Local residents looked to the sky last Wednesday evening, April 29, asking, “What is that thing?”
Upon closer inspection, they realized it was a flying elephant, more accurately, a hot air balloon in the shape of an elephant.
Tony Saxton, the pilot that evening and one of the owners of Endless Mountains Hot Air Balloons in Doylestown, Pa., said he brought the hot air balloon, named Pea-Nut the Flying Elephant, to Bally to have it inspected by Burt Padelt of Best Aviation Services.
Saxton and his brother Scott have been in the business of balloons after being inspired at a young age. Since then, both the Saxton brothers have crewed for local hot air balloon teams and eventually became certified to fly them. Pilots of hot air balloons have to have a pilot’s license, just like you would for an airplane or aircraft and be FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) certified. Saxton said the process includes “many flight lessons and multiple written, practical and oral tests to become a private pilot and even more training to obtain a commercial license.”
“It was such a nice evening after we got Pea-Nut inspected, we decided to take it out for a ride,” said Saxton.
Pea-Nut was built in Brazil in 2012 and is made of nylon. The size of the balloon is 105,000 cubic feet, which Saxton said could hold 105,000 soccer balls and it is 110 feet tall. Saxton said Pea-Nut was made by a friend at RVB Balloons and he fell in love. “We knew we had to have it.”
Pea-Nut is the only custom balloon at Endless Mountain Hot Air Balloons and Saxton said they only take it to balloon festivals, not to fly with passengers. However, they have other balloons that you can book flights with.
Some upcoming events Pea-Nut will be attending are the Preakness Celebration Balloon Festival May 14th – 16th in Maryland, the Chester County Balloon Festival on June 19th and 20th and the Great Chesapeake Balloon Festival July 31st and August 1st in Maryland.
For more information on Pea-Nut the Flying Elephant or any other balloon at Endless Mountain Hot Air Balloons, go to <www.weflyhotair.com> or go to their Facebook page.
