BalloonLife,September 1999

28

If there is such a thing as a “sure
thing” in the gambling world then it might
have been found in this, the inaugural
year for the US Women’s National Hot
Air Balloon Championship. Looking over
the field of competitors the early odds-on
favorite was Cheri Edwards-White of
Houston, Texas. Her credentials spoke
volumes—20 years as a balloon pilot,
1993 Rookie of the Year, 1995 North
American Women’s Champion and a mem-
ber of the 1998 US National Team Cham-
pions.
Cheri is a second generation pilot,
following father Sam’s footsteps, or should
we say flight plans? Flying for sponsor
Touchstone Energy, White took the lead
toward this newest Women’s ballooning

title right from the start and then proved
the odds makers true as she soared to both
the Women’s title and a Top 10 overall
finish, an experience she found very satis-
fying....
Glen Moyer spoke with Cheri during
the Houston Ballunar Liftoff event. Fol-
lowing is part of their conversation.

BalloonLife:Whatareyourthoughts
havingwonthefirstUSWomen’sNa-
tional Hot Air Balloon Championship?
CheriWhite:Ifeelreallygoodhaving
won the title because I’ve been flying the
Nationals now for a while and have been
working hard at it. I felt like I flew really
well this year and all the skillsI’ve prac-
ticed reallybegan to mesh.
OfcourseIwasexcitedaboutthe

idea of such a championship and the fact
that the BFA has taken this step to help
women along in the sport. I think it’s a
great way to get women involved in our
national competition.

BL:Whenthischampionshipwasan-
nounced therewerethose who downplayed
itssignificance.Theyarguedthatmen
andwomencangenerallycompeteon
equalfootinginballooningsinceitis
moreasportofskillandabilitythan
strengthandstamina.Doesthatinany
waydiminish your accomplishment?
CW:Idon’tthinkso.Iknow,myself
excepted,therearealotofwomenout
therewhowouldliketocompeteand
they’re just a little intimidated. Theysee
pilotslikeJoe[Heartsill],Steve[Jones]
andJohnny [Petrehn] who are alwaysin
theTop10slots.EveryyearI’vecom-
peted in the Nationals less than 10 percent
ofthe competitors were women and hope-
fully this championshiptitle will change
that. I hope it will bring more women out
to compete and give them another goal to
go for, other thanhavingto fightfor the
NationalChampionship,theycanbegin
by seeking the women’s title.
I know there werewomenhere this
year whowere here for the first time and
theywere excited about it. It wasa very
special thing forthem to havethewomen’s
championshipandtofeelspecialabout
being competitors. No matter where they
finished overall, just being scoredfor the
women’stitlegavethemthat littleextra
boostof confidence andI’m hopingthat
willcreate more interest withthe female
pilots out there. For the BFA to recognize
us with this title is veryspecial.

BL:Of course for CheriWhite,the title
NationalChampionisstilltheultimate
goal is it not?
CW:I’m actually more proud of my Top

Interview with
Cheri White

1st Women’s US National
Hot Air Balloon Champion

29

BalloonLife,September 1999

10finishoverallinthe Nationalsthan Iam
of the Women’s title because [the Na-
tional Championship] is my goal. My
goal this year was a Top 10 finish, that’s
been my goal ever since I began flying
Nationals, but thisyear I accomplished it.
Itwasreallyexcitingtosee thatmy flying
skillsare improving to the point where I
can realistically be a Top 10 competitor
and hopefully next year I can move up
even further.

BL:When did you first capture the spirit
of competitioninballooning? Surely you
Dad must have had something to do with
that?
CW:I think it was first instilled in me
when I was growing upatIndianola, Iowa
and crewing formy Dad, being at the
targetsand watchingthe balloons coming
inand pilotsthrowing baggiesare someof
my earliest memories. Then, three or four
years after I began flying, I started going
to small events and competing. Then I
began to do well in those smaller events
and from there it justgetsinto your blood
and there is anatural drive to want to
become better and better in the competi-
tive arena.

BL:When were you firstexposed to bal-
looning?
CW:Iwas13 when my Dad started flying
balloonsand thefirstreallyexcitingevent
I remember,otherthan Indianola,was
when Dad competed in theWorld’s at
York, England in1977.Myparentspulled
me out of school and took me to England
and France for three weeks and I got to
observe the competitions.
Thenat16I workedfor BillMurtorff;
Ihadjustreceivedmydriver’slicense and
I washis chase driver on passenger rides.
Whenever there was a cancellation or an
open spot he would put me in the basket
and giveme a lesson—soI wastrained by
Bill.One morning itwas justBilland my
Dad andI andwe landedandthey bothgot
outofthe basketand said“Bye”andI flew
off in one of Bill’s old Piccards, withthe
canburnersandthe hugeskirt almost
completelyburned outofit. [Iwas]scared
to death and I was not coming down and
they were on the radio saying “Cheri you
have gottoland,”asI wasaboutto goover
thewoodsof northHouston atthattime, a
place where there were no landing sites,
soI came down, butI scaredmyself sobad

thatI stopped flying. I justwasn’t readyat
16 to be soloing, but two years later I
started back into it and bought my first
balloonwhenI was nineteen andnow I’m
on my third [balloon].

BL:Will there be a 3rd generation bal-
loonistfrom the Edwards-Whiteclan?Do
you see the competitive fires burning in
either of your 4-year old twins?
CW:Iseeit in my little boy, Gordie,
definitely.He’salreadyjudgingthe winds,
knowsthetargets,knowswhatthebaggies
do andhehelpswith theinflationby
holding the throat open. He’s really ex-
cited by ballooning, his only question is,
‘Mommy isitgoing tobe a windy landing
today?’ andif I say“Yes”he doesn’twant
tofly. He’s seen toomany landingswhere
I’m draggingandplowing through fields.
Mylittlegirl,Madeleine, on theother
hand prefers to stay in the van and play
with her dolls.

BL:Any goals beyond winning the Na-
tional Championship, or is it too soon to
think that far ahead?
CW:No it’s not. Part of my goalsis to do
moreinternationalflying.I’veflown
events in France and Mexico and I really
enjoythe internationalaspectsofballoon-
ing. I’m hopingtogo to New Zealand and
Portugal to fly and of course I’d like to
ultimately compete inthe World Champi-
onships no matterwherethey’reheld.
That’s always been an ultimate goal.

BL: Now that you’ve achieved the
Women’sNational Championshipdo you
have any thoughtsof attackingthe female
world record books?

CW:I might do something with a dis-
tance flight but I would never attempt an
altituderecordbecauseI’m actuallyafraid
of heights! I get up on a tall buildingad I
get very nervous if I have to look over the
side.
Finally this year at Nationals I did
really well, I was able to screamup to
8500feetand terminal backdown, which
for me was a big step. The highest I’ve
beenwasover14,000feet inaflight
across the Continental Divide last winter
and even then I was in the center of my
basket with knees knocking,so I don’t
thinkyou’llseemechasingaltitude
records.

1.White,Cheri

TX

13461

2.Reineke, Kathy

IL

11486

3.Stamats,Susan

IA

9683

4.McConnell,Nancy

FL

9083

5.Suttle,Penny

OH

6497

6.McWilliams,Robin

CA

5459

7.McRill,Rita

CA

4973

1999 US Women’s
National Hot Air Balloon
Championship Results