Air Carriage LLC

I grew up in ABQ seeing balloons all the time, worked at Balloon Fiesta, have some experience chasing, but this was my first ever flight. Art and the crew went over safety before launch, the interactive, hands-on opportunities to help the crew, the weather, and what we may expect to see in flight. The set-up and pre-flight were impressive: watching the crew roll out the envelope and seeing the scale of it compared to the people around it really made an impression. There's a big thrill when the burners fire for the first time in the pre-dawn twilight and another when it's time to start heating the cold-inflated envelope. Setting off is incredibly smooth: once ready and at the pilot's command the crew lets slip the tether and we gently glide away. As we climb above the bosque we can see rays of sun around the Sandias before we rise into the light ourselves. We had a full gondola and Art was great at pointing out areas of interest and wildlife. Some critters completely ignored us as we passed silently overhead while others barked to tell us to get out of their sky. After about forty-five minutes we landed smoothly using a quiet road as a runway. The chase crew met us on the ground and there were more opportunities to help the crew pack up before we returned to the rendezvous point for a champagne toast. Overall it was an incredible experience and I can really understand how people get so hooked on it. On my flight there were customers who'd been returning for four years!

Amazing Ride ....landing was butter. Crew was amazing thank you for a memory forever forged into my mind !