My experience of taking a hot air balloon ride in the Amish country of eastern Pennsylvania is the subject of today’s post. Portions of this post have been excerpted from my book “Road Work: Images and Insights of a Modern Day Explorer”. Let’s ride…and fly!
The Ride Out
I find myself wide awake at 4:00AM enjoying a quick cup of coffee while I load my gear onto the bike. The traffic Gods are smiling this morning and I motor through the metropolitan New York area without even the slightest of delays. I do a quick burn down the New Jersey turnpike to put the concrete jungles in my rear view mirror then turn west into rural Pennsylvania.
The roads are sparsely travelled early this Saturday morning as I take in the beautiful landscape of emerging crops on the thousands upon thousands of acres of farmland. The freshly planted corn is barely six inches tall. It’s hard to believe that these tiny sprouts will be eight feet high and ready for harvest in less than three months time.
Parked alongside an Amish farm near Bird-In-Hand, PA
Today’s destination is Bird-In-Hand, Pennsylvania, a very small town that boasts a population of under 600 people. Located just 6 miles east of Lancaster, PA, one of the most densely populated cities in the state, Bird-In-Hand is home to a large Amish and Mennonite population. My dear friend, Ken Sklute, is residing in Bird-In-Hand for the summer.
Meet The Pilot
Ken is a renowned photographer, photographic educator and veteran hot air balloon pilot who originally hailed from Long Island, NY before permanently relocating to the Phoenix, AZ area. He is spending the summer in this quaint Keystone State community pursuing two of his life’s greatest passions…flying and photography.
I arrive at the door of my friend’s temporary summer residence where he is intently studying complex weather maps and forecasts for the afternoon. To the casual tourist it may seem like a perfect day, but to a seasoned hot air balloon pilot, who is scheduled to fly this afternoon at the mercy of the wind, all is not well. The winds aloft are borderline for a safe hot air balloon ride and they are trending to build in strength over the next few hours. A decision is made amongst his team (yes…hot air balloon flying is a team sport) to cancel this afternoon’s scheduled flight.
Cleared For Takeoff
Up at 4:00AM again the next morning…this time to be a part of the hot air ballooning experience. It starts at first light with the team assembling for a pre-flight briefing. The team consists of the pilot and at least two skilled ground crew members who will be assembling the craft and chasing it around the countryside. As the crew prepares the craft for flight Ken meets with his clients…the folks that will be going aloft. Passengers who are paying a handsome sum for the experience must be instructed on flight safety protocols. Some apprehensive passengers might need a bit of reassurance. All must sign liability waivers.
Filling the balloon with air prior to takeoff
While Ken is meeting with his clients his crew is preparing for the hot air balloon ride. This is such an amazing process to watch. The entire “kit” fits in the back of an enclosed utility trailer. The gondola (the basket that the passengers ride in), the envelope (the actual ‘balloon’ part), the burner assemblies (used to heat the air within the envelope), the propane tanks (to fuel the burners) and a heavy duty gas-powered fan (to fill the envelope with air) all fit in this compact trailer.
The crew starts by spreading the envelope out on the ground and attaching the gondola to it. The large fan is started and pointed towards the mouth of the envelope. As the envelope fills up with air a crew member steps inside the envelope and spreads out the fabric as the balloon grows in size. This balloon is over 90 feet tall when fully inflated.
Filling and “standing up” the balloons prior to ascent
The final step before taking flight is to heat the air that is in the balloon. Ken takes over at this point using the propane burners to super heat the air within the envelope. As the entrapped air heats up, the envelope “stands up”. The passengers are invited aboard at this time. A few more blasts of hot air and the craft becomes “lighter than air”. It rises gracefully into the skies.
Ken heating up the air inside the envelope in preparation for take off
The Chase Begins
Once aloft the craft is pretty much at the mercy of the wind. The skilled pilot can steer the craft to a certain degree by making altitude changes to various heights, where wind speed and direction are different than the conditions present on the ground. I’m starting to appreciate all the intense focus that Ken was devoting yesterday to the numerous detailed, technical forecasts he analyzes in preparation for a flight. Three hot air balloons left the ground from the same launch field at sunrise. Within a few minutes all had climbed to different altitudes and were flying off in completely different directions. “The Chase” begins now and I climb in the pursuit vehicle with the team members.
An Amish family riding by as the balloon prepares for landing
Technology plays a big part in balloon flight these days. Instruments on the craft monitor and record every single facet of the flight. The “Black Box” of 2021 is an onboard iPad loaded with highly specialized flight software applications. Dedicated radio frequencies allow the pilot and the chase crew to communicate as needed. GPS tracking devices show the crew exactly where the balloon is at any given moment, but good old-fashioned visual observation is the primary skill exercised by both the pilot and his team on the ground.
