CAP launches ballooning program

  • Published
  • By Lee Ross
  • Nucleus managing editor
KIRTLAND AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. --  The New Mexico wing of the Civil Air Patrol trained for its new hot-air balloon program on Sunday at Balloon Fiesta Park in the North Valley.

CAP recently received a charter for the training, making the local CAP wing one of the only groups nationwide that trains for ballooning. At around 7 a.m. that day, three CAP members enjoyed the fruits of their labor as the balloon they helped to launch slowly climbed up and away from them.

Ian Zlotkin, a crew chief for The Balloon Flight School, prepared the group of young people to transition to a chase crew. He pointed out that there were a lot of other balloons in the sky that day and asked the CAP members an important question.

"What does our balloon look like?" he asked.

The three cadets took a quick look back at the balloon, which was drifting away to the southeast, before answering.

It's that kind of training that Cadet Senior Master Sgt. Brandon Medlock said makes him glad to be here. He said he is also excited to fly in a balloon. That may happen once the wing gets its balloon and gondola, he said, but no one yet knows when that will be.

"This state is the ballooning capital of the world," he said. "We should have a charter."

Cadet Airman 1st Class Kenneth Fry called the experience "awesome."

"I've always wanted to know how (balloons and their crew) work," he said. "And doing this all on your own is impossible, so it's a team-building type of thing."

Cadet Chief Raily Blankley said she goes to the Balloon Fiesta every year, which is part of the reason she likes the program.

"We get to do what the real crews do. They let us do it," she said. "I like how hands-on it is."