GUEST BLOG: Lindsay's Hot Air

One of the good things about having your own blog is asking friends and co-workers if they want to contribute. Usually that gets a yawn, except in Lindsay McCoy's case where her experience high above Stark County is worth a yarn -- and a slideshow.

by Lindsay McCoy

It was a very early commute to Canton to ride in a hot air balloon, but I was awake and ready to go at 5 a.m. last Friday morning. I spent the whole night thinking about what would happen to me; was I going to fall out of the basket mid-air over the highway?

Well, thankfully I didn't. On my way down 77 South I noticed lights in the dark morning sky and as I got closer, I knew they were balloons that were lighting up. I prayed I wasn't late.

Shortly after I arrived at the Kent State Stark Campus, I was ready to go with Jeff Pestun, a licensed pilot from Zeeland, Michigan The basket went up to my rib cage and I'm about 5'3 ... short and sweet.

First, you lay the balloon fabric across the grass and hold it up so a fan blows air in to give it a rounded shape. Then the hot air is used, just as you get ready to sit the balloon upright. There's only about a few minutes left to jump in. As I we lifted off I was nervous, but the higher up we went the easier it was to get used to. Looking around from about 1,600 feet in the air, the Canton area looked pretty busy with cars everywhere that seemed the size of ants.

It's quiet when you're up that high without an engine. Jeff said "we were one with the wind". It did lack a little breeze up there so I believed him. Our blue and black checkered balloon joined about 23 others in the search for a target.

A competition between the pilots participating in the Balloon Classic Invitational included teams of three, with the team that wins taking home $3,000. It's a nice chunk of change, but then it's divided up between the team members. Some pilots got really technical and had their laptops with them while up in the air to measure the speed and direction of the wind. This looked involved, so I just kept my questions basic.

There are three propane tanks in the basket at a time, he told me. The pattern of the wind determined how often he used the propane to maneuver our direction, speed and height. Balloons usually cost about $10,000, so this is a pricey hobby.

When we landed, he described it would feel like we were jumping off a chair, which is similar to the thud the basket made at we hit the ground near an elementary school.

I was up in the air for about 20 minutes, but it felt like five...what a rush!