“Now, what do we do?”
This phrase is not something you normally hear when about to take the active runway in a Citation M2.
From owner-pilot Larry King, it was something I heard numerous times on a cool August morning in Heber Valley, Utah. Through no fault of his own, Larry was being attacked by a swarm of hot air balloons. These magnificent creatures, with their thunderous gas burners and gondolas scraping along the wet grass, are a beautiful throwback from a previous time.
They do not, however, mix well on an active runway with a jet accelerating at over one hundred knots.
As we entered the taxiway at KHCR early that morning, several balloons were hovering a few hundred feet above runway 22.
“Which way should we go,” Larry asked. “Well, they seem to be moving east, so let’s try 22, and we will be past them before we rotate,” I said. Heber Valley is an uncontrolled airport, so a phone call was needed to get a void time for our IFR departure clearance. Larry explained the situation to Salt Lake departure, and they seemed to understand our predicament.
As we reached the end of runway 22, two more balloons sprung up at the departure end of the runway. Now, we would be right in the middle of the floating dinosaurs as we lifted off the surface.
Another phone call to departure. Could we have five more minutes for our void time to allow the balloons to drift off the departure course? “I feel your pain,” came the response, along with an approval to delay.
But in the calm morning winds, the balloons weren’t going anywhere. Now, a departure off runway 4 was the better idea. Another call to ATC. Another clearance. Another taxi to the opposite runway.
And you guessed it, by the time we got to 4, the balloons had multiplied. The picture is a sample of what we were seeing. A Pheonom was on the approach. “Is somebody advising him about all these balloons,” Larry asked departure.
Over Unicom, we heard, “I’ll put some gas to this thing and drift up to five hundred feet so you can takeoff.” It was a five-balloon circus. And colorful at that.
We taxied back to runway 22 with another call to departure. By now, he was becoming our close friend.
And suddenly, the skies opened, or closed. Anyway, we had a window of no balloons over the runway. Flight plan and V-speeds modified, we made a run for it. Or perhaps a roll for it.
As we departed the traffic area, we could hear the Phenom pilot asking where all the balloons were.
Everywhere was our answer. Everywhere.
Fly safe.
