After more than 30 years in the hot-air ballooning business, Phil Jackson is coming in for a landing.<\/p>\n
The Queensbury man, who co-organized the early Adirondack Balloon Festivals and founded his own ride company, is retiring.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just see myself as another ballooner stepping aside for the younger generation,\u201d Jackson said recently, thumbing through a 3-inch-thick scrapbook of his career.<\/p>\n
Unexpected start<\/p>\n
Jackson was living in Glen Cove, Long Island, when he visited his parents in South Glens Falls in the fall of 1973. He saw an article in the newspaper for the area\u2019s first balloon event, held at the former Adirondack Community College on Bay Road.<\/p>\n
There were only about 19 balloons that flew that weekend, but Jackson was intrigued by the whole scene. He stopped in at the headquarters at the Ramada Inn in Queensbury to see if he could volunteer.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt sounded kind of crazy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He met a couple of balloonists from Michigan who needed someone with local knowledge of the roads to drive a chase vehicle. He stayed in touch with them and drove to a balloon championship in Indianola, Iowa, to help them again. In return, they gave him a ride in their rainbow-colored Jolly Roger balloon.<\/p>\n
That was all it took to set Jackson\u2019s dreams soaring. He took flight lessons to earn his balloon pilot\u2019s license.<\/p>\n
His new friends encouraged Jackson to contact Walt Grishkot, who organized the festival. For the next four or five yearly affairs, the two ran it. Grishkot\u2019s wife, Joan, did the bookkeeping.<\/p>\n
A few months before the 1978 meet, three Americans completed the first successful Atlantic balloon crossing, lifting off from Presque Isle, Maine, and landing in a field north of Paris slightly more than 137 hours later.<\/p>\n
The feat helped put ballooning on the map, according to Jackson.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was treated like Lindbergh crossing the Atlantic. It just drew a massive amount of attention for the sport,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Jackson said the Queensbury festival became so popular, he and Grishkot decided the committee should have its own balloon. It was known as \u201cThe Spirit of Glens Falls,\u201d with the tagline, \u201cCity on the rise,\u201d to signify growth and development.<\/p>\n
The balloon appeared at several venues to promote the city, both locally and at the International Vacation and Travel Show in Montreal.
\nTaking flight<\/p>\n
In the summer of 1979, to celebrate the birth of his son, Jackson tethered a hot air balloon in the parking lot of Glens Falls Hospital so his wife, Tanis, could view it from her window. He hung a banner on the side, \u2018It\u2019s a Boy!\u201d and took the husband of his wife\u2019s roommate, who had also delivered a baby, for a two-hour balloon ride.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was throwing a fit the whole flight because he just had his fifth daughter and no son,\u201d Jackson chuckled.<\/p>\n
Later that year, Jackson was one of three balloonists hired to fly over Oyster Bay, Long Island, for Woody Allen\u2019s movie, \u201cStardust Memories.\u201d He did a scene dressed in World War I aviator garb and landed on a hillside where a party was staged. It was supposed to be a short assignment of two days plus a rain date, but the weather was so uncooperative, he ended up staying a month and a half. He flew three times.<\/p>\n
Jackson was never mentioned in the credits, but he still has the royalty checks he received from Metro-Goldwyn Mayer and United Artists. They total a little more than $36.<\/p>\n
He ended his involvement as festival co-organizer around 1979 and partnered with Art Binley to form Adirondack Balloon Transit. They focused on balloon sales, rides and commercial promotion.<\/p>\n
Balloon rides were still considered unique and people sought them out. Their first clients were a young couple from Texas who came to Crandall Park to be married. Unfortunately, the weather was finicky, and they ended up having to wait a week before tying the knot. Finally, tethered above a pond at 6:15 in the morning, they wed.<\/p>\n
Jackson sent out several press releases, and the ceremony was broadcast live over network radio.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe couple ended up going on \u2018To Tell the Truth,\u2019 he said with a chuckle. \u201cAll for $500.\u201d<\/p>\n
Binley and Jackson were involved in the early days of the \u201cI Love NY\u201d campaign and garnered other business through membership in the local chambers of commerce, and yellow-page and newspaper ads.<\/p>\n
The partnership lasted about three years, and in 1982, Jackson bought out Binley and launched Adirondack Balloon Flights.<\/p>\n
He was concerned about how well the company would do at first, so he sold real estate for the first few years until things stabilized.<\/p>\n
Building memories<\/p>\n
Throughout his career, Jackson has had his share of weddings, graduations, anniversaries and \u201clast\u201d flights. Those were special, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought it was sad, but it was kind of nice because they wanted to use what I do for a last-wish kind of thing,\u201d Jackson said.<\/p>\n
David Blow of Glens Falls, a former Post-Star reporter and editor who now teaches at Castleton College, asked his wife to marry him during one of Jackson\u2019s rides more than 22 years ago. Blow said he \u201cflailed\u201d during the proposal, but Jackson was a \u201cfun\u201d host who broke out champagne and cheese and crackers.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s down to earth, has a sense of humor much like myself \u2014 maybe a little sarcastic \u2014 but … clearly a guy who just loved what he did. I think you need that sort of person to be a pilot because it isn\u2019t just taking off and landing. I think a lot of it is in your personality,\u201d Blow said.<\/p>\n