Balloon in flight over an Amish Farm near Leola, PA
Watching the craft float above the landscape is a majestic sight; rising and changing direction with the wind; then descending close to the ground, barely clearing the farm buildings below. Years of expertise insures that the flight is safe, comfortable and exciting for the clients. For most of them it will be a once-in-a-lifetime experience…one that they will never forget. Only one question remains on the pilot’s mind at this point. A question that can never be answered with all the data he has assimilated for today’s adventure. Where am I going to land this thing?
The Perfect Landing
This is one part of the flight that can’t be planned with any accuracy. As the flight draws to a close the pilot starts looking around for a suitable place to put the balloon down. Many considerations come into play. Ideally the craft should touch down as close as possible to a public road (or even a private driveway) so that the crew can easily disassemble the balloon and put it back into the trailer that is towed behind the chase vehicle. The gondola, where the passengers ride, weighs some 600 pounds. The envelope (The “Balloon Part”) is over 90 feet tall, weighs in excess of 300 pounds and must be rolled and folded into a bundle less than 4 feet in diameter.
Balloon in flight over Amish farmland
Care must be taken so as not to land the craft on any farm’s emerging crops or do any damage to lawns, gardens or other personal property. Because one has no idea where they may land on any given day it is obvious that you have no pre-arranged permission to do so. Diplomacy becomes the watchword as the craft touches down on private property.
I witnessed two hot air balloon flights in the days I spent in The Amish Country. I witnessed two textbook landings that enabled the crew to quickly disassememble the craft and easily pack it into its trailer. What I also witnessed was the incredible response from the wonderful people on the ground. Two days in a row we landed on Amish farms and were warmly welcomed by the landowners. Two days in a row young Amish children rushed out in droves to not only witness the descent and landing, but to jump in and volunteer their help with the arduous process of dismantling and packing the balloon.
Balloon flying over a barn in The Pennsylvania Amish Country
It’s My Turn
At 4:30AM the next morning I receive the text message that I’ve been longing to get. “It’s a go” for my hot air balloon flight at sunrise! A brisk shower and a couple of cups of coffee get me going. I head over to the launch field to meet Ken, his ground crew and the other folks that will be sharing the gondola of the aircraft with me. Though I’ve witnessed the pre-flight preparations a number of times in the past, I can’t help but be incredibly excited watching the process. In what seems like no time at all the envelope is full and I climb into the gondola with my pilot and fellow passengers.
What happens next really defies description. It’s like trying to describe to someone what piloting a motorcycle is like. There just aren’t enough of the right words to do so. I can only whole-heartedly recommend that you luxuriate in this experience first hand some day. We rose into the sky at dawn as the rising sun cast long shadows from the farm buildings and trees on the ground. The entire landscape was blanketed in a soft, thin layer of morning mist, which beautifully muted all the tones and textures of the earth below.
You float above the earth in virtual silence, watching life in the Amish country below come to life for the day; yet hearing none of it. Not the cars on the roads, the trains running along the Amtrak corridor…nothing. It’s as if you are suspended from high above, looking down at a simulated world. It is virtually silent. A silence that is only broken by the joyous exclamations of your fellow passengers and the occasional blast of the onboard propane burners. As the balloon moves with the prevailing wind you feel nothing of its speed or direction.
.
An Amish buggy and a hot air balloon share the countryside
It is overwhelmingly peaceful (if that’s not a contradiction in terms). If a picture is truly worth a thousand words, perhaps the one featured at the head of this post can start to convey, in some small, inadequate way, what this wonderful experience was like. Words alone simply can’t do it justice.
The shadow of our hot air balloon on the farmland below
Back on the ground I participate in the traditional post-flight champagne toast and bid my fellow passengers farewell. I treat Ken to breakfast at Gracies on West Main, in Leola, PA. This is truly one of our favorite local eateries. Highly recommended! We say our good byes. Ken will be returning home to Arizona in 10 days and won’t be back flying in the Amish country until 2022. I can’t help but wonder how many hundreds of people whose lives he has permanently touched piloting his balloon this year. You can certainly add my name to that list.
Your Hot Air Balloon Adventure
I can’t recommend taking a hot air balloon ride enough. It is an amazing experience! One that you will remember for life. If you’re in the Amish countryside near Lancaster, Pennsylvania retain the services of The US Hot Air Balloon Team. They can be reached at (717) 276-9326. If possible ask to fly with Ken. He is a pro in every sense of the word and a wonderful guy to spend some quality time aloft with.
We hope you have enjoyed this hot air balloon ride post. As always we welcome your comments below. Be sure to subscribe to Roadcraft USA for notifications when future adventure features drop. Fly high, my friends!
Click Here to view an interactive visual index page where you can quickly browse through all of the great features that are published on the Roadcraft USA blog.