The complexity of flying a special shape balloon
By Sasha Lenninger
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ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico (KOAT) — They’re a crowd favorite every year at the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta.
This year, 106 special shapes are at the event, with 16 first-timers.
“They are a lot of fun. And besides, who doesn’t love Smokey Bear? Everybody loves Smokey Bear,” said Beth Wright-Smith.
Since 2020, Wright-Smith has piloted New Mexico’s most iconic balloon, Smokey Bear. This year, the balloon is donning a different look, thanks to a brand new envelope.
“The new Smokey Bear does not look like the old Smokey Bear. His nose is wider, and so he looks younger. He looks more like a baby bear. So he’s very cute,” said Wright-Smith.
Smokey Bear weighs roughly 750 pounds. The weight of a normal teardrop-shaped hot air balloon is 250 to 300 pounds. Special shape balloons like Smokey Bear tend to weigh more due to their size, extra air vents and appendages.
“Smokey has baffles and things to get the air out into his nose and his ears and his hat and all that stuff adds weight too,” said Wright-Smith. “When the wind catches him, his nose sticks out. So the wind catches that, he turns. If there’s appendages sticking out, that will also change how the balloon flies and how it lands.”
Balloons like the Ristra, according to Wright-Smith, have plenty of vents. Each little chile had a vent of its own that needed to be opened and closed by hand. Simply put, the more appendages a balloon has, the more difficult it is to fly.
“Arabella, the cow, doesn’t fly as often as some of the special shapes because she’s not only huge, but she has all these appendages,” said Wright-Smith. “She’s got a head and she’s got a tail and she got big legs, and in the wind, because her legs are so long they drag a lot, and they can get torn.”
That’s why flying a special-shaped balloon is complex and requires very skilled pilots like Wright-Smith, who has 45 years of ballooning experience under her belt.
Special shapes also need plenty of room to land due to their weight and size. If winds aren’t pushing in a favorable direction with open space, pilots tend to stay grounded. These balloons can only fly in winds up to 5-7 miles per hour.
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