A kaleidoscope of color over Prosser

Cheryl Isaacs was ready for her. The hot air balloon pilot keeps a dozen or so extra gloves on a rack in her trailer.

With that, Isaacs put Sizer to work pulling rope, unpacking equipment and stretching out the envelope of Padre Del Sol, the balloon that would soon soar over Prosser in a kaleidoscope of colors.

"I like new experiences," Sizer said.

On Friday, Sizer, 58, joined dozens of other local volunteers who often go unnoticed, but help the Great Prosser Balloon Rally happen.

While all eyes are cast upwards at the hot air balloons, its the crews and volunteers on the ground that help make it all possible. Eager to help, learn or just touch one of the rally's 30 balloons, they are event's unsung heroes.

The pilots at the 20th annual event, which continues today and Sunday at the Prosser airport, depend on local volunteers to help crews -- or chase balloons.

Crew members help launch, then follow along on roads while talking to the pilot by radio. After a landing, they pack away the gear and haul it back to the airport.

Kelly Carlson, this year's rally coordinator, said about 60 or so volunteers help crew each year.

Pilots joke that the wide-eyed spectators are easy pickings for free labor. "Crew's another word for working," Isaacs said.

Her husband and crew chief, Michael, said it usually take four people to launch and land the balloon.

Pilots make few promises, but if crew members are extra lucky, they might get a ride on the last day of the festival, Carlson said.

Today, balloonists will take up sponsors of the event. But on Sunday, pilots have more freedom, though they obviously can't take everybody.

Even so, most volunteers still enjoy helping on the ground.

"To be there and be a part of that is wonderful," Carlson said.

Sizer, an accountant and grandmother of four, works with a longtime balloon rally volunteer who suggested she try crewing.

Carlson paired her with Isaacs, who has flown in seven Prosser rallies.

The veteran pilot showed Sizer how to clip lines to the balloon basket with a carabiner, prop open the bottom of the balloon to let a fan inflate it and act as human ballast once Isaacs began burning propane to heat up the air.

It all went much faster than Sizer would have guessed.

"I didn't know what was involved," she said.

Lower Valley residents Brian Michener, 16, and Kevin Munck, 14, joined Sizer partway through the launch process.

It beats just standing around and watching, said Michener, who has crewed for balloon pilots for the past six years.

"It's much more personal when you're involved," he said. "You learn a lot about them."

A few other spectators offered to pitch in, but Isaacs turned them down. She appreciates the help and enjoys teaching but must set limits for safety reasons, she said.

"I like having people help but I want to make sure they're doing it right," she said.

The Isaacs asked Sizer to help again Sunday with her husband Dean, a grape and apple grower. They did not promise anybody a ride.

That's OK with Sizer, who said she would bring her own gloves.

"If nothing else, helping is a lot of fun," Sizer said.

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Annual Big Bend Balloon Bash Held Outside of Alpine

NEAR ALPINE - The annual Big Bend balloon bash took to the skies on Saturday under ideal flying conditions.

In total, 15 colorful hot air balloons, piloted by professionals from all across Texas, gathered just outside Alpine.

The balloons themselves are made out of stronger parachute material.

Residents say once you get up into the air, it's a smooth ride.

The Bash will continue through the Labor Day weekend with flights lifting off in the early morning and a fire concert at Buck Stadium in Alpine on Sunday night.

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Balloon company lets air out of dream flights

Customers of A Great American Balloon Co. complain of multiple cancellations


For its phone number, A Great American Balloon Co. uses digits that spell out the phrase We Do Fly.

Clever enough.

Trouble is, more often than not the hot air balloon company doesn't fly, leaving paying customers grounded for months, sometimes years, waiting for a chance to cash in on their prepaid journeys.

In the past several weeks, three readers have written to What's Your Problem? to complain about the Evanston-based balloon company, which flies out of several spots in the upper Midwest, including Fox River Grove and Plainfield.

In all three cases, the readers or a loved one prepaid $175-$200 for a ride, only to be told repeatedly that weather conditions did not permit flying on their scheduled days.

"I think they're hoping I'll die," said Gloria Byczynski, an Ottawa senior citizen whose children bought her a balloon ride for her birthday three years ago.

Byczynski said she's scheduled a half-dozen flights since August 2006. A Great American Balloon Co. canceled every one of them, citing bad weather.

"I'm even wondering if they have a balloon," Byczynski said. "I've been going around with these guys for quite a while."

So has Bob Ruckoldt of Huntley, who wrote to What's Your Problem? on July 30, one day after his scheduled flight was canceled. It was his fifth cancellation.

Ruckoldt said friends bought him the balloon trip two years ago. He's still waiting for liftoff.

"They tell you it's the upper atmosphere, but it looked like a perfect day," Ruckoldt said. "They keep selling new flights, and the rescheduling just gets further and further away. We figure we probably won't get a flight again this year."

Hank Strunk is equally pessimistic. His children bought him a balloon ride last year for his 75th birthday. He said he's tried repeatedly to book a flight, but each has been canceled.

