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HISTORY OF NOBPA

Authored by Beth Davidson

The following is general information written to preserve the history of the Northeast Ohio Balloon Pilots Association. The data was collected by talking with balloonists about their memories of early ballooning in northeast Ohio and reading past newsletters and publications. This document is intended to be updated and revised as new information is available. Some facts used in the introduction were taken directly from a presentation given by Gayle Myers to the NOBPA membership sometime around 1985.

INTRODUCTION

No one disputes the fact that Ed Yost is the first real pioneer in the development of hot air ballooning as we know it today. His interest and development of the modern hot air balloon system began as early as 1955 when he worked for General Mills and was under contract to build a hot air training balloon. There was a tethered flight of Ed Yost’s prototype in 1956, which was after Ed had left General Mills, but the project engineer who was riding in the balloon vowed that he would never under any circumstances, make a free flight. Ed joined Raven Industries and after ‘tinkering’ around and completing a number of indoor static ‘flights’, the first modern hot air balloon was put in flight on October 22, 1960, in Bruning, Nebraska. The balloon was improved, redesigned, and went through a type certification program from 1966 to 1968. Earlier, in 1961, Don Piccard had joined Raven industries but had no part in the original development of Ed Yost’s hot air balloon. Later Don Piccard left Raven and began manufacturing balloons himself. Here in Ohio several people were becoming interested in hot air ballooning. Jim Contos of Akron had a history with gas balloons. In 1956 he inflated “Clarissa,” an experimental certified hot air balloon. Details of Contos’ operation of this balloon are sketchy, but he is known to have a great interest in lighter-than-air flight. Two more pioneers are Dr. Christianson of the Cleveland Balloon Club and Dr. James Frey from Defiance. Dr. Christianson owned a 100,000 cubic foot Semco balloon that had no vent. Dr. Frey, from Defiance College, owned a Raven S50A, which was one of the first balloons ever sold by Raven for private use. Another adventurer was Dale Gates of the Cleveland Parachute Club in Garrettsville. Dale had a one-man AX-4 Piccard with a pie shape Velcro rip panel. These men entered the scene of hot air ballooning in Ohio between 1968 and 1970. There were also the Lesneak brothers from Akron who owned an S50 Raven, which they purchased from Denny Flodden in the early 1970s. They later moved out west.

HOT AIR BALLOONING LIFTS OFF IN NORTHEAST OHIO

Three pilots are mainly responsible for introducing hot air ballooning to northeastern Ohio. Their continued interest in balloon safety and education, led to the forming of the Northeast Ohio Balloon Pilots Association. Two of these individuals are Bob Zanella of Barberton, Ohio, and Arch Hawkins, formerly of Sebring, Ohio. Interestingly, they both learned about hot air ballooning in 1972 by watching the same television documentary. The third is Mike Emich, who was involved with gas ballooning as early as the late 1960s and with hot air balloons in 1971.

Bob Zanella

In the early 1970s Bob was a pharmacist at a Barberton Rexall drug store which he owned. Bev Sulzbach, worked at the drug store and has followed Bob through his many years of ballooning. Bob always had an interest in aviation. He was a fixed wing pilot and owned his own Cessna. Bob also had experience with parachute jumping. One evening, in 1972, he watched “The Alcoa Hour” which featured Bob Wallagunda flying a hot air balloon. The documentary portrayed Wallagunda as flying his balloon across the country, all in one flight. Zanella was fascinated with the hot air balloon and set out to get involved with this new sport. He could hardly wait until the next morning to tell his friend, John Reynolds. Little did Bob know, John had seen the same show and John too, was ready to try hot air ballooning. In fact, they agreed that day, to buy a balloon.

