Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
So much to enjoy at the Nebraska Balloon and Wine
Festival this weekend, and joining us is a guy who
knows a thing or two about being in flight with
a hot air balloon. It is balloon pilot Tim Kloyd
joining us. Tim, thanks so much for being a part
of the show today.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Well, thank you, Amory, thank you for having me today. Yes,
it's I think it's going to be a great weekend
coming up.
Speaker 3 (00:19):
Yeah, for sure.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
So I got to start before I talked Nebraska Balloon
and Wine Festival. I want to talk about ballooning, specifically
your regular in Indianola at the National Balloon Classic was
just there a couple of weeks ago. I was crewing
for a balloon the whole time. I enjoy hot air
balloons so much. That was an incredibly frustrating week. Can
you explain to our listeners why we only flew five
(00:41):
out of seventeen times?
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Weather? One word weather. First, there was a lot of rain,
I think in two days they had a foot of rain.
And then wins, which are a great factor even on
beautiful days. Wins can be keep us on the keep
us grounded. But yes, it was probably the worst year
and fifty years they for that.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
Yeah, it's a bummer because there's over one hundred and
twenty balloons. So many people come from so far away.
You're an Iowa guy, a central Iowa guy. So many
pilots are because just the awe inspiring nature of hot
air ballooning in that region, and it's kind of you know,
been growing over in the Nebraska area as well. I
was looking at the forecast. Looks pretty solid from your
vantage point. But what do the winds and the weather
(01:25):
really need to be doing to cooperate with you guys
for a flight and also for you guys to stand
up and glow.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
Well, we like to have winds that are eight miles
an hour under on the surface. Now, sometimes there were
some days in Indianola that winds could be slow on
the surface, but right above the surface going at twenty
miles an hour, which you know, if you're going to
land the balloon, you have all that momentum coming in.
So we have to look at the meteorologists really to
see the winds above. Not to mention the you know,
(01:53):
no rain and the area I mean literally one hundred
miles away. If there's storms that could affect us in
where we're at Yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
It makes a lot of sense. Speaking with Tim Kloyd.
He is a hot air balloon pilot. His balloon is
name Sunlight sun spelled so, and it's got some crosses
on it. It's just a big, beautiful balloon. I think, Tim,
if my eyeball served me correctly, you're about as big
a balloon as I have seen. What's the size of
your balloon? And why do the shapes and the sizes
matter so much?
Speaker 2 (02:20):
Well, my balloon is one hundred and fifty thousand cubic feet.
I like to say one hundred and fifty thousand basketballs
if you could imagine that. But it's like any aircraft.
The larger the envelope, which is the balloon, the larger
it is, the more weight it can carry a lift.
So a lot of balloons that you saw, and I
saw one video you were helping with a balloon maybe
(02:41):
have two people, three people in it in the basket.
Mine I can have six passengers plus myself.
Speaker 3 (02:47):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
The bigger the volume, the more a lift.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
It's pretty interesting and maintenance for a hot air balloon, right,
It's not like you can just take that into the
shop and get her oiled up with some If you
know five or something, and you know things are good
and everything else. Tell me about the propaine system and
the way that you guys are able to you know,
get this thing gassed up, but also kind of what
happens because over time and with more use, just like
(03:15):
with anything else, that envelope and your basket are going
to need some care as well.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
That's true. Well, a blown is governed by the FAA
Federal Aviation Administration, and it's any like an aircraft. We
have to have an annual every year or one hundred dollars,
whichever comes first, and we are governed by their regulations.
So we do have propaine that fuels are burners and
it has to be inspected. I mean every inch of
(03:39):
it gets inspected when it does, and they have over time, yes,
it'll it could wear out and so you just have
to get a new fabrica, new new envelope as well.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
Yeah, and I'm sure that's not cheap. It's quite an
investment to get into this sport and hobby, isn't it.