Frustrated, his daughter, e-mailed What's Your Problem?

"These people are just -- I don't want to curse -- but I feel like they're blank liars," Sue Strunk said. "All they do is take money and then string people along until they are so worn down that they stop calling."

Byczynski and Ruckoldt both said they asked for their money back but have been rebuffed. The balloon company has a no-refund policy.

Almost two weeks ago, the Problem Solver called Ron Lake, manager of A Great American Balloon Co. in Illinois.

Lake said flight cancellations are common in the Midwest, and that less than one-third of scheduled trips actually take off.

While some customers take off on their first scheduled trip, a half-dozen cancellations is pretty standard, he said. One group, he said, had to reschedule 15 times.

"We have to be so careful," Lake said.

The last two summers have been uncharacteristically rainy, further slowing operations, he said. Even so, the company flew about 1,800 people last summer, and it expects to fly a similar number again this year, Lake said.

Asked why he doesn't refund money to dissatisfied customers if their flights have been canceled a half-dozen times, Lake said he has no intention of giving money back.

"We would simply become a bank," he said. "The money [would go] back and forth, back and forth."

Lake promised to move Strunk and Ruckoldt to the top of the list of customers, ensuring they would get on a flight quickly.

"We'll get someone to bird-dog them and get them up as soon as possible," Lake said.

He said the company would call the men if there was a last-minute cancellation, then put them in the air that day.

"Whenever we fly, there's usually two or three people that just don't show up," he said more than a week ago.

Several days later, the company called Strunk -- to schedule a flight in October. Strunk said he complained and was given a new date of Sept. 9.

"I was dumbfounded," Strunk said. "I came to a conclusion. I asked myself if I trust or have confidence in these folks, and the answer is no."

Ruckoldt said he received no calls. He and his wife remain scheduled for a Sept. 17 flight, but he has little confidence it will happen.

"If that gets blown off, the season's over," he said. "It could still go on for a long time."

HAVE A PROBLEM? E-mail your story, providing as many details as possible, to yourproblem@tribune.com or write to What's Your Problem?, Newsroom, Chicago Tribune, 435 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL 60611. Please include your name and a way to contact you. We cannot respond to everyone, but we'll get to as many as we can and publish the results Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays.

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First crossing of the Atlantic Ocean in a balloon accomplished in 1978

August 17, 1978: Double Eagle II sets down in a barley field. The feat was the first successful crossing of the Atlantic Ocean in a balloon. Ben Abruzzo, Maxie Anderson, and Larry Newman left Presque Isle, Maine and 137 hours and 6 minutes later they landed in Miserey, France. This was the fourteenth attempt to cross the Atlantic using a balloon. The first try came in 1873 with the trip ending after 45 miles. By try #13, the two pilots were only 110 miles short of their goal when the gas bag ripped. Two flights vanished over the ocean (#4 in 1970 and #6 in 1974) killing the four balloonists. In 1974 with attempt #7, the balloon burst, killing the lone occupant.

Double Eagle II was built and designed by Ed Yost. The balloon held 160,000 cubic feet of helium. The attached gondola was named "The Spirit of Albuquerque" and measured 15 x 7 x 4.5 feet. The three men flew 3,107.6 miles in 5 days, 17 hours, and 6 minutes. The gondola was equipped with a twin hulled catamaran and would float should they need to make an emergency water landing. Newman also brought a hang glider intending to glide to a landing. However, it was jettisoned as ballast the day before.

Anderson and Abruzzo, both businessmen in Albuquerque, New Mexico, had tried to cross the ocean in Double Eagle I in 1977 – try #11 – but they were forced to ditch west of Iceland after looping east of Greenland. The smaller balloon was battered by storms after a delayed lift off and the ride ended after 65.5 hours. By 1978, the businessmen were both in their early forties while Newman, a hang glider manufacturer, was in his twenties. All three were experienced aviators in hot air balloons, hang gliders, and airplanes.

They had learned form earlier mistakes and managed to sail in over France. They looked for a promising spot to land. They were told the Le Bourget Airport had been closed for them. It was the airport used by Charles Lindbergh after his successful transatlantic flight. The crew was afraid of harming the people who had gathered to watch the landing of the Double Eagle II. They sailed on to safely land in the barley field, the first transcontinental balloon to alight on dry land.

"Another term for balloon is bad breath holder." - Demetri Martin

"My dream date is a tall, dark, handsome, blue eyed man with a bubble butt who will whisk me away to Paris in a hot air balloon to wine me, dine me ..." - Karen McDougal

"The jet stream is a very strong force and pushing a balloon into it is like pushing up against a brick wall, but once we got into it, we found that, remarkably, the balloon went whatever speed the wind went." - Richard Branson

"Well, the odds must be against anybody being able to fly around the world in a balloon on the first attempt. All of us who are attempting to go around the world in balloons are effectively flying in experimental craft because these craft cannot be tested." - Richard Branson

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