How A Hot Air Balloon Works

Parachute top covering circular opening

Envelope

Equator (widest point)

Load Tapes

Throat

Suspension Cables

The basket is connected to the envelope by cables that extend from the bottom, or “throat” of the balloon. Most hot-air balloons also have a skirt or scoop – a fabric panel often made of or lined with fi re-resistant fabric that extends downward from the throat and helps to direct airfl ow and heat from the burner into the envelope.

The hot air that provides lift is generated by a propanefueled burner which is suspended between the envelope and basket above the heads of the pilot and passengers. The burner is held in place by a rigid frame and by “uprights” – poles at each corner of the basket. The fuel tanks – most modern tanks are made of stainless steel – sit in the corners or on the fl oor of the basket. Fuel lines run from the tanks to the burner and are held in place by sleeves around the uprights.

Each burner has a pilot light that burns continuously and ignites the fuel in the same way the pilot light in a furnace or stove does. The pilot controls the fl ow of fuel to the burner through “blast valves” – levers attached to the bottom of the burner. The output of a balloon burner is many times greater than that of a typical home furnace and creates the high temperatures required to generate enough lift to make the balloon fl y – usually at least 100

The basket is connected to the envelope by cables that extend from the bottom, or “throat” of the balloon. Most hot-air balloons also have a skirt or scoop – a fabric panel often made of or lined with fi re-resistant fabric that extends downward from the throat and helps to direct airfl ow and heat from the burner into the envelope. degrees above the outside air temperature, depending

The hot air that provides lift is generated by a propane- on how much weight the balloon carries. Many balloons have additional blast valves and nozzles used as backup systems in case the main burner line fails, and to bypass the preheat coils to create a cooler, brighter, yellow fl ame that makes the balloon light up during balloon glows. Burners generate the heat to make the balloon go up, and by varying the length and number of “burns,” the pilot can control how quickly the balloon ascends and how high it goes. But how does the pilot make the balloon go down? One way is to do nothing and just let the air in the balloon cool naturally. As the temperature drops below the level needed to keep the balloon at “equilibrium” – to maintain level fl ight – the balloon will descend, and the pilot uses the burner to regulate the rate at which the balloon descends. To come down more quickly, and to land, the pilot pulls on a rope that releases heat from the top of the balloon.

degrees above the outside air temperature, depending on how much weight the balloon carries. Many balloons

Scoop/skirt

Burner

Vent/defl ation line

Basket (fuel tanks strapped in corners)

Clockwise from above: The original Luminaria Tour Balloon Display, Christmas Eve at the Albuquerque Country Club; All burn!; The magic of the Balloon Glow, where night turns into day.

Fast forward eight years, to the 1987 Balloon Fiesta. By this time, many balloon events featured nighttime displays, and Bill Bussey had invented the name “balloon glow” for his event in Plano, TX. But not the Balloon Fiesta, which was still exclusively a daytime event. 1987 was the 75th anniversary of New Mexico statehood, and to celebrate the milestone, Scott Appelman (now the owner of Rainbow Ryders) came up with the idea of doing the biggest balloon glow ever held. Balloon Fiesta officials agreed, and 300 pilots signed up to participate.

On the night of October 4, the weather was perfect for a nighttime static display. (A nighttime ascension would not be practical because the pilots can’t see landing sites in the dark.) As the sun set and evening crept in, dozens of balloons stood inflated at the old Balloon Fiesta Park (now the main RV park), surrounded by thousands of guests. All the pilots had AM radios tuned into KOB radio, which was broadcasting the event live. At the mobile studio on Concession Row, announcer Larry Ahrens and Assistant Balloonmeister John Davis began to count down for the first “all burn”, the moment when the pilots would all light up their balloons at once. No one knew quite what to expect.

The count hit “0”, and with a deafening roar a tidal wave of light, heat, and noise crashed across Balloon Fiesta Park. Night turned into day on the field as 300 candles/light bulbs/balloons lit up, and the heat could be felt all the way across Concession Row. Everybody stood entranced and open-mouthed – pilots, crews, spectators.