Speaker 2 (03:53):
Oh, it is absolutely, But you know some people have
expensive campers, fishing boats, the motorcycles. What's your hobby and
how much do you want to spend on it. That's
what it comes down to.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
For sure, and there's nothing like being up in the
sky when you get the opportunity, especially in the Great Midwest.
Speaker 3 (04:08):
We're speaking with Hot everalloon pilot Tim Cloyd.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
He is going to be a part of the Nebraska
Walloon and Wine Festival in Elkhorn coming up this Friday
and Saturday at Tazuka Park. And Tim for this particular event,
how you've gone and done this. This is a really
cool area that you guys kind of set up and
take off from. Kind of what does it look like
for people and what can they expect assuming that the
balloons can fly on Friday and Saturdays.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
Weather permitting, and like I said, the weather does look favorable,
there'll be flights. At seven o'clock is the scheduled launch time,
and then at nine o'clock is a scheduled glow. So
glow is the blues can only fly when the sun
is up, so a glow happens after sunset and we
stand it and keep it on the ground and when
(04:54):
you put the heat to it, the flames really light
up the brilliant colors. It's quite spectacle, quite the sight
to see. I hope everyone can come out and see us.
Speaker 1 (05:03):
Yeah, and your balloon specifically glows incredibly Well, there are
some balloons that glow better than others based on the
colors and their fabrics, but your balloon really stands out
when you have a standing there and glowing. So, can
you take me through the process of what that day
looks like. You're gonna have kind of a meeting with
the other pilots. You guys are going to figure out
what the winds are doing, and then you come up
with an idea of what the flight might look like.
Speaker 3 (05:24):
And then what happens after that.
Speaker 2 (05:26):
Well, after that we then decide as each pilot has
to make their own decisions if they want to fly
based on what the forecast is. But then we would
go and start setting our equipment up, get in inflated
and ready to fly. Now a lot of balloons can
be up and running in twenty minutes once we do
all the work. But there is work. It is a
(05:47):
physical sport, but it's just addictive as crew members. As
you saw Emory, you and Brian getting addicted to it
as you were helping, weren't you.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
I was addicted to it at two years old. My
friend I grew up at Tumble, Iowa. They have their
own balloon festival. There's nothing like it. There really is
nothing like it. And the smells, the having the gloves
and you're pulling on ropes and you're getting this giant
thing for you, just a gargantuan thing that was in
(06:16):
a bag. All of a sudden, we have standing up
and it's floating away in the air. Whether I'm in
the basket or not, there's just absolutely nothing like it.
It's hard to describe to people. But the crew has
an awesome job too, even if they're not in the basket,
because they have a process they I mean, you don't
get to do that very much, Tim because you're the pilot,
but they have to get in the chase vehicle and
they got to find you and they got to help
(06:37):
you land as well. What does that look like, especially
in the communication while you're in the air and your
crew's trying to find you on the ground.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
Well, I have radios that communicate with the ground team
as they come along, travel along. Yeah, sometimes they'll have
the challenges to get the roads to get to where
I'm at. But I want to let people know that
it's anybody can be a part of it. Blood teams,
not just some group. I mean, please, if anybody has
an interest, balloon is always looking for crew. They love help.
(07:07):
So yeah, they have to chase us down, find us
where we're at. Sometimes we can kind of be lost
as seven story balloon, but they seem to find us,
and yeah, it's just an interesting challenge to find out
where we're going to be.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
Yeah, and it makes for a fun night when you're
on the crew with the nights that are set up
here because like you said, they're going to take off
around seven, assuming the weather's good, fly land, pack up,
drive back to Tahazuka Park where you've launched from, set
back up, reinflate, and then put on an incredible show
with the nightglow.
Speaker 3 (07:40):
And that makes it an awful lot of fun.
Speaker 1 (07:41):
So Tim, once again, can I have you describe kind
of what your balloon looks like You've seen it a
lot more than I have, and what people can look
for and they see Tim Cloyd out there at Tahazuka
Park this weekend.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
Well, first off, you're welcome to come out on the field,
but I look for a big balloon, have yellow I
should say red crosses, four big red crosses, yellow orange
are the colors. So you can't miss this big balloon
up there. It should be the biggest one this weekend.
