Curiosity fills the Expo: Pilots inflate balloons indoors

It started with curiosity: Could you fit a hot air balloon inside the Kansas Expocentre?

As it turns out, you can fit at least five.

Pilots from the Great Plains Balloon Club inflated their balloons inside the Expocentre on Friday evening as part of the First Friday Artwalk.

Four of the balloons had their propane tanks running to inflate upright, though they didn’t leave the ground. One had only a fan running so people could wander inside what looked like an unusually large bounce house. A few children played with beach balls, while some of the adults used their feet to test how much the “walls” would give.

Brian Carlson, a balloon pilot who lives in Topeka, said he and other pilots started wondering about three years ago if they could inflate their favorite mode of transportation indoors. They measured the ceiling, found out the balloons would fit, and gave it a try, he said. Later, the Expocentre staff asked them to come back and inflate them again for the public Friday.

“It started as curiosity and went from there,” he said.

Shirley Hess, of Wichita, was on ground crew Friday for “The Grinch,” a comparatively small, lime-green balloon.

“The balloons are all named, like ships are,” she said.

The ground crew, which usually includes six to eight people, helps set up the balloon, chases it in a truck until the pilot lands it, and then packs it away (sometimes with a ride as payment somewhere along the way), Hess said.

“I crew for any balloon I can, any chance I get,” she said.

The Grinch has an unusual origin story. Kasey Schwemmer, of Wichita, sewed the balloon himself over a period of months. Because it falls into the “ultralight” category, it isn’t regulated by the Federal Aviation Administration, he said.

And for the basket? It is a trash can, reinforced with steel cable, just large enough to carry him and a propane tank, though he brought a more formal basket for Friday’s demonstration.

“Literally, just a very robust, blue trash can,” he said.

Schwemmer struggled to explain what it is about hot-air balloons that stokes his passion. Part of it is the fun of meeting other people passionate about the same thing, and part is “the unknown,” flying at the mercy of the wind, he said.

“One of my earliest memories is of seeing balloons fly over our house,” he said.

Despite the lack of control over the balloon’s direction, many people are more comfortable in a balloon than in a plane, said Connie Goodnow, of Topeka, who pilots a purple balloon with the Wildcat logo. The view and the gradual change in elevation dispel most people’s fears, she said.

“There are a lot of people who are quote-unquote ‘afraid of heights’ until they get in a balloon,” she said.

Jun Yu, of Emporia, said he, his wife and their two children came to Topeka specifically to see the balloons. He said he was surprised by the size of the balloons and the heat generated by the burner that keeps them inflated.

After about an hour for the public to explore, the Expocentre switched off the lights and the balloons fired up until they glowed like Chinese lanterns lighting a party for the giants at the top of Jack’s beanstalk. They call it a “twinkle” when the pilots sync up their firing and put on a show, said Becky Schwemmer, Kasey Schwemmer’s mother.

“They look like little lightning bugs,” she said.

via – CJOnline.com.