Early in 1972, three types of balloons were being built - Raven, Piccard and Semco. Bob made some calls for information and was impressed with the Semco. Mark Semick of Couer d’Alene, Idaho, offered this balloon with a ‘pop top’ while the other balloons were limited to Velcro tops. A pop-top would spring open when triggered and allow a very quick deflation. Because of a sky diving accident which involved a long drag in a parachute, Bob insisted on a balloon that would deflate quickly. Together, Bob and John purchased a Model T Semco balloon. The balloon had no vent, a pop-top, wooden floor, an aluminum basket with canvas sides, two tanks and a squirrel cage blower. The new AX-6, N14431, was named Tortugas when Bob took delivery in July 1972. The cost of the system was $2900. The new owners decided that Bob would get trained first, then he would train John. Bob arranged for flight lessons with Luther Taylor and flew his Cessna to Faison, North Carolina for training. After five training flights over three days, Bob was ready for his solo flight. As he prepared the balloon for his solo flight, Bob heard thunder in the distance and he cancelled the flight. Despite the fact that there was no flight, Luther went ahead and signed Bob off. Bob returned to Ohio where he did his solo flight.

Bob was ready for his flight check, but few examiners were around. He talked with Bob Sparks who put Zanella in touch with Fred Kissle, an examiner in New Jersey. Sparks arranged for Bob to meet with the examiner at a small balloon event held at an estate in Pennsylvania. The plan was for Mike Emich, 15 years old, to ride with Bob to the Pennsylvania event. Bob would drive all night while young Mike would help keep Bob awake. They arrived with no sleep, but Bob was ready to take his check flight. The examiner was not familiar with the Semco brand of balloon that Bob was flying so he didn’t want to ride in the balloon with him. Bob was instructed to take off and follow the examiner, who was flying his own balloon. They planned to land at the same place. Amazingly this flight plan was successful. After Bob landed next to the examiner, he was told to get into the examiner’s Raven balloon to complete the flight check. Bob was issued a license although at that time there was only one rating, not both private and commercial. Bob’s first student was his partner, John Reynolds. Although John took flight lessons, he never received a license. Bob’s second student was Don Connors from Indiana. As of 2003, Don Connors was still flying. Bev Sulzbach, was Bob’s third student and Bev received her license in October of 1973. She was licensed by Ken Hoskins who gave the flight exam by watching from the ground and giving flight instructions to Bev by radio. When she landed, Ken got into the balloon and told her to take him for a ride. From that, she assumed she had passed the flight check. Bev was the second woman in Ohio to receive a balloon license. The first was Alice Jackson of Columbus. Another woman who became interested in ballooning in the early 1970s was Judy Huth. Judy and her husband Tom, began crewing for Bob in 1972. It only took one flight for Judy to decide she wanted to take lessons. Judy, Zanella's fourth student, received her license on October 28, 1974.

On January 24, 1976, Tom and Judy received delivery of their new balloon, Whisper, a Semco Challenger AX-7, N #65248. The orange, yellow and blue vertical striped balloon had a small vent, a wicker basket and two tanks. In addition to their ballooning interests, the Huths were also raising three young daughters. Monica, the youngest of the three, followed her mother’s interest in piloting and became a balloon pilot in July 1989. We know her today as Monica Jonard. By the fall of 1974, Bob had finished training Judy Huth, Mike Emich, John Wells, and Jim Sabo. In October of 1974, Bob became an examiner and issued licenses to those students he had recently trained, the first being Jim Sabo, of Rittman. Jim and his wife Judy purchased a red, white and blue Semco and proceeded to turn it into ‘The Ohio Balloon’. The couple chose four symbols representing our state and applied three of them to their balloon. The process took a few years and many hours of labor. It was later designated the official balloon for the state of Ohio, by the Ohio legislature. A few years later, the Sabo’s sold their balloon to Beckie Hogue who applied the fourth symbol to the balloon.

John Wells was also an early student of Zanella. John worked across the street from Bob’s pharmacy and the two would frequently exchange stories about fixed wing flight. John Wells worked as crew while Bob trained John Reynolds and Wells soon found himself in love with the sport. Wells took lessons and received his license in October 1974. Soon afterward, John purchased an orange and yellow Semco N2040J, which he named Sunshine. By this time Zanella had purchased his second balloon, a Mark V Semco. John Wells went on to become the fourth president of NOBPA in 1983. Shortly after his presidency, John moved to California and sold his balloon to Beckie Hogue. When John was ready to start flying in California, he wanted to buy his balloon back from Beckie, but she had sold it to Dave Groupe who moved to Bennington, Vermont.