Speaker 1 (08:10):
Yeah, and like you said, the crosses make it very
obvious that is Tim and he has been doing this
a long time. And also at the Nebraska Balloon and
Wine Festival. Tim, this is fun. I always love talking
balloons anytime I can get an opportunity to do so,
especially with somebody as passionate as you are. Thank you
so much for joining us here and have some fun
at Tahazuka Park and Elcorn this weekend.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
Well, thank you mich Sjamoris for having me. You have
a great evening and we hope to see you there.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
Oh absolutely, and so many people who are listening to this.
I'm sure you're going to be there as well. Right
now it is four sixteen. Later on in the show
stick around. Later in the show, I will be giving
away a pair of tickets to the Nebraska Balloon and
Wine Festival. Now you might be thinking I want to
buy tickets anyway, You absolutely can do that. You can
find the Nebraska Balloon and Wine Festival on Google. All
(08:54):
you got to do just put it in Google. You'll
see the Facebook. You're going to see the website. You'll
be able to click over to it easily. You're gonna
see all the information that you need, very affordable to
have an amazing night or two nights over there in
Elkorn at Tahazuka Park and not a far drive, a
beautiful park, tons of wine that you can be sampling,
a ton of food that you can eat, live music,
(09:15):
and of course the incredible hot air balloons. We'll give
away a couple of tickets though for those who might
be looking for that later in the show, so you'll
have to stick around. We're also about twenty minutes away
from chatting with second Congressional District Representative Don Bacon. Got
plenty to talk to him about. That'll be coming up
as well, So have some fun, kick back, relax, throw
those feet up on the automate, the forver automate in
(09:38):
your vehicle or wherever you might be listening to us,
and we'll come back in a second right here on
news Radio eleven ten kfab.
Speaker 3 (09:44):
Em Marie's songer on news Radio eleven ten kfab
So much to enjoy at the Nebraska Balloon and Wine
Festival this weekend, and joining us is a guy who
knows a thing or two about being in flight with
a hot air balloon. It is balloon pilot Tim Kloyd
joining us. Tim, thanks so much for being a part
of the show today.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Well, thank you, Amory, thank you for having me today. Yes,
it's I think it's going to be a great weekend
coming up.
Speaker 3 (00:19):
Yeah, for sure.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
So I got to start before I talked Nebraska Balloon
and Wine Festival. I want to talk about ballooning, specifically
your regular in Indianola at the National Balloon Classic was
just there a couple of weeks ago. I was crewing
for a balloon the whole time. I enjoy hot air
balloons so much. That was an incredibly frustrating week. Can
you explain to our listeners why we only flew five
(00:41):
out of seventeen times?
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Weather? One word weather. First, there was a lot of rain,
I think in two days they had a foot of rain.
And then wins, which are a great factor even on
beautiful days. Wins can be keep us on the keep
us grounded. But yes, it was probably the worst year
and fifty years they for that.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
Yeah, it's a bummer because there's over one hundred and
twenty balloons. So many people come from so far away.
You're an Iowa guy, a central Iowa guy. So many
pilots are because just the awe inspiring nature of hot
air ballooning in that region, and it's kind of you know,
been growing over in the Nebraska area as well. I
was looking at the forecast. Looks pretty solid from your
vantage point. But what do the winds and the weather
(01:25):
really need to be doing to cooperate with you guys
for a flight and also for you guys to stand
up and glow.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
Well, we like to have winds that are eight miles
an hour under on the surface. Now, sometimes there were
some days in Indianola that winds could be slow on
the surface, but right above the surface going at twenty
miles an hour, which you know, if you're going to
land the balloon, you have all that momentum coming in.
So we have to look at the meteorologists really to
see the winds above. Not to mention the you know,
(01:53):
no rain and the area I mean literally one hundred
miles away. If there's storms that could affect us in
where we're at Yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
It makes a lot of sense. Speaking with Tim Kloyd.
