At 6 a.m. on the morning of September 7, dozens of pilots gathered at Rancho San Rafael Regional Park in Reno in preparation for taking to the skies in their hot air balloons that weekend for the 42nd annual Great Reno Balloon Race. Fan favorites such as Juliet, Smokey the Bear, and Bandit floated over Northern Nevada, delighting thousands of spectators down below who got up early for the Super Glow Show and Dawn Patrol in this free event.
David Robinson was one of the pilots flying in the Great Reno Balloon Race, navigating what’s called an “experimental” balloon, meaning that he made it himself. From Half Moon Bay, Robinson first became interested in hot air balloons in 1966 when he was a freshman in high school. Before that, he liked airplanes, and his dad was taking flying lessons at the time. However, when he got a little older, he read an article about how a kid made a hot air balloon out of a dry-cleaning bag and a candle and it was mistaken for a flying saucer. The article piqued Robinson’s interest and he started experimenting with making hot air balloons himself.
“My dream transferred from being an airplane pilot to a balloonist,” he says.
Robinson made his first flyable hot air balloon while he was still in high school and earned his student license in 1970. He doesn’t know how many flights he has taken- only that he is on his third log book. He guesses that he has around 2,800 hours of flying time. He attended the first Great Reno Balloon Race in 1981 and he owns four balloons (two of them are retired factory-made balloons).
The blue balloon that we were in was made of a wicker basket with sturdy oak base and “envelope” consisting of nylon, parachute-like material (Robinson’s first balloon was made of polyethylene). Robinson uses three industrial sewing machines to make a hot air balloon envelope, his current one taking about six months to make. The basket lasts forever but the fabric of the envelope tends to wear out. The shelf life of a balloon depends on how hot you fly it. Unlike a sleek racing balloon, this experimental one was only intended for demonstrations.
With a 5–6-person official aeronaut volunteer crew, the balloon was laid out and a fan blasted cold air into the envelope to inflate it. Robinson attached the burners and the heat from the fuel tanks kept in the basket was added to help the balloon rise. In about 20 minutes, the balloon was inflated, and we gently lifted into the air to join the dozens of others. Two balloons high above the park look like they’re colliding, in what the announcer calls “a kiss”.
“When the sun comes up it creates a whole new set of weather conditions,” the announcer adds.
We float above N McCarran Boulevard and N Virginia Street, paying attention to powerlines and adding heat to drift away from them if we need to. A balloon next to us drops a blue bag, trying to get to land as close as possible to the giant X laid out on the ground (the target). About 10 minutes later, we land on a moderately-grated desert slope side and our crew comes and picks us up.
That day and all weekend long, there were sunny skies and light winds- perfect for the annual family-friendly photogenic event. The Great Reno Balloon Race had upwards of 100,000 attendees and around 80 balloonists.
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