An Up-and-coming COMO Hot Air Balloon Pilot

At a young age, Ben Humphreys knew that he was destined to be in the hot air balloon business. When Humphreys was a baby, his mother, Annette Humphreys, had entered him in a baby picture contest in which the prize was a ride in a hot air balloon from a local pilot. Unfortunately, Ben was still too young to ride, so when he won the contest, Annette and Ben’s older brother, Griffin, enjoyed the trip for him. And now, as a college student with six years of balloon flying experience, Humphreys is set on starting his own ballooning business.

As Humphreys got older, his interest for hot air balloons grew. He eventually got the balloon ride he didn’t have as a baby, this one from Jan Sines, co-owner of local ballooning company Balloon Stormers. After meeting Jan, Ben was introduced to her husband and co-owner, Gary Sines, who he then began crewing for early in the mornings and late in the afternoons. Soon, Humphreys started flying lessons with Sines.

Ballooning is not an individual sport — the chase crew assists the pilot in launch, flight, chase, landing, deflation, and pack up. At 14, the young pilot bought his first balloon and trained with Sines on pre-flight preparation, operation of controls, lift-off and climb, descent and landing, and emergency procedure to obtain his solo pilot license.

During his first solo flight, Humphreys remembers feeling nervous — he took off from an area protected from the wind, and, as he rose higher, the wind grew stronger. Fortunately, he was able to control his balloon and landed in a safe spot. A riskier flight came when he almost ran out of fuel while flying. “ [I was] going over trees and trees with no space to land in sight,” Humphreys says. “We had to land in a less desirable location, but all was well.”

The young pilot continued training to get his private pilot certificate, and, most recently, his commercial pilot certificate, after passing a written test covering FAA regulations, logging 35 hours of flying, and passing a solo test flight. Humphreys can now not only fly with other passengers aboard, but he can also charge for the balloon rides. The certificate also means he can hire people in his ballooning business and teach others how to fly, which is helpful, now that he has built his first balloon.

Humphreys developed an idea for a design pattern, meaning the panel structure that makes up gores and dimensions. He sold his old balloon to cover the costs of building his new one. It took him about 180 hours of sewing and cutting, along with many hours of planning and finding materials such as ripstop nylon fabric, webbing that runs up and down each gore and holds the load; paracord, used for rigging inside the balloon; and cables, to attach the balloon. The Humphreys family was able to find an old sewing machine that could do 1500 stitches a minute.

“The hardest part of sewing is keeping the fabrics even, because it isn’t uncommon to have extra fabric hanging off each side,” Humphreys says. “You have to pull tension on the two fabrics to make them even. I had to FaceTime a balloon manufacturer so he could show me how to get it just right.”

His finished balloon is black with gold checkering; he named his craft the “Bizzy Bee.” Unfortunately, Humphreys cannot currently get paid to give rides in his home-built balloon because he is not a certified balloon manufacturer. It takes a lot of time and money to become certified, but Humphreys is interested in working underneath a manufacturer, in the business and design aspect of the trade. For now, he’s working on certifying Bizzy Bee as an airworthy balloon. Humphreys is also helping a friend on another balloon project. He has dreams of making another balloon, but with lighter fabric, creating a craft that weighs less than 100 pounds.

Humphreys and crew also head to ballooning events, such as the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, in New Mexico, and the National Balloon Classic, in Iowa. While in Iowa, Humphreys competed in a competition that includes flying to targets and throwing baggies at a bull’s-eye — he finished in third place in the event, which took place during the last week of July.

Humphreys will head to New Mexico in October to participate in races, glows (a night event where dozens of balloons glow in the sky), and bag tosses from his balloon. He’ll be practicing, so If you see hot air balloons in the Columbia sky this fall, look for Humphreys and the Bizzy Bee.