Additionally, over the next few years, Bob and Bev continued to train many more balloonists, including David Witner, Bill Gerber, Carl Smith, Beckie Hogue, Kevin Zanella, Larry Smithers and Fred Muffet. As ballooning became more popular, balloons were used to promote festivals, fairs and for advertising. Larry Smithers purchased a balloon after receiving his license in 1977. He is known for wearing a top hat when he flew.

Beckie Hogue was a middle school teacher with Kevin Zanella in her 8th grade English class. Kaz would frequently write stories about his father’s balloon adventures. These writings intrigued Becky and soon she started crewing for Bob and Bev. Beckie bought the Ohio balloon from Jim and Judy Sabo and started training with Bob. By 1978, she was licensed and later she trained Sue Korosa, Tim Bennet and Missy Hansel (Midura). When the Ohio balloon was no longer air worthy, Beckie bought John Wells’ Semco which she flew until 1984 when she sold it to Dave Groupe. Beckie continued to fly balloons until 1986. Sue Korosa was also a teacher and started crewing for Beckie Hogue in 1978. Sue received her first lesson from Fred Muffet and the remainder of her training was from Beckie. Sue was licensed in 1981, and in 1982 she bought her first balloon, which was an Adams balloon which she had seen in flight at Battle Creek in 1981. It was purchased from Phil Thompson. Sue had never been in nor flown the balloon until she took delivery in the fall of 1982.

Fred Muffet became involved in ballooning in 1978. He had taken a helicopter ride over Niagara Falls and wanted to become a helicopter pilot. After doing some checking, he discovered that the cost involved in becoming a helicopter pilot would be prohibitive to his budget. About that same time, he saw Bob Zanella floating in his balloon over Barberton. Fred tracked him down and bought a ride. Fred was so delighted with his flight that he purchased a balloon from Bob while they were still in the air. During his first year of flying, Fred logged about 175 hours. In 1979, Fred attended the national balloon competition and was named “Rookie of the Year”.

The Balloon Club

‘The Balloon Club’ would never have existed without the Akron University continuing education class on ballooning. About 1979, Bob Zanella volunteered to teach a class on hot air ballooning for the continuing education department at the University of Akron. This class drew people with many different degrees of interest. For those with a true desire to participate, this class provided a hands on opportunity with balloons. As part of the class, Bob and Fred Muffet took several of the students for a balloon ride. They launched from Kent State University. Over the course of this class, Fred remembers giving first time balloon rides to John Hill and Denny Welser. Other participants in the class were Dick Rossen, his son Danny and Bill Martig. Another one of the class participants was Todd Fisher who flew with Fred. Todd had an interest in balloons since his childhood when he read about Ed Yost in Popular Science magazines. Todd was very interested in pursuing his license but didn’t have a balloon. He convinced several other members of Zanella’s class to pool their money and purchase a balloon together. They would take turns flying while Bob would do the training. It was an economical way for several people to get training. Thus the ‘Balloon Club of Akron’ was started. The original six investors were Todd Fisher, Frank Bujorian, Joan Reisig, Tony Dockus, Bill Lewskowsky and Carl Walters. They each put in $600 and ordered a new balloon from Bob. They named it ‘Sunrise, Sunset’. (#10B Club Balloon) Bob covered the price difference with the hopes of finding four more people to buy into the club balloon. Todd was the first to complete his training with Bob. Todd remembers that he was also the first to burn the club balloon and the first to ‘stuff it in a tree’. In 1981, Todd purchased a Raven balloon from Bill Lauro and named it ‘Kimberly's Rainbow’. For many years he ran a successful ride business. Todd Fisher served as the first president of the Akron Balloon Club and joined NOBPA in the early 1980s. Four of the other original members, Frank, Tony, Bill, and Carl all received training and a license through their investment with the club balloon. Joan Reisig was the only original member of the Balloon Club not to earn a license, but maintained an avid interest. Around 1980, the Balloon Club had four new members purchase shares. These were Gil and Anne Pryne and Marty & Pat Hess. They all earned licenses through the Akron Balloon Club.