He is a hot air balloon pilot. His balloon is
name Sunlight sun spelled so, and it's got some crosses
on it. It's just a big, beautiful balloon. I think, Tim,
if my eyeball served me correctly, you're about as big
a balloon as I have seen. What's the size of
your balloon? And why do the shapes and the sizes
matter so much?
Speaker 2 (02:20):
Well, my balloon is one hundred and fifty thousand cubic feet.
I like to say one hundred and fifty thousand basketballs
if you could imagine that. But it's like any aircraft.
The larger the envelope, which is the balloon, the larger
it is, the more weight it can carry a lift.
So a lot of balloons that you saw, and I
saw one video you were helping with a balloon maybe
(02:41):
have two people, three people in it in the basket.
Mine I can have six passengers plus myself.
Speaker 3 (02:47):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
The bigger the volume, the more a lift.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
It's pretty interesting and maintenance for a hot air balloon, right,
It's not like you can just take that into the
shop and get her oiled up with some If you
know five or something, and you know things are good
and everything else. Tell me about the propaine system and
the way that you guys are able to you know,
get this thing gassed up, but also kind of what
happens because over time and with more use, just like
(03:15):
with anything else, that envelope and your basket are going
to need some care as well.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
That's true. Well, a blown is governed by the FAA
Federal Aviation Administration, and it's any like an aircraft. We
have to have an annual every year or one hundred dollars,
whichever comes first, and we are governed by their regulations.
So we do have propaine that fuels are burners and
it has to be inspected. I mean every inch of
(03:39):
it gets inspected when it does, and they have over time, yes,
it'll it could wear out and so you just have
to get a new fabrica, new new envelope as well.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
Yeah, and I'm sure that's not cheap. It's quite an
investment to get into this sport and hobby, isn't it.
Speaker 2 (03:53):
Oh, it is absolutely, But you know some people have
expensive campers, fishing boats, the motorcycles. What's your hobby and
how much do you want to spend on it. That's
what it comes down to.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
For sure, and there's nothing like being up in the
sky when you get the opportunity, especially in the Great Midwest.
Speaker 3 (04:08):
We're speaking with Hot everalloon pilot Tim Cloyd.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
He is going to be a part of the Nebraska
Walloon and Wine Festival in Elkhorn coming up this Friday
and Saturday at Tazuka Park. And Tim for this particular event,
how you've gone and done this. This is a really
cool area that you guys kind of set up and
take off from. Kind of what does it look like
for people and what can they expect assuming that the
balloons can fly on Friday and Saturdays.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
Weather permitting, and like I said, the weather does look favorable,
there'll be flights. At seven o'clock is the scheduled launch time,
and then at nine o'clock is a scheduled glow. So
glow is the blues can only fly when the sun
is up, so a glow happens after sunset and we
stand it and keep it on the ground and when
(04:54):
you put the heat to it, the flames really light
up the brilliant colors. It's quite spectacle, quite the sight
to see. I hope everyone can come out and see us.
Speaker 1 (05:03):
Yeah, and your balloon specifically glows incredibly Well, there are
some balloons that glow better than others based on the
colors and their fabrics, but your balloon really stands out
when you have a standing there and glowing. So, can
you take me through the process of what that day
looks like. You're gonna have kind of a meeting with
the other pilots. You guys are going to figure out
what the winds are doing, and then you come up
with an idea of what the flight might look like.
Speaker 3 (05:24):
And then what happens after that.
Speaker 2 (05:26):
Well, after that we then decide as each pilot has
to make their own decisions if they want to fly
based on what the forecast is. But then we would
go and start setting our equipment up, get in inflated
and ready to fly. Now a lot of balloons can
be up and running in twenty minutes once we do
all the work. But there is work. It is a
(05:47):
physical sport, but it's just addictive as crew members. As
you saw Emory, you and Brian getting addicted to it
as you were helping, weren't you.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
I was addicted to it at two years old. My
friend I grew up at Tumble, Iowa. They have their
own balloon festival. There's nothing like it. There really is
nothing like it. And the smells, the having the gloves
and you're pulling on ropes and you're getting this giant
thing for you, just a gargantuan thing that was in
(06:16):
a bag. All of a sudden, we have standing up
and it's floating away in the air. Whether I'm in
the basket or not, there's just absolutely nothing like it.
