Up, up and away

The 41st annual Southwest Iowa Hot Air Balloon Days launched all four flights over the weekend for the first time in at least five years.

Weather for all three days was ideal for the most part with a few unexpected shifts in wind direction Sunday morning that took some pilots slightly off course. With careful navigation, however, some of those pilots pushed off course were able to make corrections and still make their drops at targets along the route.

Thirty-four pilots took to the air this year, which is up from the 31 pilots who registered but did not get to fly last year.

Southwest Iowa Hot Air Balloon Days Chairman Roger Lanning addressed a crowd of pilots and crews at a brunch after Sunday’s flight and said, “Let me thank all the balloonists for what a great weekend we had. It kind of made up for last year, I think, in one weekend. So, that was great!”

Competition was tough with the top three pilots scoring within 100 points of each other. Dale Dommer came out on top of the heap with 5,397 points. Dommer was sponsored by Green Valley Pest Control and Lawn Care.

“We were talking with the sponsors this morning,” said Dommer at the brunch Sunday. “I’m on a streak. In 1998, I won the Ottumwa Pro Balloon Race. In 2008, I won the Creston event with Dave and Sandy as my sponsor and now here it is 2018. So, every 10 years I’m on a roll, so we’ll see you in 10 years.”

Rounding out the top three were Aaron Foelske with 4,984 points and Eric Martens with 4,455 points.

Leroy Clair won the Friday Night Fun Flight and was awarded with an automatic coffee pot from Bunn-O-Matic. Third place overall winner, Martens, was also awarded Rookie of the Year.

Overall, the weekend was flawless, with the exception of a few balloons bouncing Sunday morning at the airport as they were approaching the drop site and another pilot accidentally bumped into the back of Wal-mart with his basket as he was leaving the drop site located on the berm behind the building. The pilot and his two young passengers were jarred slightly from the impact, but otherwise escaped injury.

The drop behind Wal-mart is a popular one for coordinators to set up. However, Southwest Iowa Hot Air Balloon Days Chairman Roger Lanning said the drop is particularly challenging.

Throughout the weekend, observers lined the roads between the drop sites or set themselves up at the drop sites to watch during the flights, but as the sun began to set, the north field at the airport filled with cars Saturday evening as spectators eagerly found the best vantage point to view more than a dozen balloons lit up for the Night Glow.

Pilots who took part in the glow were entered into a raffle and three winners were chosen out of a hat — Dale Dommer once again came out at the top, followed by Bret Christian and Randy Stone.

“It makes me excited to have the community support,” said Lanning. “That’s always good for me to see them. The people that are out at the airport Saturday night. [Sunday] morning, there were a lot of people all over town. That’s the part that’s enjoyable and, I guess, why I do it.”

The 42nd annual Southwest Iowa Hot Air Balloon Days will take place Sept. 20-22, 2019.

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Winners
1 Dale Dommer   Texas     5,397
2 Aaron Foelske   Illinois    4,984
3 Eric Martens      Iowa       4,455
4 Kirk Bloom         Iowa       4,308
5 Bret Christian    Iowa       4,250
6 Tom Ricke          Iowa       4,234
7 Leroy Clair         Iowa       4,221
8 Randy Stone     Iowa       4,030
9 Mike Reinert      Iowa       4,013
10 Steve Lacroix  Nebraska              3,956
11 Jim Fromm      Iowa       3,898
12 Scott Armstrong             Iowa       3,853
13 Aaron Gebhart                 Iowa       3,750
14 Jon Shelton     Iowa       3,735
15 Darcy Hoch     Iowa       3,720
16 Holly Pfeifer    Iowa       3,662
17 Bill Clemons   Iowa       3,635
18 Joe Seymour  Iowa       3,432
19 Ralph Rieck     Iowa       3,426
20 Bill Smith         Iowa       3,397
21 Grant Pfeifer   Iowa       3,294
22 Bill Griffin       Iowa       3,297
23 Rick Goosey    Missouri 3,250
24 David Holmes Missouri 3,221
25 Kellie Rocha    Iowa       3,102
26 Carol Sherman               Missouri 2,926
27 Rob Nutting     Iowa       2,911
28 Shane Arends Nebraska              2,676
29 Bret Wiltse       Iowa       2,529
30 Terry McGonegle           Iowa       2,411
31 Brian Bennett  Iowa       2,206
32 Robb Johnson  Nebraska              2,030
33 Joel Worthington            Iowa       1,970
34 Chris King        Iowa       1,706