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Show 'Hot Air9 Abounds as Balloon Makes Panguitch Appearance "That tale has a lot of hot air," one person said after listening to Jon Hunt, ' Blanding tell about the family hobby, that of flying a hot air balloon. In fact, it has a maximum of 320 degrees of hot air in the balloon with the average running temperature being 220 degrees. The balloon was in Panguitch last week. First the 400 pound dacron balloon is blown up with cold air at which time the BYU burner is turned on and heats the air inside the balloon. As the air is heated, the air becomes lighter causing the balloon to raise off the ground. The hotter the air gets inside the higher from the ground the balloon raises. The people riding in the strong wicker basket called gondola receives the senation of floating on a magic carpet, floating through space. The balloon raises so slowly and steadily that raising above the surrounding area becomes an enjoyable experience Mr. Hunt explained. The Jon Hunt family, his wife, Jaquie Beth, and six children ranging from 13 years to five months, enjoy ballooning as a family project. Their children, Johnny, Judy, Joseph, Jeff (Buff), James and Julie feels it is as much fun to be up in the craft as it is to follow in the pickup, Mr. Hunt said. One does not really know where the balloon is going to land since there is no directional controlling device in the basket. The propane heater warms the air enabling the craft to raise higher or lower. There is as pop top on the Barns Firefly flown by the Hunt family which allows the craft to descend quickly when opened or more slowly when closed. The direction of the wind determines the direction of flight. Throughout the country there are several balloon meets, the one attended by the Hunt family last was held in Arizona where about 200 beautiful, Uight colored balloons met and flew together. "It was a beautiful sight," Mr. Hunt said. Everyone tries to have the brighest or best designed balloons, with the most popular designs being the world," he said. One tig sport at a meet is called "The Hare and Hounds." The first balloon takes off, flys for about 20 minutes then One big sport at a meet Is called "The Hare and Hounds." The first balloon takes off, flys for about 20 minutes then lands. The object of the game is for all the other balloons, to try to land in the same spot the first craft landed. This is very difficult since there is no controlling the craft other than the wind, One soon learns that the wind is blowing different directions at different altitudes. "One time at the meet in Arizona, I flew the balloon at 10,000 foot elevation trying to hit just the right wind current," Mr. Lunt said. He said one thing he has to be very careful of is making sure he flies quite high over animals in the pasture, for the animals become very frightened at the sight, they could start running and run int the fence causing a hazard for the owners, he said. "We bought a Barns Firefly for $6,300 and have since learned that the purchase we made by chance was a very good choice," Mr. Hunt said. He said this particular craft is safer than many other balloons, there is a pop top that can be opened and will close again during the flight, some stay opened. The material is dacron which has a longer life than those made of nylon. I have discovered that the sun rays in the middle of the day deteriorate the material so it is best to fly in the early mornings or late afternoons," Mr. Hunt said. It takes 10 hours of flying time before one can obtain a private flying license for the balloon and take passengers, six hours instructor time and four hours alone. One has to be 16 to operate the """ " balloon. Besides balloons, Mr. Hunt, owner of the Scenic Flight Service at Blanding also runs the airport. He has flown airplanes and helicopters. He started flying airplanes at 15. "While all my friends were buying cars I bought my first airplane for $1,000." He was so anxious to be able to fly the airplane that he would take his friends up and down the runway, it was during one of these adventurous moments that he crashed his first plane, before he even flew it, as he flipped the craft while attempting to turn on the runway. He bought his second plane just months later. Panguitch resident, were awed Thrusday and Saturday by the site of the brightly colored large hot air balloon piloted by Joii Hunt from Blanding. The 400 pound balloon can carry an additional 600 pounds in the wicker basket the sport bat become a favorite of the Jon Hunt family I |