Flying Balloons May Hardly Seem Like An Air Force Activity, But This Air Force Major Does It His Own Way
What may appear, from a distance, to be a dragon belching the flame of a hundred blow torches is really an Air Force officer preparing for flight, but not in a way you may expect.
(In the photo, Maj. Kenny Weiner prepares for takeoff with a basket full of friends during a 2012 balloon festival in Albuquerque, N.M. Weiner is a fourth-generation balloon pilot.)
Maj. Kenny Weiner is a transportation planner at U.S. Transportation Command and a C-17 Globemaster III instructor pilot in his day job, but on weekends and much of the other time he’s not at work, you can find him planning the next hot-air balloon flight.
“I am a fourth-generation balloon pilot… note I did not say ‘hot-air’ balloon pilot,” Weiner said. “My great-grandfather flew gas balloons for Goodyear, helping to train future Navy blimp pilots. My mother and grandfather started flying hot-air balloons in Akron, OH, in 1982 when I was 4 or 5 years old. So I grew up around balloons.”
What started as a hobby quickly became a family business when Weiner’s mother opened a balloon-ride operation in Medina, OH.
“In 1993, my family purchased our first special-shape balloon,” Weiner said. “It was a snowman, designed after one of the four images on our balloon called Seasons. That balloon was purple with a snowman, daisy, pumpkin and sunshine on it. We went on to build one shape for each season: Mr. Winter, Ms. Autumn, Sunny Boy and Miss Daisy.
“We spent our summers traveling to various balloon events as the Seasons Hot Air Balloon Team,” Weiner continued. “We were lucky to have taken the balloons to some amazing places, including the Loire Valley in France, Germany, New Zealand, flights over the Horseshoe Falls in Niagara. We also had a ballooning business in Tampa, Florida, and we flew the Disney balloons.”
Weiner joined the Air Force in 2001, but that didn’t end his hobby. It was just transformed a bit.
“I stopped flying commercially and stopped flying special shapes,” Weiner said. “Since then, I continue to fly balloons as a hobby and family sport. My balloon is called Independence and is representative of the American flag. It is 90,000 cubic feet, which is average for balloons.”
Weiner said his two children are now part of the sport. “I hope they decide to become pilots,” he added. “My 5-year-old son, Evan, is already convinced he is my co-pilot.” His wife, Hanna, also is involved, and often acts as his crew chief.
Though Weiner said he’s had many interesting experiences, he’s never had a frightful flight.
“I have never been scared in a balloon,” he said. “And I would add people that are afraid of heights enjoy balloon flights more than anyone else. They are often repeat passengers. There is something distinctive and ‘unscary’ about a balloon flight. It is as if you stand on a platform and watch the Earth rotate beneath you.”
(Image provided by the USAF)
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