“It’s the world’s oldest form of aviation,” says smiling balloon pilot Joey Scarpinatto.
He and his mentor, Pat Harwell, are almost the lone balloonists in Shreveport today. Thus they are elated that the Shreveport Bossier Sports Foundation’s Kelly Wells has scored the world championship event for Shreveport. Some 25 balloonists will compete here July 14 – 16.
Sited at LSUS, the nightly balloon glow is expected to be mobbed. Traffic in and out of the site will not flow rapidly. On site will be the predictable food and music alongside the novelty of tethered balloon rides. That ride is 20 for adults and 15 for kids. It is a 2 to 5 min. ascension to about 50 ft.
Full-on balloon rides by Harwell’s service, American Escapes Aerosports (shreveportballoon.com), cost 225. Prime time for such a flight will be during the championships. You will be in the ether with a gaggle of balloons.
But the curious can ride with Harwell – at dawn, typically – some 250 days a year. Rides last for 45 mins to 1.5 hours.
Safety? “You are safer in my balloon than you are in your car,” asserts the veteran pilot.
Fear of heights? Nah. Harwell says height-averse people typically begin the ride by sitting on the floor of the basket; he says they quickly realize that they can release their fear. Says Scarpinatto, “A ride in a hot air balloon is not like being in a tall building or standing on a cliff – it’s like standing there watching the world move under you.”
https://www.facebook.com/RedRiverBalloonRally
www.shreveportballoon.com, 318 458 9467
Photos by friends of Scarpinatto.
