A Talk With Our Pilots – Memorable Flights - Part 2

  
 Hang out around any hot air balloon pilot for long, and the stories will start to flow. We wanted them to share some of these with you, so we asked them "Who was your most interesting passenger?"

Jack Ponticelli – “A feisty 97-year old woman. She always wanted to fly in a balloon. Her great grandson surprised her when he picked her up from the assisted living home and told her he was taking her for a drive in the country. Since she could not stand for extended periods, I put a chair for her to sit in during the flight. Occasionally I would ask her how she was doing. Finally she said, and I will never forget her reply, “I am fine. What do you think….I am going to die?” My reply was “I hope not during the ride.”  

Madison Sharpe – “I would have to say Gray Gaulding has been the most interesting passenger I have flown. He is a 16 year old, from Statesville, NC that is racing in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.”

Anthony Seeger – “I flew the Watermelon Queen in Immokalee, FL this year. She was nervous at first, but started to relax and enjoy the flight after a few minutes.”  

Bubba Winston - “Professional basketball player Ralph Sampson. At 7 ft. 4 in. Ralph simply scissor stepped into the basket, then had to lean away from the burner when I had to burn.”  

Buddy Carter – “A crew member’s dad was dying of cancer and was wanting a hot air balloon ride. We broke him out of the hospice unit, with the doctor’s permission, and took him for a flight. It was one of the flights you never forget. He was still telling everyone about his flight up to the morning he passed from this world to be with his Heavenly Father.”  

Charlie Schoebel – “Two naked girls when I was in my 20s. It was a paid flight and they wanted to have their fantasy flight.”     

Wayne Fortney - "I flew the Ambassadress to Croatia in my basket once. She enjoyed her adventure and invited my crew and I to Croatia any time we wanted. It was quite the adventure."

Chris Sommers - "John Travolta, Kathy Bates, Wynonna Judd"

Clarke Harbold – “Any veteran.”

David Bristol – “Once I had country singer Ty England (Former backup singer and guitarist for Garth Brooks) start his concert from my balloon. I was tethered beside the stage and he was wearing a cordless microphone singing in my basket. I have also had many passengers get engaged in my balloon, several balloon weddings, and even one divorce!”

Bill Whidden – “Ted Turner. Flew him in his North Florida buffalo ranch. He wanted to land among his buffalo herd, which I didn’t think was a good idea. But he insisted, so we did. The buffalo took a few minutes to decide what they thought of the strange beast that landed and then stampeded – not once, but several times. I was reminded of the movie “Dances With Wolves” as they stampeded past and could only think about the newspaper would have to say the next day (“Ted Turner And Local Balloonist Trampled By Buffalo Herd”.”) By the way, do you know how hard it is to get buffalo poop off a balloon?”