As the pilots turned off their burners and light and noise faded, the roar of the burners was replaced with a different roar – thousands of people cheering at the top of their lungs. It was an electric instant – many who were there still get goose bumps when they talk about it. It to this day is one of the great moments in the history of the Balloon Fiesta.

Of course, the Balloon Glow immediately became an annual event, and drew more guests than even the morning Mass Ascensions. A second glow, the Night Magic glow on the last Saturday, was soon added. By 2000, the problematic late afternoon Special Shape Rodeo flights on Thursdays and Fridays (it was almost always too windy for free flights) evolved into nighttime balloon glows – dubbed Glowdeos – exclusively for special shape balloons. Eventually, yet another glow, the Twilight Twinkle Glow – was added on the first Saturday night in conjunction with the scheduled (but often postponed) launch of the America’s Challenge gas balloon race.

Today’s Balloon Glows are truly family evenings out. Moms and dads, kids of all ages, uncles and aunts, grandmas and grandpas, bring picnics or sample the Main Street food booths and reconnect on the grass at Balloon Fiesta Park, surrounded by a forest of glowing balloons. In the town square of world ballooning, people from all over the world gather on the noche encantada – the enchanted night – that is a Balloon Fiesta balloon glow.

PHOTO: PAUL DEBERJEOIS

Kim Vesely, the editor since 2003 of the Balloon Fiesta’s Official Program, is one of the co-founders of the original Luminaria Tour Balloon Display in 1979. Over more than 45 years, she’s been involved with the Balloon Fiesta as a television journalist and color commentator, launch director, and board member. She currently is the America’s Challenge Command Center media liaison and a reporter/commentator for Balloon Fiesta Live!

PHOTO: PAUL DEBERJEOIS

o realize the signifi cance that the Special

TShape Rodeo has had on the Balloon Fiesta, you need to go back to 1986. In those days, the balloons only fl ew morning events during the nine-day event. The mass ascensions on the weekends were the main attraction and about the only source of revenue for the Balloon Fiesta. There were not many spectators during the week, even though the pilots took to the air every fl yable day.

The Balloon Fiesta fi rst began to realize the potential of evening events a year later. Since 1979, glowing balloons had been on display at Albuquerque’s annual Christmas Eve Luminaria Tours. Balloons infl ate at golf courses around the city and sometimes at other locations like the University of NM sports complex, and glow for the caravan of cars viewing all the sites who put up luminarias. In 1987 Scott Appelman, who was serving his fi rst year on the Balloon Fiesta Board of Directors, suggested having balloons glow on the fi rst Sunday evening. The Board had never considered having afternoon events but decided to give Scott’s idea a go. Ballooning is best in the morning, so I don’t think the Balloon Fiesta realized how many people would prefer to come to an evening event when they were off work. The Balloon Glow was a huge success which not only changed the Balloon Fiesta but changed how balloon events operated across the world. After all, afternoon events had much more potential for attracting spectators than the pre-dawn morning events.

I was elected to the Balloon Fiesta Board in 1989 and was excited to be part of such a great balloon event. Scott and I realized that afternoon events could be a major source of new revenue for the Balloon Fiesta, and we started brainstorming on what type of event would work. At the time, I was fl ying special shape balloons belonging to the Soukup/Thomas balloon fl eet along with some commercial shape balloons belonging to Harold Warner, a Canadian balloon operator. Special shape balloons had appeared at Balloon Fiesta as part of the regular fl ying events and were enormously popular. We thought that a new event featuring special shapes on Thursday and Friday afternoons might just work if enough shapes would participate.

Nothing was going on at the fi eld on Thursday and Friday afternoon, so we made a pitch to the Balloon Fiesta Board to bring in some shapes for these two afternoons. The Board was quite skeptical that it would work, and the vote was anything but unanimous. One of the selling points was Scott telling the board that I knew all of the special shape pilots and shape owners and could get enough shapes to put on a good show.

The Board agreed, but there was no money in the budget to fund bringing in special shape balloons. It was not easy to convince pilots to come, since we had no money to pay them. There were few non-commercial

Pictured: The eyes always have it at the Special Shape Rodeo!