Mike Emich

Mike Emich’s adventures in aviation go as far back as the late 1960s when Mike would ride his bike to the Akron airport and get an airplane ride for ‘a penny a pound’. Long before he was able to drive, he would go to the air dock and help inflate the blimps. At age 12, Mike was a member of the Wingfoot Lighter-Than-Air-Society. This group was made up of employees of Goodyear Tire and Rubber who had access to the company’s gas balloons. They would use coal gas to fill the balloons for flight. Goodyear began to worry about the liability of the company when its’ employees were using company balloons for fun flying. In 1969 this group of gas balloon flyers, broke away from the Wingfoot LTA club and formed a new group called National Lighter Than Air. This allowed them to do weekend fun flights without any association to the Goodyear company. The group included, Jim Contos, Fred Kissel, Roger Wolcott, Don Overs, Art Swanson, Ren Brown, Vincent Rubino, and others. After several years of gas balloon flying these pilots were eventually forced to turn to hot air ballooning because hydrogen and helium became expensive and hard to get. In 1971, the National Lighter Than Air Society purchased their own hot air balloon, an AX6 Piccard, N16US.

In 1971, Mike traveled to Lakehurst, New Jersey for the 50th anniversary of the naval air station. Mike took his first tether ride with Fred Kissel. Fred had a Raven 105 with a Piccard basket. Later that year, Mike rode with Fred Kissel, this time in free flight from Randolph to Ravenna. Mike was just 15 years old. Thus, in 1971 Mike Emich was the first future NOBPA member to take a flight in a hot air balloon.

Tony Fairbanks was an avid gas balloon pilot and an original member of the Cleveland Balloon Club founded in 1932. He flew gas balloons in the early US Nationals and made at least 6 flights over the Swiss Alps. Tony and Don Piccard formed the Balloon Club of America in Philadelphia, in 1952. Several years later, in 1961, the Balloon Club of America (Philadelphia) and the National Lighter-Than-Air Society (Akron) formed the Balloon Federation of America. This came about during a meeting of both clubs in Don Over’s garage in Pittsburgh, Pa. Don Overs was Emich’s early hot air and later gas balloon instructor. Ward T. Van Orman was a gas balloon pilot beginning in 1918 and won nine first place honors while competing in US Nationals and Gordon Bennett cup races. Mike received and still has a signed photo by Ward T. Van Orman to this day. It is interesting to note, the Balloon Federation of America, which so many current hot air balloon pilots are associated with today, was originally formed from two gas Balloon Clubs, one of them originating in Akron.

In 1972, Mike met Bob Zanella, although neither of them remembers exactly where or how. Most likely Bob looked into the Balloon Flyers of Akron club when he first became interested in hot air ballooning. In 1972, Mike accompanied Zanella to Pennsylvania for Bob’s check ride.

Sometime in 1973, a small group of hot air balloons gathered at Friendship Acres, a camp ground in Randolph. This group included Jim Contos, Fred Kissel, and the Balloon Flyers of Akron with their club balloon, Arch Hawkins, and Larry Lesneak. Mike met Arch Hawkins here. After this, Arch also contributed to Mike’s balloon training. Mike liked to participate with any and all pilots. He did not limit himself to one person or group. Through these different people he gained knowledge, experience and training from several pilots.

Mike received his hot air balloon licensed in June, 1974. From there, he proceeded to build his first balloon. The AX3, 21000 cubic feet tyvec balloon was flown with an aluminum frame seat with two tanks attached to the back, and used an inverted dump deflation system. As the material was all white, Mike named it Casper. Later in 1979, he built another AX3 from polyester fabric. This balloon had a rip panel and a hand woven basket, which would hold one or two 10 gallon tanks. This picture was taken in November, 1982, when Mike attempted to break the world record for distance. He flew 34 miles which was one mile short of the record. Mike is also licensed to fly gas balloons, fixed wing, and turbo prop planes. In 1986, he was awarded the Shields-Trauger award from the Balloon Federation of America, which is the highest award given by the BFA. He also holds numerous aviation world records, several of which have been sanctioned by the NAA in Washington D.C.