A pleasant personality probably played a role in Jackson\u2019s most memorable flight about five years ago. He was asked to take the family and friends of then-Gov. David Paterson for a ride. Jackson met the group in Durkeetown. It was late afternoon on a \u201cmarginally\u201d windy day when they boarded his eight-passenger balloon.<\/p>\n
Jackson was having trouble getting the craft aloft. He would have preferred to fly another day but there was pressure by the governor\u2019s staff to go up. He was concerned about landing such a large balloon in gusty weather. A half-hour later, after three attempts, they were soaring above Washington County at about 20 miles per hour \u2014 considered speedy by balloon standards.<\/p>\n
Paterson\u2019s wife at the time sat on the floor, hunched over and \u201cuncomfortable,\u201d during most of the flight. Jackson had to ask her to stand up when he was ready to land. He felt relieved when they touched down.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was the fastest flight I ever made in that balloon,\u201d he said. \u201cIt took a little skill to pull it off.\u201d<\/p>\n
Final chapter<\/p>\n
Jackson said there are challenges to running a business that operates only in either early morning or late afternoon; depends on clear, windless skies; and spans a season from about May to October.<\/p>\n
He had a total of 18 balloons over three decades, and upgraded as the quality of the fabrics and burner systems improved.<\/p>\n
Making a living flying in the Northeast is all about \u201cnumbers,\u201d Jackson said. With the region\u2019s weather, it\u2019s important to try to maximize the number of passengers at one time.<\/p>\n
For most of his career, Jackson had four- and eight-passenger balloons and developed a clientele from downstate New York, New Jersey and Connecticut to this area.<\/p>\n
Jackson is selling Adirondack Balloon Flights to a couple who will relocate from Albuquerque, NM, to run it. Brooke Owen has been the chief pilot and his wife, Kiersten, has been the director of operations for Rainbow Ryders, Inc.<\/p>\n
Kiersten said they are in the process of moving from the southwest and are looking for a home in the Glens Falls \u2013 Saratoga region. She doesn\u2019t anticipate making major changes to the company.<\/p>\n
\u201cPhil did a tremendous job of building the business, having a great rapport within the community and the reputation of his company is absolutely terrific,\u201d she said. \u201cWe want to maintain and sort of build on that, gain the trust and respect of the local tourism community and become great partners with them as Phil has for so many years.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now, at 67, Jackson is ready to change direction. He and his wife, who works in the accounting department of Finch Paper, plan to take trips in the summer, which has always been his prime season for business. He also hopes to reconnect with friends and take up golf again.<\/p>\n
Although he won\u2019t be ballooning anymore, Jackson can reflect fondly on a career that took him to great heights.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would like to thank all the area landowners, especially in Washington County, that hosted my take-offs and landings over the years. I\u2019m going to miss our visits, having our little chats,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ve made some good friends that I only met because of dropping by in a balloon.\u201d<\/p>\n
via –\u00a0Glens Falls Post-Star<\/a>. \u00a0\u00a0 After more than 30 years in the hot-air ballooning business, Phil Jackson is coming in for a landing. The Queensbury man, who co-organized the early Adirondack Balloon Festivals and founded his own ride company, is retiring. \u201cI just see myself as another ballooner stepping aside for the younger generation,\u201d Jackson said recently, thumbing through a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":763,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[18],"tags":[330,333,329,328,327,332,331],"class_list":["post-761","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-people","tag-adirondack","tag-glens-falls","tag-long-island","tag-new-york","tag-phil-jackson","tag-stardust-memories","tag-woody-allen"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/balloonteam.net\/montgolfier\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/BalloonFlt-4.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3RIC2-ch","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/balloonteam.net\/montgolfier\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/761","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/balloonteam.net\/montgolfier\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/balloonteam.net\/montgolfier\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/balloonteam.net\/montgolfier\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/balloonteam.net\/montgolfier\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=761"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/balloonteam.net\/montgolfier\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/761\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":764,"href":"http:\/\/balloonteam.net\/montgolfier\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/761\/revisions\/764"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/balloonteam.net\/montgolfier\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/763"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/balloonteam.net\/montgolfier\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=761"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/balloonteam.net\/montgolfier\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=761"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/balloonteam.net\/montgolfier\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=761"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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