UP, UP AND AWAY!

Debbi Waltman always had a fascination with hot air balloons.

When she was a child growing up in Baltimore, Waltman’s mother used to show her pictures of balloons all the time.

“We never saw real ones until we moved here. She just had pictures of them,” said Waltman, who has lived in Colorado for 35 years and in Windsor the past three years. “She would get little balloon decorations, and buy clothes with little balloons on them. We never saw one until we bought our first house down in Morrison and one flew over and landed one day. Then, I got the bug big time.”

Waltman could only dream about riding in a hot air balloon back in Baltimore, but today the grandmother of five is Windsor’s only hot air balloonist.

“When you’re the mother of three teenagers and they keep telling you, ‘You’re too stupid,’ it’s a really neat thing to learn how to fly and just blow their socks off,” Waltman said. “How I handled my mid-life crisis is my other title for that.”

A certified pilot for the past 15 years, Waltman takes her pink, green and blue balloon called “No Worries!” to about 10 events per year in Colorado. She also goes to the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta in New Mexico in October.

“Normally she does not fly that high, between 1,000 to 3,000 feet above ground level. We like to look at wildlife and all the fun stuff,” said Waltman’s husband, Don, who has been married to Debbi for 36 years and is his wife’s crew chief.

Don said a flight is normally 45 to 50 minutes in the air with the ride going anywhere from a couple of miles to five to 10 miles. Debbi’s longest flight was about 26 miles starting in downtown Colorado Springs to the Pueblo County line.

“Flying around in Windsor a lot of times we don’t go more than two or three miles,” Debbi said.

Don said once his wife takes off, she’s always looking for a landing spot. He said releasing hot air from a vent at the top makes the balloon come down, while heating the air with a propane flame makes the balloon rise.

“You always have two or three landing spots in mind,” said Don, a retired band teacher who said four or five people are part of the crew including Charles and Diane Hall and their son, Dallas of Windsor. “You never know what’s going to happen. All you have control of is up and down. Wind can change in 50 feet, and go a different direction.”

Used balloons cost anywhere from $5,000 to $15,000 where a brand new hot air balloon system can start at $25,000 and up.

Don said it’s hard to describe the feeling of riding in a hot air balloon.

“It is incredible. My wife is afraid of heights like being on a roof or coming down a mountain, but it’s a whole different sensation. It’s very peaceful,” he said. “It’s just hard to describe. Out of all the people we’ve taken, many, many people have said, ‘Oh, I don’t think I want to do that.’ I can’t tell you how many times, 10 seconds off the ground, and they’re already going, ‘This is incredible.’ It’s not a sensation of moving because you’re moving with the air, and the earth just kind of moves away from you and you see everything from a different perspective.”

Debbi calls piloting the hot balloon a hobby. The Waltmans have a business doing fundraisers for hospitals and large businesses through a company called Books Are Fun.

She said the peacefulness of riding in a hot air balloon does it for her.

“It’s really very peaceful and gorgeous. It’s just like floating. I feel like a I get a whole new look at our world.” said Debbi, who participated in an event in Snowmass last weekend. “You float. You’re at the mercy of the wind. It’s very gentle. You could hold a candle, and it wouldn’t blow out in a basket. We prefer to fly 0 to 10 miles an hour.”

A member of the Colorado Balloon Club and the Cheyenne Hot Air Balloon Club, Debbi has logged 375 hours as a pilot including 759 landings before her weekend event in Snowmass.

“It’s very easy to learn. You do a ground school which is learning your weather and flight rules, you take a written exam that the FAA sets up,” she said. “Then you fly a bunch until you’ve logged 10 hours of flying time with an instructor. Then you solo and practice until you think you can do your check ride, and then you do a check ride.”

As far as close calls go, Debbi said she’s had four or five high-wind landings over the years with the two balloons she’s owned. She said every 100 hours of flight time or once a year, whichever comes first, the balloon has to be re-inspected and signed off. She likes the fact that she can fly year round in Colorado.

Debbi would never consider herself a risk taker.

“I don’t do this to be a risk taker. I do this for total relaxation. It’s just fun,” she said.

“There are flights that other balloon pilots will make like going for long-distance records. I don’t do that kind of stuff. We just fly for fun. Owning a hot air balloon and flying it is just about the same expense, budget-wise, as owning another car. I’d much rather have a balloon than another car. Out of 150-plus pilots I know, every single one of them would tell you they do it because it’s just so beautiful and enjoyable.”