:9111ChurchSt.,
Gilroy, CA 95020. 408-842-7873.
SonomaCountyAeronauts:Thirty
members, meetings the last Wednesday
of every month, fun flights.Pilot dues are
$25ayear;$15forcrewandincludes
monthly newsletter. Contact: Jeff Ross,
5199 Old Redwood Highway #79, Santa
Rosa, CA 95403. 707-571-7875.
SouthernCaliforniaBalloonAsso-
ciation:Nearly 200 members, monthly
flightsscheduled,quarterlymeetings.
Yearly dues $15 for associate members,
or $25 for voting members, includes bi-
monthlynewsletter.Contact:743 9
LaPalma,Ste300,BuenaPark,CA90620.
:
ABalloonistReunionandEarth
Shaking CampOut, in California Val-
ley, often in April; 30 balloons fly over
wild flowers and camp out at this infor-
malevent.Contact:GordonBennett,
415AllenSt.,ArroyoGrande,CA
93420. 805-489-3596.
TemeculaValleyBalloon& Wine
Festival, 50 balloons, often early May,
although weekend varies.Flights week-
end mornings with $5,000 prize money,
oneglow;paidrides.Contact:27919
JeffersonSt. Suite 204, Temecula, CA
92 59 0 .90 9 -67 6 -67 13 .
www.balloonandwinefestival.com
SonomaCountyHot-AirBalloon
Classic,40balloons,FourthofJuly
Weekend;threemorningflights,one
glo w,fi reworks ,BFAsan ct ion ed
events.Contact:JoTimsen,P.O.Box
819,Windsor,CA95492.707-936-
0567.
HotAirBalloonsontheFarm,
RohnertPark,anhournorthofSan
Francisco,lastweekendofJune,20
balloons fly from 60-acre organic farm
two mornings, with profits to local chari-
ties. Contact: Jeff Ross, 5199 Old Red-
95403. 707-571-7875.
Victor Valley Balloon Festival, 50
balloons,twoweekendsafterLabor
Day;threeflights,BFAsanctioned
flying.Contact:AlphaAdvertising,
17096 Sequoia St. SuiteF-1,Hesperia,
CA 92345 760-948-2098.
MontagueRotaryBalloonFair,
30 balloons fun fly the last weekend in
September with a view of 14,000-foot
Mt.Shasta.Contact:TonyColburn,
P.O. Box 411, Weed, CA96094. 530-
938-2315.
RidgecrestBalloonFestival,50
balloons,thirdweekendinOctober;
fourscheduled flights nearChinaLake
Naval Testing Grounds; BFA compe-
tition, $15,000 in prizes. Contact: Rob
orJettaSchantz,POB51591,Jack-
sonville Beach,FL 32240. 904-247-
1241.
WHAMOBASS,50b alloonsin
Coalinga, morningflightstheweek-
endclosesttoNov.21;dawnpatrol
flights.Contact:DekeSonnichsen,
Postal Drawer 2247, Menlo Park, CA
94026. 650-326-7679.
south-
ernCalifornia becausethewinddoesn’t
godownuntilaftersunset,”Stockwell
said. “Ithas to dowith being close to the
ocean.”
Flying in the north is done 12 months
California continued on page 19 right
hand column
Angeles •Sp• Perris
Napa •
San Jose •
rings •
Balloon s flying in the hangar at
Moffett Field.
Middle: Flying near Mt. Shasta.
Bottom:Ridgecrest, California
July1999
oftenplentyofhotair over the
Washington, D.C. area, but it has nothing
todo with balloons. That’s because most
Virginia pilots stay away from major cit-
ies and their airports. Flying in Washing-
tonisoutofthequestion.Themilitary
mayshootanyaircraftdownthatstrays
overp rohi bitedairsp ace.SoJ ohn
ReidelbachfliesinManassas,about25
milesaway.
