Piloting hot air balloons is a family ordeal, according to some balloonists who gathered in Galesburg this weekend for the Great Balloon Race at Lake Storey.
A 21-year veteran of piloting hot air balloons, Al Reusch, says he enjoys bringing his family with him to events he flies at for their help and to kill time if necessary. He says he became interested in ballooning after an event in his hometown of Macomb over two decades ago.
Reusch tells WGIL he was glad to get, what he called, forced into ballooning early in his life.
"I met a pilot from Louisville, Kentucky and I just casually said to him 'man, this is fun (and) as soon as my kids grow up and are gone I'm gonna do hot air ballooning. ' He said do it now while the kids are small...they'll love doing it. So my kids were four or five years old when we started ballooning, and now he's a pilot at 27 (years old). And a very good pilot by the way."
Reusch's son, Dan, was also at the event piloting his own balloon and thanked his dad for the great training which makes him a better pilot.
Reusch says a balloon is like a car, the more bells and whistles you want on it the more is costs. But he says you can get a nice used balloon set up for about $15,000.
Reusch says he was looking forward to this weekend's activities, including when balloonists try to land their hot air balloons safely on targets.
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