If you’re up early enough near the rural areas of north Pasco and southern Hillsborough counties, you might catch a glimpse. They rise majestically over the trees to soar through the sky. Lighter than air, they quietly float, pushed along by the breeze until they softly land in a nearby field. Flying in a hot air balloon is a special, awe-inspiring experience, perfect for sharing with one you love.
For Dave Gardner, owner and pilot at Big Red Balloon Sightseeing Adventures, flying the skies of the Tampa Bay area is not something he takes for granted. “I think all pilots are the same way. They just have this itch inside them that makes them want to fly. It’s the freedom you feel when you’re in the air,” explained Gardner.
Dave found a love of flying early in his life, “When I was in high school, I was a B/C student and didn’t really care to be in school or in class. I wanted to be outside. When I got to flight school, I don’t think I missed more than a handful of questions on any test. It was just the right thing, it felt right, I just loved it.” Dave was on the commercial airline career track and had grand visions for his future. Those dreams were put on hold when his color sight issue prevented him from continuing on that path. “When I couldn’t do that anymore, I was pretty crushed, and I didn’t want to be around airplanes at all,” shared Gardner.
Dave shifted gears, graduated from Florida State University with a business degree, and moved to Tampa on the search for a path that felt right. The stars aligned, and Dave found himself at a hot air balloon festival hosted by Phil and Melanie Sekora, the original owners of Big Red Balloon. “Phil invited me to come fly with him that day. That morning, I found out they were interested in selling the business. That was a lightbulb moment for me,” explained Gardner. His color sight issues were only a problem in rare nighttime airport landing scenarios, so balloon flight was a path he could soar on. “Phil taught me to fly, Melanie taught me the business, and I bought it from him about two years later,” Gardner added. Nearly 30 years later, Dave has over 3,000 flight hours, a perfect safety record and a very long list of happy customers.
Balloon flight is as much art as science – a nuanced dance with nature, not just mechanical operation. “It’s much more like working with Mother Nature than against her. With a propeller or a rotor over your head, you’re basically beating the air to death to try and stay up. In a hot air balloon, you’re working with her. You make the air inside the balloon lighter than the air outside the balloon, and up you go. In ballooning, we like to say we have very little control over our aircraft. So, what you do with that control is absolutely crucial,” explained Gardner. “Basically, you choose a landing site. Someplace you know you can land, and there are other potential landing sites around. So, if Mother Nature changes her mind as to what she wants to do, you always have a plan B. You go upwind from that landing site to find a launch site. That’s the process that we go through every morning.”
Once aloft, the magic of ballooning comes to life and puts all other forms of scenic flights to shame. “You can’t replicate a flight in a balloon. You can’t see the world or experience it that same way. It’s just awe inspiring. The vast majority of the people that go up in a balloon don’t have any idea what they’re in for,” explained Gardner. Even those who claim a fear of heights enjoy the experience. “They think once they leave the ground, they’re going to freeze and hate it. Almost all the time, what they call a fear of heights is a fear of falling. But you don’t get that sensation when you’re in a balloon. Generally, those are the people that have the best time, because they’ve overcome a fear they thought they had. It’s so calming and peaceful, within the first 10 or 15 minutes of the flight, those fears just melt away and you’re just enjoying this incredible view of the landscape,” added Gardner. A scenic balloon experience is also very popular for proposals. Dave shared that he usually sees a couple proposal flights a month.
While Big Red Balloon is the oldest and only full time hot air balloon ride operator in West Central Florida, there are other pilots in the area that Dave works with regularly. “There aren’t as many as there used to be. When I first started flying, there was probably a dozen of us that would come out on a good Saturday or Sunday to fly. Now it’s been whittled down to two. We love to fly together. If there’s more than one of us out one morning, we’ve already communicated, and we’re going to meet and probably launch and fly together. There’s safety in numbers when ballooning,” shared Gardner.
Above all, Dave just loves to share the experience with others. “When I first started, it was the flying that was fun, and it still is, but that shifted from wanting to do the flying to wanting to watch the passengers and their reactions and giving them that experience. It’s not something you’ll ever experience any other way.” That passion and dedication shine through on every flight. It’s an experience well worth adding to your bucket list and sharing with the one you love.
“You can't see the world or experience it that same way. It’s just awe inspiring. The vast majority of the people that go up in a balloon don't have any idea what they're in for.”