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friday, february 6, 1981
daily nebraskan
page 7
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The sight of deer bolting from thickets, bounding
over snow-blanketed fields and leaping over fences renders
a person momentarily speechless.
But seen from 1500 feet in the air while floating in a
hot air balloon, the sight takes on added indecruilty.
Farmhouses look like carefully constructed miniatures,
fields appear as patchwork quilts carpeted in white,
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Story by Raid Uarron
Photos by Jon Ilatvig
and the total quiet is broken only when someone decides
to talk or a cow below decides to moo a warning about
the beast passing overhead.
Most balloonists let their hot air equipment hibernate
for the winter, but not Wayne Hailing and Loren Nansel.
The 23-year-olds say winter is as good a time for
ballooning as summer, if not better. The air is thinner
and provides a better buoyancy for the balloon.
"Our toes get cold sometimes," Hailing said, "but
that's about it."
The temperature while in the balloon is actually
10 to 15 degrees warmer than on the ground, Hailing
said, because of being above the air's inversion level.
Hailing and Nansel bought their multi-colored balloon,
the Eclipse, 1 Vi years ago.
The pair charters their balloon for any occasion,
giving student discount rates and holiday rates. A Valen
tine's Day special is being planned.
All charter flights, which last an hour or more, in
clude instruction on balloon operation before and during
flight, and a traditional champagne ceremony upon land
ing. After each flight, the crew gives champagne to the land
owner in whose field the balloon landed. The tradition
started in 18th century France when farmers became
angry about balloons damaging their crops during land
ing, and the king decreed that balloonists give them
champagne as appeasement.
Hailing, a balloon pilot certified by the Federal Avia
tion Administration, said a chase car is provided to re
trieve passengers after landing and that radio communi
cation between the balloon and the car is kept up to en
sure safety.
Ballooning is impossible to shake once it gets in your
system, said Hailing and Nansel.
"We never get tired of it," they said in unison.
