Balloons Over Vermilion is Friday and Saturday, and weather permitting, there will be mass ascensions both evenings from the Vermilion Regional Airport.
Joe Vincent serves as Balloon Meister for the event and notes the FAA has the same rules for hot air balloons as fixed wing aircraft. It means there are rules for minimum altitudes, staying 1,000 feet away from people, buildings and other structures. So Vincent says he has been working with the FAA since January…
{AUDIO: ‘’For us to be able to pull-off what we do during a ballooning event, we’ve got to fly close to the ground. We have to get down close to targets because we’re doing a competition. We have to take off and come in and land within 75 feet of people. So we have to ask for a waiver from the FAA to be able to do those things.’’}
Vincent adds the FAA has been very cooperative. On WDAN Radio’s Newsmakers program with Linda Bolton, Vincent said safety is the number one priority. He says winds have to be ‘’pretty much below 10 miles per hour’’ in order to fly. And he also explained why they do not want balloons to head south once they launch at the airport….
{AUDIO: ‘’You know if we’ve got a – let’s say – a six, seven, eight-mile an hour wind – but we’re heading straight south from that airport, you’ve got to understand there’s nothing. There’s no openings – there’s no fields – there’s no nothing. It’s industrial, residential and interstate. And then you’ve got a river bottoms for Lord knows how far,’’ said Vincent. “So you can’t send balloons down that direction at six or seven o’clock at night and expect people coming out of that feeling happy with you.’’}
Vincent says balloons cannot fly into the airport because there will still be an active runway during the event.
Vermilion County’s Emergency Management Agency has been working closely with event organizers. The agency even conducted a table top exercise which included the Vermilion County Sheriff’s Department and Bismarck Fire Department as part of the planning, according to Vincent.
Gates open at the Vermilion Regional Airport at 3:00 p.m. Friday, July 9, 2021. For more information visit https:www.balloonsoververmilion.com or Balloons Over Vermilion on Facebook.