Arch Hawkins

Arch and his brother John became interested in hot air balloons after watching Bob Wallagunda’s TV documentary, the same way Bob Zanella had learned about balloons. Arch and John went to Statesville, North Carolina where John trained with Bill Meadows. John took his flight test in Columbus, Ohio, in May, 1972 and then trained Arch. When the brothers were ready to order a balloon, they traveled to Valparaiso, Indiana to met with Don Piccard. Here they ordered an AX-6 Piccard which was delivered in July 1, 1972. The balloon was 55,000 cubic feet with a pie velcro rip panel. The red, white and blue balloon was named ‘Treasure Island’. Just one month later, they participated in the balloon nationals held in Indianola, Iowa, where John took 10th place. Arch continued his training and was issued a license on September 20, 1972. During his Flight examine, the FAA representative chose to stay on the ground and watch Arch fly. John continued to fly for many years for fun and recreation. Arch, however, expanded his ballooning interests to include extensive student training, commercial balloon sales, passenger rides, and even some engineering and designing of balloons. Arch always stressed safety and education so it was no surprise that he was the pilot who first brought the northeastern Ohio balloonists together to start a club. During the last 30 years, Arch has trained more than 35 pilots, flown more than 12,000 passengers, and has over 3000 pilot hours without an accident. He is currently flying passengers in Palm Springs, California and builds authentic balloon trophies for balloon races. Arch was instrumental in contributing to the early growth of ballooning by training Beth Davidson and Bill Lauro, and by helping to train Mike Emich and Pete Hawkins, all of these prior to 1980. Soon after NOBPA was formed, Arch trained Dick Rossen, Rick Jerkovich, Chuck Thompson and Gary Gerberich who were active in early NOBPA. Arch also trained Pam, Matt, and Jason Hawkins, Fran Rogers, Pat Murray, Ray Bryant, Tony Perry, Jan Davis, Annette Poncar, and others before moving to California.

Beth Davidson

Beth Davidson first became interested in ballooning in 1976 when she lived in Denver. She crewed for balloons in Colorado for a short time before returning to Ohio where she received training from Arch, bought a balloon, and earned her license in September of 1977. Her first balloon was named ‘Passion Flower’. (#16) By the summer of 1978, Beth was a commercial pilot and attending flying events in Ohio, Michigan, and the Nationals in Indianola. Her crew chief was George Green who continued to fly with her until he and his wife Nancy bought their own balloon in 1988. Beth started training her sister, Ann Davidson, who received her private license in September of 1981. Later that year Ann and Jan Nicole went together and bought a new Barnes balloon. Beth also trained Maury Sullivan in 1982 and helped train Steve Dale, Bill Lavigna, Penny & Paul Suttle. She was also instrumental in starting the HOF Balloon Classic in 1986.

Bill Lauro

Bill Lauro got started in ballooning when working for Dale Haggarty who owned a commercial advertising balloon. Dale suggested that Bill, a fixed wing pilot, start flying the company balloon. Bill received his balloon endorsement after having instruction from both Arch Hawkins and Ken Austin. After a short time of flying with Haggarty, Bill signed a contract to fly the Canada Dry Balloon. Bill remembers being forced to fly in the city for the advertising benefits. Usually, balloons flew in sparsely populated areas. Bill took his check ride with Bob Zanella in 1977. He soon bought his own balloon, a Raven named ‘Midnight Flower’ and started doing advertising. (#17) Bill was an FAA Designated Examiner and trained several NOBPA members including Nancy Honneyman and Carol Weiner.

