Calm stymies balloon liftoffs

• By SANDY DAVIS
• Advocate staff writer
• Published: Aug 8, 2009 - Page: 1B

• Print
• Email
• Save
• Reprints
• Twitter
• Share

• Del.icio.us
• Digg
• Facebook
• Reddit
• 

A near dead calm just after dawn Friday prevented the first competition of the Pennington Hot Air Balloon Championships from getting off the ground, but that didn’t deter pilot David Miller from giving spectators a thrilling ride on his balloon, Skybird.

“We came here to fly and give the people a show,” said Joy Miller, David Miller’s wife.

It didn’t take long for a line to form of those who wanted the chance to ascend skyward on the tethered, bright orange-and-blue balloon that has three large, white seagulls sewn onto one side.

“I’ve always wanted to do this,” said 78-year-old Pat Tomancik, of Baton Rouge, as she waited patiently in the line. “My dream is by the time I’m 80, I want to go up, up and away.”

Helping to launch each ride on Skybird was Dawn Miller Denicola, of Baton Rouge, the Millers’ daughter, and Ronnie Skiruik, a Houston woman the family met at a balloon rally eight years ago.

“Ronnie has been helping us crew ever since,” Joy Miller said. “We’ve built a lot of lasting relationships doing this.”

The Miller family got into the sport 20 years ago when David Miller, a retired Air Force B-52 pilot, wanted to keep flying.

By chance, he attended the national balloon championships in 1989 — the first to be held in Baton Rouge — and “has been hooked” ever since, his wife said.

“Our three children and I were his first crew,” Joy Miller said, which meant beyond helping to launch the balloon, the family also rode in the “chase car” and either visually or by radio found where he was going to land the Skybird.

And the sport has remained a family affair.

“Our daughter even met her husband at a balloon rally,” Joy Miller said.

Dawn Miller Denicola met her husband, Sam Denicola, in 2001 at a balloon rally in Gonzales.

Sam Denicola has for years served as a crew member for George Richard, the executive director of the Pennington event and the longtime pilot of The Advocate and WBRZ Channel 2’s balloon.

The Denicolas, who live in Baton Rouge, had been to the same balloon rallies for 10 years but had never met.

“I told Sam, ‘It’s fate. Let’s not fight it, let’s just get married’ and we did,” Dawn Denicola said.

Now Dawn Denicola wants to get her pilot’s license.

Balloon pilots have to get a Federal Aviation Administration pilot’s license — which includes taking a flight and written test — and their balloon must be federally registered, just like an airplane. Balloon owners must also comply with safety regulations, including getting their balloons inspected once a year by an FAA-certified inspector, Miller said.

“The FAA (agents) often come to these events and will ask for our papers,” Joy Miller said. “But that’s good because this is all about safety.”

When they’re not at a rally, Miller will go flying with her husband.

“I love it because it is so calm and quiet and everything gets put into perspective,” Joy Miller said. “The clutter is gone when you’re up there.”

Dennis Barrett, of Brookhaven, Miss., said he finds floating along in a hot air balloon “serene.”

Barrett also stayed tethered Friday in his red, white and blue balloon, Thunderhead, while he waited to see if the wind would pick up.

“No air is just as bad as too much air,” said Barrett, who has been a balloon pilot for 24 years.

Barrett said he enjoys the competition at the rallies.

Pilots have to maneuver their balloons from a few miles out to an X marked on a field. They are judged on how close they can get to the target. The winner gets $500, Barrett said.

As Barrett talked, he would periodically turn on the propane and a large yellow flame would shoot up through the hole in the center of the balloon. The heat kept the balloon expanded and gives it lift — when it’s not tethered, he said.

“It’s safe,” Barrett said of the flame. “Even though the fabric is flame retardant, you never aim the flame off to the side.”

As Barrett waited to see what the wind would do, spectators were going to each balloon pilot and asking for “balloon cards.”

“The balloon cards are for children and some adults like me who are still children,” laughed Eve Carmena, 66, who was collecting the colorful cards with her grandson, Chandler George, 14, both of Baton Rouge.

“This event is wonderful,” Carmena said of the competition, sponsored in part by The Advocate and WBRZ Channel 2. “We come every year.”