The 2013 Preakness Celebration Hot Air Balloon Festival
On a clear breezy evening at Turf Valley, 21 hot air balloon crews unpacked their equipment in preparation for the annual Preakness Celebration Hot Air Balloon Festival. They attached envelopes – a bag capable of holding heated air – to the baskets and turned on fans before firing up the burners to get the colorful event underway. The festivities provided a close up look at the towering aircraft.
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- John Blair, Bridgeton, N.J., holds the crown line attached to hot air balloon “Fire It Up” as it is inflated. He is the uncle of pilot, Charles Blair, Newark, Del. (Kim Hairston/Baltimore Sun)
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- Linda Yergey of Columbia, and her grandson, Liam Conlon, 4, of Sabillasville, lay inside the envelope of a hot air balloon. She says “My grandson loves it. He’s been here for an hour.” “Going My Way,” owned by Mary Beth and Dick Young, Parsippany, N.J., was built in 1985 and retired in 2002. Over time the coating on the fabric breaks down and has it be taken out of service. The Youngs kept the envelope and often inflate it with fans so people can walk inside. (Kim Hairston/Baltimore Sun)
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- Christian Cocker, 7, of Eldersburg, Md., pokes his head through a space in the parachute valve of “Going My Way,” a retired hot air balloon. (Kim Hairston/Baltimore Sun)
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- Patrick Smith of New Market, controls lines on his hot air balloon “Tailwinds” as the envelope deflates. (Kim Hairston/Baltimore Sun)
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- Patrick Smith of New Market, Md. looks over the skirt of his hot air balloon, “Tailwinds.” Pilots and crews of twenty one hot air balloons unpacked and inflated the envelopes, but because of strong winds and wind direction, balloons were not able to take off or stand up for the glow. (Kim Hairston/Baltimore Sun)
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- Amy McGovern of Eldersburg, Md., holds on as “Tailwinds,” a hot air balloon piloted by Patrick Smith is pushed by the wind. The mass ascension balloon launch and glow kicking off the event was called off Thursday evening because of the wind direction and speed. (Kim Hairston/Baltimore Sun)
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- Jordan Beck and Francis Moats hold on as “Tailwinds” is pushed by the wind. (Kim Hairston/Baltimore Sun)
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- Jordan Stepke, Julia Suter and Emma Stepke photograph themselves while lying inside a hot air balloon envelope. (Kim Hairston/Baltimore Sun)
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- Children and adults explore the inside of a balloon. (Kim Hairston/Baltimore Sun)
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- Nick Donner of Louisville, Ky., ignites a burner to keep the balloon standing. (Kim Hairston/Baltimore Sun)
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- Sheree Moyer of Frederick, Md., has a laugh as she crawls under the envelope of “Tailwinds.” (Kim Hairston/Baltimore Sun)
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- Tethered hot air balloon “Goin Batty, too,” piloted by Bob Ward of Quakertown, Pa., rises as others inflate at the Annual Preakness Celebration Hot Air Balloon Festival at Turf Valley. (Kim Hairston/Baltimore Sun)
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- Cheryl Hughes positions the fabric of “Blue Dragon,” a hot air balloon owned by Jack Edling. (Kim Hairston/Baltimore Sun)
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- Hot air balloon pictures, gloves, hats and a towel fill a door of the Kaleidoscope hot air balloon trailer. (Kim Hairston/Baltimore Sun)
Mary Beth and Dick Young, of Parsippany, N.J., gave spectators the closest view by allowing them to walk inside the balloon “Going My Way.” The envelope for this balloon was built in 1985 and was retired in 2002. The coating on the fabric breaks down over time and eventually each envelope is taken out of service.
“[The balloon is] very much a dynamic art form, constantly changing,” Young said. On a clear day when beams of light stream down, it has a stained glass effect, he said.
“Tailwinds,” is one of four Maryland balloons at Turf Valley. Pilot Patrick Smith of New Market, attended the Preakness Balloon Festival when he was nine-years-old. Now Smith, his parents and wife are the team with the largest balloon in the state at 120,000 cubic feet.
Ron Broderick, from West Friendship, the balloon-meister extraordinaire said, “I think it’s the overwhelming power” of the balloons that brings people out. “The bigness of them and the rarity.”
It was too windy on the first day of the celebration for the mass ascension and the balloon glow. Broderick noted, “It takes patience and flying skills. There are so many times you can’t fly.”
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Adam Scott
Feb 03, 2014 @ 23:53:08
I would love to ride in a hot air balloon. Or at least poke my head through the vent.