Jackson and the Hot-Air Balloon
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This is a Big Day for me!! My name is Jackson and I am going to ride in my Grandparents’ (Mimi and Papa’s) Hot-Air balloon called “Friendship.”
I need to get up before sunrise. Sunrise is one of the best times to fly because the winds are usually very calm.
I am so excited that I do not mind getting up at 5 a.m. I tell Mommy ad Daddy that I am a little tired, but I don’t care! I can’t wait to fly in Friendship.
We are going to meet the rest of the Chase Crew including Aunt Stacy an Uncle Rob at the field.
Papa drives to the field where he has received permission to inflate Friendship. This is a good field to inflate the ballon because it has no electrical wires or trees nearby.
The first step is to take the basket off of the trailer and lay the basket on it’s side. We need some strong people to drag the envelope out of the basket and completely unroll it away from the basket. Daddy, Mommy, Uncle Rob and Aunt Stacy volunteer to do this. They enjoy helping Papa.
After it is lying flat on the ground, the next step is to connect the envelope to the basket. When we have that connected, Papa connects the burner which goes between the basket and the mouth of the balloon.
Now it is time to inflate the Balloon.
Mommy, Daddy and Uncle Rob hold the mouth of the balloon open. Then Aunt Stacy turns on the fan. She points the fan towards the mouth of the balloon putting cool air inside the envelope. When the envelope looks like a soft cloud, the fan is turned off. Now Papa turns the burner on to heat the air inside the envelope.
Hot air rises and the Balloon needs to be hotter than the air around it to rise. Papa uses long blasts on the burner to get the air in the balloon’s envelope hot enough to rise.
Mimi and I are at the opposite end of the balloon called the crown. We are holding a line attached to the crown. Our job is to hold the line so that the envelope doesn’t move too much or go up too quickly.
When there is enough hot air in the envelope, Papa whistles to us. He is letting us know that he is ready to heat the air in the envelope using the burner. Mimi and I know to start to walk towards the basket holding the line as the balloon rises. When we get to the basket, we hand the line to Papa and he ties it to the basket.
We are now ready to take off. Mimi and I get inside the basket with Papa and wave to the people around us. Papa starts to heat the air with very long blasts from the burner. The balloon starts to float off the ground and with one last long blast we are off the ground.
WE ARE FLYING!!!
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About the Book
There are few things as thrilling as looking down on the world from the basket of a hot-air balloon. Jackson, a four-year-old boy, doesn’t mind waking up at five o’clock in the morning to go with his family on a hot-air balloon adventure. But Jackson soon learns that there’s much more to piloting a hot-air balloon than just getting off the ground.
Author Faith Schwenker and her husband, Rudy, flew in many exciting places in their hot-air balloon, Friendship, from 1973 to 1998. In that time, Faith heard many questions about her craft. How do you inflate a hot-air balloon? How do you steer? How do you land? Where do you land? Keeping children in mind, Faith answers these question and many more in her new book, Jackson and the Hot-Air Balloon.
Seeking to give everyone the opportunity to experience the joy and exhilaration of a hot-air balloon ride, Schwenker shares her experiences piloting balloons through the eyes of a child, four-year-old Jackson. Jackson’s adventure comes alive through original pictures, humor, and Jackson’s excitement.
About the Author
Faith Schwenker and her husband, Rudy, flew a hot-air balloon called Friendship from 1973 to 1998, experiencing a variety of flights and locations, including the 1980 Olympics. She writes to share some of her experiences with her young grandson, Jackson. Faith currently lives in New York.