GINA ON THE JOB: Hot Air Balloon Pilot

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The annual Great Balloon Race draws thousands of people every year. While a threat of severe weather canceled the Derby Festival tradition on Friday, WDRB's Gina Glaros went flying to see how it comes together on this week's 'Gina on the Job.'

Glaros spent a recent evening with Billy Green, a local commercial hot air balloon pilot and his crew with Blue Moon Hot Air Balloon.

"About three to four days ago, we started looking at the weather, watching for rain, watching the winds. Every day, I keep watching for that. So, today has been beautiful. We've had two great days of winds low and beautiful sunshine and not very many clouds in the sky. So, we are ready to go," Green said.

After removing the basket, the team attaches cables, which are the main braces and give the balloon structure. Glaros and the ground crew then put in upright posts.

"This is our main piece right here. It's the burner," Cameron Fischer said, Crew Chief.

Securing our ride to the piece that keeps us in the air? Gina wanted to make sure the cables were extra tight.

"We'll fly with 30 gallons of fuel, they'll go up through the hose up into our safety harness, two different systems. This is the main blast valve. The main blast valve is what we'll do most of our flying with," Green said.

Then it was time to attach the balloon.

"I want you to take the Carabiner, just like I'm doing, from the bottom and come up with it. Then, you're going to give it a twist just like we taught you earlier, about all the way down, a quarter twist back."

It's then time to inflate all 28 feet of the parachute. "We've got to get the balloon full of cold air in order to have hot air into it so we're not burning the material trying to get it to stand up. So, that is our next job."

While a giant fan gives the balloon air, Gina helps double check the parachute.

"Everything the FAA has us do, has to have redundancy," Green said. "We're inspected just like an airplane is."

Gina then hit the valve, releasing hot air into the balloon.

After about an hour of set up, it was time to go. Just like that, they were flying over east Louisville. There's no way to steer and the burner helped with climbing. Gina helped hit the burner every few minutes.

"We're looking at just about 1,500 feet right now. I can go up to 7,000 or so, but normally, we like to go under 3,000. That's a nice, enjoyable view on a flight."

Green is among about 75 local pilots in the surrounding area. Just seven balloons flew in the inaugural Great Balloon Race from Iroquois Park in 1973. According to Green, the pilots weren't local, which spurred more local people to get involved in hot air ballooning.

"Ballooning is about the community," Green said. "We all try to fly together. We'll work together. If one of these pilots lands somewhere and they have trouble getting it out, we're all going to be there to help them out.

"Landing in a community gets the community involved. We educate them because a lot of people have no clue what a balloon is about, landing where and what it takes to do one. We're always looking for crew and people that want to fall in love with it which is why I'm doing it is because I love teaching people what ballooning is about."

It was time to land. However, finding a place was a different story. The ground crew was tracking the balloon at all times and is one of the most important parts of the process. Green incorporated trees to help slow the basket. It was a safe landing, with a little excitement.

With the basket surrounded by the neighborhood they landed in, Gina found out what Green meant by community. With neighbors' help, they tore down, finishing just after the sun went down.

The Great Balloon Race is scheduled for Saturday, April 29 at 7 a.m.

Do you have a job suggestion for Gina? Email her here or reach out to her on Facebook or Twitter.