Updates
Inside the Basket - Rodney May, Balloon Fiesta Board of Director and Remote Control Balloon Pilot
May 16, 2023
Rodney May is on the Balloon Fiesta Board of Directors, as well as a remote control balloon operator.
In this month’s Inside the Basket, he gives a look at how he became introduced to the sport, what remote control balloons are and how guests can see them at the 51st Balloon Fiesta.
1. Give a brief overview of your Balloon Fiesta role and how you came to be involved with the organization.
I started volunteering at Balloon Fiesta in the early 1980s helping move pilot registration things from the old Balloon Fiesta office on Hawkins to the old Holiday Inn Midtown, which served as the Balloon Fiesta headquarters. My wife and I purchased a balloon in 1985 and I received my private certificate in 1986 and flew that same year in Balloon Fiesta. I was recruited to become a field official in 1989 and then was elected to the Balloon Fiesta Board of Directors in 1991 where I still serve today.
2. In addition to being on the Balloon Fiesta Board of Directors and a balloon pilot, you are also a Remote Control (RC) Balloon Operator. How did you get into RC balloons?
It really began at the 2021 Balloon Fiesta when we actually set up an event dedicated to the RC balloons, Fiesta de Los Globitos. My wife, our daughter who was in from Atlanta, and I were wandering around watching them set up and fly. We were also intrigued by how realistic some of the basket and burner systems were and started talking about how fun it would be to have one of our own. We got in touch with one of the people who builds RCs and by May 2022 we had our own.
3. You had your regular hot air balloon, replicated as a miniature RC balloon. How does the RC version differ from your normal hot air balloon?
From an appearance standpoint, other than being 1/3 scale, the envelope looks exactly like our big balloon system and the basket is very similar in appearance. The envelope volume is about 2,800 cu ft vs 90,000 cu ft. There are some simplifications with our RC, such as just having a rip panel to deflate instead of a parachute top, there is only one burner instead of two, obviously instead of being in the basket and operating the burner, we use an RC transmitter to operate the burner while standing on the ground, and the balloon is always on a tether line while flying. The RCs are rapidly getting more sophisticated as the sport grows with features like independently operated, dual burners and parachute tops that can operate while flying, as well as more detailed special shapes envelopes being built and flown.
4. RC balloons first made their debut at Balloon Fiesta in 2021. What has been your favorite part of adding these to Balloon Fiesta and how can guests see RC balloons during their visit?
I like it because it provides a different take on traditional hot-air ballooning. Since the systems are much smaller and stay tethered near the ground, it seems like we are much more approachable by people, particularly children, who are interested in asking questions.
There are four scheduled events for the Fiesta de Los Globitos, the first Sunday morning, Wednesday morning, Friday morning, and the last Saturday evening for a glow. As details are finalized, more information will be available on the Balloon Fiesta website.
5. What tips do you have for those interested in becoming an RC operator?
Feel free to talk with any of the pilots that are at the event. Everyone is very enthusiastic about growing the sport and talking to people about it. There is an Albuquerque club, Enchanted Model Balloons, that has a website with information about the sport, as well as links to YouTube videos from one of the members showing how the systems are built.
Categories: Inside the Basket
Get to Know Alain:
Alain has been an avid flying enthusiast his entire life.
As a young boy, he built and flew dozens of his model aircraft creations.
As a certified skydiver, Alain has jumped almost 1,000 times from various types of aircraft, helicopters and hot air balloons, and is a certified skydiving instructor and parachute rigger. In 2012, he achieved the Canadian record for the largest formation in freefall (102 parachutists).
Alain is a paraglider pilot, and is a Transport Canada certified pilot in powered paragliders and hot air balloons. He is also a hot air balloon flight instructor and a Transport Canada certified Aircraft Maintenance Engineer (AME) for balloons.
Since 2009, Alain's main passion has been piloting Hot Air Balloons. He is one of the rare people in the world to have constructed his own hot air balloons and baskets from scratch. He manufactures these balloons under the Bard Balloons moniker. Seven of these balloons are "Special Shape" hot air balloons in the shape of an Alien Rocket Ship, a Christmas Deer, a Polar Bear, a Tiger, a Robot, a Sun/Cloud and a Mushroom.
Alain also designs modern hot balloons in 3D CAD for other balloon builders with 18 of these designs completed to date.
Alain has flown balloons in some far-away places in the world, a total of 13 countries: Czech Republic, Laos, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Philippines, Qatar, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, United Kingdom as well as locally at many of the hot air balloon festival in Canada and the USA.
Alain is the Ontario sales representative for Kubicek Balloons, the largest balloon manufacturers in the world.
Since 2012, Alain has been the President of the National Capital Balloon Club where, along with other club members, he has helped create several other balloons from scratch. As President, he helps promote the sport in the National Capital region and also acts as liaison to Transport Canada.
How and when did you become involved in Balloon Fiesta?
After designing and building my first special shape hot air balloon - Alien Rocket - I was invited to attend with this balloon in 2016 and again in 2017. I am returning this year, for the first time since 2017 - with Météo.
What is the story behind Météo?
MÉTÉO is the latest Special Shape Hot Air Balloon to come out of the Bard Balloons workshop and was conceived during the depths of the 2020 covid shutdown where I had lots of time to design the perfect version of this concept. It combines elements such as clouds, a sun, a rainbow, and a star (there is even a hidden lightning bolt to discover). It took 5 full design iterations to get this one just right before I started building it – and it took a full year to cut and sew together, and another year of flight testing, for a total of almost 3 years from start to finish.
“Météo” is the French word for “weather”, the perfect name for this balloon.
While seemingly simple from the outside, this special shape balloon is quite complex, with internal structure walls and internal cone, over 150 airflow holes and 16 appendages (including the largest appendages I have ever built – the 2 side bubbles of the cloud – each with a diameter of 9.5 m / 31 ft) – all these details come together to give this balloon a distinctive shape.
It is made with my very special, custom-designed lightweight fabric, as well as fluorescent fabric for the yellow sun portion, and in a few colors of the rainbow.
The base is a sphere and has an internal volume of 2,260 m3 / 80,000 cubic feet and it has a total volume of 2,660 m3 / 94,000 ft3. It is almost as wide (21m / 69 ft) as it is tall (22m / 71 ft), and because it uses lightweight fabric, the balloon envelope only weighs 100 kg! (220 lbs).
What are you most looking forward to at Balloon Fiesta this year?
Seeing all my ballooning friends attending from all around the world and talking shop - mostly about hot air balloon design.
A few innovations that I have been using in the amateur-built balloon scene have been picked up by some of the major balloon manufacturers over the last few years such as lightweight fabrics and hybrid balloon profiles - it's an exciting time with new technologies.
What do you do when you’re not flying hot air balloons?
My life pretty much revolves around balloons, but when I'm not flying, I am usually designing or building new balloons or inspecting and repairing balloons.
I also like to paraglide from time to time.
What is a favorite ballooning memory?
Adventure ballooning in the Philippines with Jonathan Trappe.
We flew for a couple of hours across unknown terrain for a first ever balloon flight in this particular area - first over one side of the ocean, then over fish farms, then crops, then forest, then up and down crevasses of a volcano face, and had to find a landing spot before running out of land - as the wind at the end of the flight was pushing us out to the ocean.
Recovery was by Water Buffalo and a wooden cart.