Deluge downs balloon race

By Rob Edwards
Staff Writer

``We're canceling.'' These words fell from the mouth of Brian Beazly Friday night at the annual Great American Balloon Race. A deluge postponed the race an hour and then at 7 p.m. Beazly spoke with the weather service and was informed that a ``real intense set of storms is heading our way. ... level one rain showers.''

Beazly is a member of Balloon Odyssey, a coalition of balloon racers who travel all over the country, and was in charge of officiating the race.

Thirty-one balloons were expected to arrive in Danville for the race, an integral part of every Great American Brass Band Festival. Sixteen racers from all over Kentucky and the South showed up only to be sent back home. Not empty-handed though. The sponsor, WRNZ, agreed to split half the pot among all of the racers who showed up.

David Sullivan drove seven hours from the Atlanta area Friday afternoon and expected to get back on the road and head home after the race was canceled. ``It has been a bad spring,'' Sullivan said. Because of the rainy spring, Sullivan has canceled a half dozen balloon rides this year.

And it's not just Danville that has been under the weather. Sullivan said,``I haven't flown at home since February. That's just the way it is.''

His balloon, the Alegria, which one more time remained folded up, is 90,000 cubic feet of hot air. It is dark blue with multi-colored feathers bottom up and top down. Sullivan makes his living racing balloons and is one of the only mobile balloon repair specialists in the business.

His friend, Cheryl Wiseman, also a balloon pilot, drove up from Tallahassee, Fla., to ``come up and root for David.''

Their friendship and mutual support is typical in balloon racing. ``That's what we do when we're not flying. ... It's definitely a group sport,'' Wiseman said. In addition to rooting on her friend, she was also going to act as his ``chaser.''

In this role she would follow his movement in the air from the ground and pick him up wherever he landed. Wiseman admitted that ``flying is a challenge, but sometimes chasing is harder when you are unfamiliar with the area.''

While the balloon pilots received their order to head back, the party inside Hammond Aviation's hangar was just starting. The hopeful brass band enthusiasts would not be put down this night by rainy weather. Scott Kirby started to cheer up the crowd by jazzing it up on an old piano in the hangar. While the Salvation Army Band from Washington D.C., was stuck on its tour bus, other bands braved the storm and carried their instruments into the back of the hangar.

Trumpet player Vince DiMartino put it best when he said, ``We're going to eat and play no matter what. ... This is a chance to play and have some fun.''

The Ameriikan Poijat from Minnesota was the first brass band to entertain in the hangar. Their Finnish music spurred on the spirit of the audience and challenged the authority of the rain. Taking advantage of the good acoustics in the hangar they played music from the 1920s and '30s, as well as contemporary Finnish music.

As the rain turned from downpour to drizzle, Hammond's Aviation began to sell plane rides on a 1929 New Standard. The bi-plane fit four passengers easily in the front seat while the pilot flew from his seat behind.

Those who stayed out at the airport even after the cancellation of the race also enjoyed a mock plane simulator that was stationed beside the hangar. The M-4 Personal Motion Theater allowed two passengers to enjoy an exciting ride in a P-51 Mustang, futuristic space machine, or a jet interceptor. Charlie Perry of WRNZ radio station gave a live broadcast while inside the theater and came out saying that he hoped his mother wasn't listening. ``I could feel the turbulence, bank with the plane, and turn upside down,'' Perry said. Anyone who missed the chance to take off, turn, do 360-degree barrel rolls in a P-51 while still on the ground is in luck. The M-4 theater will return to Danville in September for the Great American AirFest.

While balloon pilots walked around instead of flying, and planes took off and landed, the Brass Band festival kept its end of the bargain. Music blared from the hangar throughout the evening.

Back to GABBF 1997