“Onaclearday,youcanseethe
Capitol, the Washington Monumentand
theairports,butyoucan’tgoanywhere
nearthatplace,”he said.The FBI head-
quartersinsuburbanQuanticoisalsoa
no-flyzone.
Slightlyless daunting are the moun-
tains on the West Virginia border and the
swamps around Virginia Beach.
Northern Virginia is better suited for
ballooning,butpilotsneedtotakeextra
care nottospookthe high-pricedhorses
there.Reidelbach,whohasbeenflying
for 20 years, saidhe doesn’t like to stray
overtheBullRunMountains.Onthe
othersidearehuge5,000-acreestates
ownedbytheMellon,Marsandother
familiesrichenoughtohavecharitable
foundations. Access to them is a problem,
and they probably have better champagne
anyway.
But the Shenandoah Valley—which
stretchesfromNorthCarolinatoWash-
ington—offers plenty of farmland for bal-
loonists.
MarionLunnemann,ofLexington,
saidthere’sasmallballoonrallyeach
month from June through October some-
where inthe ShenandoahValley.
“Mostofthesearegrassrootsbal-
loonrallies,” she said. “Theydon’thave
big rallies because we don’t have any big
sponsors.”
Lunnemannwasthefirstballoonist
in Lexington and helped start a small rally
therein1997. Therallyisorganizedby
the Sunrise Rotary Club as a party for the
town.
“It’sa waytoexposepeopletoan-
othersideoflife,”saidorganizerDon
Miller.
Pilots fly in a valley over rolling hills
andhave plentyof clearedfieldsto land
Ridesaresoldduringtherallyfor
$135.
The locals are so fascinated with bal-
looning, they are in the process of starting
the Shenandoah Valley Balloon Associa-
tion.ManyVirginia pilots belongtothe
ChesapeakeBalloonAssociation,based
inMaryland,ortheCarolinasBalloon
Association, based in North Carolina.
JohnKing,the onlydesignatedex-
aminer for balloons in Virginia, estimates
there are about 25 active balloonists in the
state.
“Thenumberhasreallyshrunkit
seems. It’s gotten so expensive I think for
a lot of people.”
Some believe more balloonists were
flying in Virginia when Eagle Balloons, a
manufacturing company in Ashland, near
Richmond,builtmorethan200systems
from1979to1996, beforethe company
wassoldandmovedtoIllinois.
Virginiaisrichinhistory,butbal-
loonsaren’twelcomeatmosthistoric
sites orshrines. Reidelbach said he’s been
toldnottolandinManassasNational
Battlefield Park, yet gets invited to tether
there duringCivil War reenactments.
Charlottesville, between Washington
and Richmond, is where Thomas Jefferson
built his home, Monticello. Richard Behr
fromtheestategroundsyearsago,
butpilotsnow—includingthoseofnu-
meroussightseeinghelicopters—are re-
quiredtobe 1,000 above the grounds, he
said.
Behrfl iesfromareso rti n
CharlottesvillefromAprilthroughNo-
vember. He fliesoverfarmsandwoods
but stays below the3,500-foot Blue Ridge
Mountains,awiderangethatwouldbe
difficult tocrosson a typicalflight.
“It’s easier flying over the Alps than
theBlueRidgeMountains,” hesaid. “If
youdon’tgettherightwinds,you’dbe
trapped.”
Inthesouthwestpartofthestate,
events are heldinWythesville and Rural
Retreat, nestled in the Blue Ridge Moun-
tains.
“Wehavelotsof farms.Thepilots
reallylovetocomehere,”saidSusan
Brown, who crews for her husband, Fred.
“But they really haveto watch the weather
here.Sometimesif theygetclosetothe
mountains and are not used to it, they have
towatch those updrafts.”
Air showsare a weekly feature May
throughOctober inBealeton,andabout
20 balloons join the biplanes, parachutists
and aerobaticplanes on the third full week-
end of August.
mond, Virginia.
County, Virginia .
