Sarasota Ballon Festival pilots take early morning flight

Only the best mornings start with the words:  “It’s not inherently dangerous.”

This is what Patrick Fogue, owner of The Aerial Advantage Inc., told us before we ascended nearly 1,200 feet into the air March 9 above Premier Sports Campus in Lakewood Ranch.

The early-morning flight was a chance for local media to see what pilots competing at the Sarasota Balloon Festival will experience this weekend.

The balloon festival began on Thursday, March 8 and continues until Sunday, March 11. Festival promoter Ricky Garvie enticed pilots with a $5,000 prize pool for the competition, which involves dropping a bean bag on a target more than a thousand feet below their basket.

Our pilot, 21-year-old Ben Humphreys, learned to fly when he was 13 years old, and he flew solo a year later. He learned to fly from a pilot in his hometown of Columbia, Mo., which became a popular spot for ballooning in the 1990s when it was the host city for the U.S. National Hot Air Balloon Championship.

At 16, after about 50 hours of flying, Humphreys got his private pilot license. Technically, he only needed 10 hours of flying to qualify for it.

“By the time I got my license, I was way more ready than most [other pilots],” he said.

Humphreys currently owns four balloons, and he enjoys buying and selling them. His parents bought him his first balloon for $4,500.

Balloons are kind of like cars, he says. The balloon we rode in was top of the line, but he compares the cheaper ones to Honda Civics.

Our balloon is owned by Fogue under a contract he has with International Manufacturing Technology Show, and Fogue hired Humphreys to fly it for events like this festival.

He skipped class at University of Missouri today to be here.

Although he’s an agricultural business major, he says he’s not sure why he’s in school when ballooning is his real passion.

“It’s tempting to ditch school and do this full time,” he said.

After about 12 minutes in the air, we landed in front of the carnival rides and held open the balloon’s bag as Humphreys, Fogue and their colleague rolled it up. We drove back to our meeting spot and parted ways — us to work and them to prepare for their next journey into the sky.

In addition to balloon ascents, the competitions and tethered rides, festival-goers can revel in fair fun with carnival rides, food trucks, retail vendors and more.