By: Katie Griggs, Chairman Balloon Federation of America (BFA) Youth Program

The Balloon Federation of America (BFA) held two balloon youth camps this year in the USA.  Both camps were sleep-over week-long camps.

Southeastern Balloon Camp

The first BFA youth camp was the Southeastern Balloon Camp held June 18-23, 2024 in Cordele, Georgia.

A group of 26 campers and student pilots gathered together with over 40 staff members who had volunteered to spend a week of their summer at the camp.  Our volunteer team included 13 commercial pilots and volunteer chase crews of one or two people. All together, our pilots had over 500 years of combined ballooning experience! With two campers per pilot, the campers were lucky to have such a lot of one-on-one time in the balloons.

For some of the campers, it was their very first time piloting a balloon. During the course of the week, all 26 campers got to pilot a balloon. Over 100 hours of instruction were logged between all the students during the camp! 

If the weather was not conducive to flying, there were plenty of other activities to interest the campers throughout the week. There were many classes on multiple topics and we even held our own Balloon Olympics! Campers practiced daisy chaining, getting the balloon in and out of the bag, carrying equipment, and hitting the target in competition conditions. Time was not always the deciding factor, but also creativity and teamwork.

During the day, the campers sat through over 15 hours of classroom instruction each and could learn about many topics from our talented instructors. Of course, it was a summer camp, so we had a lot of fun with the Crew Olympics, lake day, scavenger hunt, tie dye, movie night, the swimming pool, and lots of other games and fun activities.

We also couldn’t have camp without eating, so I would like to thank Cindy Wall and her great kitchen team for keeping all of us fed the entire week with delicious homemade meals.

High Sierra Balloon Camp

The second BFA youth camp was the High Sierra Balloon Camp, held between the 13-18 July 2024 in Lake Tahoe, Nevada. Seven different states were represented by the the twenty-two campers who participated, with 10 returning campers and 12 new campers. During the camp, six campers and one staff member completed their applications for their student pilot certificates.

There were lots of flight activities where campers had hands-on experience with inflation, launch, landing and deflating balloons. On Day 3 of the High Sierra Balloon Camp there were nine balloons present, and all our campers got in the air!

They got to learn about balloon systems, how to do the different positions including handling the burner, inflation and, of course, how to fly. We are grateful for all our camp pilots who combined have over 11,000 hours of flight time.

Classroom sessions centered on the Balloon Flying Handbook, and the updated FAA Practical Test Standards issued last May. Other topics covered included flight planning and landowner relations. The campers also learned about safe use of fire extinguishers, balloon repair stations, commercial balloon operations, and radio communications.

A guest speaker - a pilot from the Alpha 5 sky diving jump project - talked about flight planning, preparation and the flight itself.

The Nevada camp was at Lake Tahoe area, and downtime included swimming in the lake, volleyball, and connecting with each other.

Growing numbers

Overall, the two-week long traditional sleepover camps were a huge success. Over 15 campers have become pilots in the last two years. It is a hard number to keep track of, but the number seems to grow every year.

Each and every camper had an amazing week, and we believe that many will continue their careers in ballooning. Campers are the future of this sport and continue to do great things!