It's hard to describe to people. But the crew has
an awesome job too, even if they're not in the basket,
because they have a process they I mean, you don't
get to do that very much, Tim because you're the pilot,
but they have to get in the chase vehicle and
they got to find you and they got to help
(06:37):
you land as well. What does that look like, especially
in the communication while you're in the air and your
crew's trying to find you on the ground.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
Well, I have radios that communicate with the ground team
as they come along, travel along. Yeah, sometimes they'll have
the challenges to get the roads to get to where
I'm at. But I want to let people know that
it's anybody can be a part of it. Blood teams,
not just some group. I mean, please, if anybody has
an interest, balloon is always looking for crew. They love help.
(07:07):
So yeah, they have to chase us down, find us
where we're at. Sometimes we can kind of be lost
as seven story balloon, but they seem to find us,
and yeah, it's just an interesting challenge to find out
where we're going to be.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
Yeah, and it makes for a fun night when you're
on the crew with the nights that are set up
here because like you said, they're going to take off
around seven, assuming the weather's good, fly land, pack up,
drive back to Tahazuka Park where you've launched from, set
back up, reinflate, and then put on an incredible show
with the nightglow.
Speaker 3 (07:40):
And that makes it an awful lot of fun.
Speaker 1 (07:41):
So Tim, once again, can I have you describe kind
of what your balloon looks like You've seen it a
lot more than I have, and what people can look
for and they see Tim Cloyd out there at Tahazuka
Park this weekend.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
Well, first off, you're welcome to come out on the field,
but I look for a big balloon, have yellow I
should say red crosses, four big red crosses, yellow orange
are the colors. So you can't miss this big balloon
up there. It should be the biggest one this weekend.
Speaker 1 (08:10):
Yeah, and like you said, the crosses make it very
obvious that is Tim and he has been doing this
a long time. And also at the Nebraska Balloon and
Wine Festival. Tim, this is fun. I always love talking
balloons anytime I can get an opportunity to do so,
especially with somebody as passionate as you are. Thank you
so much for joining us here and have some fun
at Tahazuka Park and Elcorn this weekend.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
Well, thank you mich Sjamoris for having me. You have
a great evening and we hope to see you there.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
Oh absolutely, and so many people who are listening to this.
I'm sure you're going to be there as well. Right
now it is four sixteen. Later on in the show
stick around. Later in the show, I will be giving
away a pair of tickets to the Nebraska Balloon and
Wine Festival. Now you might be thinking I want to
buy tickets anyway, You absolutely can do that. You can
find the Nebraska Balloon and Wine Festival on Google. All
(08:54):
you got to do just put it in Google. You'll
see the Facebook. You're going to see the website. You'll
be able to click over to it easily. You're gonna
see all the information that you need, very affordable to
have an amazing night or two nights over there in
Elkorn at Tahazuka Park and not a far drive, a
beautiful park, tons of wine that you can be sampling,
a ton of food that you can eat, live music,
(09:15):
and of course the incredible hot air balloons. We'll give
away a couple of tickets though for those who might
be looking for that later in the show, so you'll
have to stick around. We're also about twenty minutes away
from chatting with second Congressional District Representative Don Bacon. Got
plenty to talk to him about. That'll be coming up
as well, So have some fun, kick back, relax, throw
those feet up on the automate, the forver automate in
(09:38):
your vehicle or wherever you might be listening to us,
and we'll come back in a second right here on
news Radio eleven ten kfab.
Speaker 3 (09:44):
Em Marie's songer on news Radio eleven ten kfab
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