Pete Hawkins

Pete Hawkins was the third Hawkins brother to earn a balloon license. With his two older brothers flying it was only a matter of time until he followed their lead. Pete took the written balloon test in 1973 but failed the test. Discouraged, he wasn’t interested in getting a license for a few years. In 1976, Pete took the written test again and passed. By this time, John had taken delivery on a new Barnes balloon, which he named Fig Newton. Arch had two Barnes balloons, so there was always a balloon available for Pete to fly. Pete trained with John and in late 1978, he bought his own balloon, a 56,000 cubic foot Raven balloon named “Skyhawk”. Pete soloed in this balloon and received his license in early 1979. Pete was the first student for Bill Lauro to license when he became a new FAA Designated Flight Examiner. Pete continued to build hours and received his commercial license in October 1979. In 1981, Pete trained Cliff Cowen, who would become president of NOBPA in 1986 and 1987. Pete spent several winters in California doing passenger rides with Arch. He returned to Ohio for the summer and flew passengers for Unlimited Ballooning Adventures. He has over 1300 hours of safe flying.

Gary Klein

Gary Klein was an advertising manager with Diamond Shamrock Corporation in 1974. The company owned a Raven s-55 that was used for promotional and civic events. Gary was good friends with the manager who was in charge of the balloon program. The manager was in the process of ordering a new system, and looking for a pilot to help manage the balloon program. The balloon program was strictly an extra hours activity and had nothing to do with Gary's regular advertising position. Gary felt this was a good way to have some fun and learn a new skill; plus he found he really enjoyed flying. Gary was trained by Ed Yost and received his license in June, 1975. For many years, Gary had the opportunity to fly and learn from some of the most well-known pilots in the sport. Gary remembers this as a time when he was able to fly in the US, Canada, and parts of Europe. He used first class equipment but someone else paid for it. In 1982, when Diamond Shamrock ended their balloon program, Gary bought the equipment for himself and continued to fly for a few more years. Gary was the first president of NOBPA.

Ed Lappies

Ed Lappies became interested in hot air ballooning in 1970. He was living in Cleveland at the time and contacted the Cleveland Balloon Club. He found the club was selling their Semco balloon for $10,000, but Ed thought that was too much to pay. Ed then contacted Denny Flodden at Raven industries where he purchased an all black Raven for $9000. As part of the deal, Denny Flodden agreed to train Ed to fly balloons. Ed had two lessons totaling 2 ¾ hours of flight training when he was signed off to solo. It’s no wonder Ed remembers wearing knee pads, elbow pads and a helmet when he flew. Ed had introduced his friend, Bob Carter, to hot air ballooning also and together they practiced flying, frequently referring to the flight manual. According to Ed, Bob Carter is still flying balloons, but never acquired a licensed. Ed was issued a license in 1970. In 1972, he attended the first Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta with Denny Flodden. There were 15 balloons participating. Ed Lappies was instrumental in forming NOBPA and served as Vice President in 1980. Soon afterwards, Ed and his wife to be, Mariann, moved to New Hampshire. Ed continued to fly balloons accumulating over 3200 hours and serving as an FAA Designated Flight Examiner. Ed Lappies passed away in January, 2004.

Bill Armstrong

Bill Armstrong's involvement with aviation dates back to 1961 when he and a neighborhood friend built a miniature capsule attached to a weather balloon. The balloon was designed to ascend to 750 feet where the capsule would release and float back to the ground with the help of three smaller balloons. Although unsuccessful on the first attempt, Bill did succeed on the second launch. Later when he was a high school student Bill would hitch hike to “work parties” at the Wingfoot Air Dock. Here he patched gas balloons and did sewing repairs on the nets to earn points toward a balloon ride. Although Bill worked many hours, he never received his ride. Bill got a student license at 17, and became a licensed hot air balloon pilot in 1974. He was trained by Tom Gotch and Clayton Thomas and flew at the first World Hot Air Balloon Championships at Albuquerque in 1973. Later, in 1983, Bill and Mike Emich both earned their gas ratings from Don Overs. Bill and Mike flew gas balloons together frequently, including a flight in 1985 which set a U.S. distance record. They flew 515 miles, from Akron to Boston, in a 19,000 cubic foot hydrogen gas balloon. In addition to being a founder and director of NOBPA, Bill has been active in the Balloon Federation of America, the Lighter-Than-Air Society, Balloon Flyers of Akron and several other prominent balloon organizations. Bill was awarded the BFA’s Shields-Trauger memorial award in 1986, which is the highest award in American ballooning.