Meet Robyn Lane
Hi, my name is Robyn Lane, and I want to tell you about an amazing week I had this past summer with amazing people learning about an amazing sport. This year, there was a hot air balloon camp on the campus of Albion College in Albion, Michigan. It was five days of education and fun all focused on ballooning.
I got a scholarship from MPDCI, but Junior Balloonists can get scholarships from the BFA, SEMBA,or be sponsored by a pilot. We learned about many aspects of ballooning. We learned about weather—what to look for in order to find a good day and time to fly, such as wind (too much or too little wind can both be a problem), rain, snow, and even temperature. Safety was also a key subject that we studied. We learned about first aid and what to do in situations such as heatstroke. Power line safety was another topic we discussed. Running into a high voltage power line can burn your balloon or even make your fuel tanks explode. It can be very serious or even deadly!
We had a LOT of fun, too! We made tissue paper hot air balloons, although the weather did not permit us to fly them. We also went out every morning, bright and early (okay, dark and early…) and did tether flights. During these morning lessons, we set up the balloons, flown on a tether line (like a long leash for the balloon), learned basic piloting skills, and emergency procedures. We also worked on our Crew Achievement Awards. We floated helium balloons with cups tied to them as baskets (not on the ceiling, but not on the floor). Using sand as ballast, we tried to avoid the pockets of air currents in the room caused by the air vents. During our free time, my friend and I taught everyone to made hot air balloon charms out of beads. And one of our pilots taught us to make a balloon charm (and lots of other things) out of paperclips. We even did balloon puzzles! During the week, we also visited the Cameron Balloon factory and the Jackson Community College School of Aviation.
When we all first met, only one camper had her student pilot’s license. Now, almost two months after camp, 40% of our campers and one adult volunteer have theirs! I am hoping to get mine and maybe eventually get my pilot’s license and even a balloon of my own! At one point, my pilot showed us what would happen if someone jumped out of the basket without the pilot’s permission…we SHOT up into the air really fast. Wish he had told ME what he was up to!