By Molly Ann Howell
Managing Editor
One hundred and twenty-five balloon pilots plan to participate in this year’s Red Rock Balloon Rally. But while they’re up in the sky entertaining people with the colors of their beautiful balloons, some exceptionally important people stay on the ground, ensuring the pilots and the audience stay safe.
Launch directors make up the backbone of the Red Rock Balloon Rally. They coordinate the launch of every balloon, ensuring no accidents or collisions, and keeping the audience safe while the balloons fly in the air.
The City of Gallup’s Community Services Coordinator Ben Welch serves as the Red Rock Balloon Rally’s Launch Director Coordinator. Or, as former Red Rock Balloon Rally Association President Bill Lee would call him, “Lord of the Launch Directors.”
Welch has worked as one of the Red Rock Balloon Rally’s launch directors for 35 years now. In an interview with the Sun, he explained what the launch directors do to make sure the annual rally is fun and safe for everyone.
Before the rally, the group of launch directors set up the launch field.
Welch said he and the other veteran launch directors also spend extensive time training newer launch directors.
Launch directors have to know how to communicate with the Pilot In Charge and avoid balloon collisions.
On rally days, Welch and the other launch directors work with local law enforcement to ensure the community’s safety. The Gallup Police Department, McKinley County Sheriff’s Office, Gallup Fire Department, McKinley County Fire and Rescue, McKinley County Office of Emergency Management, and the New Mexico State Police all coordinate their efforts during the event.
Pilots typically arrive at the launch field around 4:30 or 5 am on launch days, so the launch directors also wake up in the wee hours of the morning.
They meet before the launches begin, with Welch assigning responsibilities and ensuring everyone knows what they’re doing. They also set up lighting so everyone can see what they’re doing in the early morning darkness.
When pilots begin arriving, the launch directors will introduce themselves to the PIC. Once the pilot briefing, which is usually conducted by a veteran pilot, is complete, the launch directors introduce themselves to the pilots and help them settle onto the field.
The pilots line their balloons up in rows, which creates a dramatic effect as they lift into the air.
When it’s finally time for lift off, the launch directors’ main job begins.
They use hand signals to tell pilots when they can take to the skies — a thumbs up for “good to go,” a thumbs down for “don’t go yet,” and a “come here” gesture for when the pilots can begin moving forward in preparation for take off.
Another key component of their duties is ensuring the balloon is safe for flight. They check that for any propane leaks or tears in the balloon’s envelope.
“If we find a pilot who has a leaky oil ring or a tear in the balloon, or is very rude to one of the volunteers, we ground them,” Welch said. “We’re volunteers, there’s no reason to be accosted by somebody’s ego.”
Besides getting the balloons off the ground, part of the launch directors’ job is ensuring the onlookers’ safety.
“The posture of most our guests who come to the balloon rally or any balloon rally for that matter, is looking up,” Welch said. “We’re out in a rural area, we don’t have the luxury of having a grass field like [Albuquerque] does. We have a dirt field, so the terrain is a little bit rougher.”
They make sure people keep their dogs on leashes and don’t smoke on the launch field.
During the cold month of December, pilots can typically fly their hot air balloons for about two hours.
Once they land and their chase crew has helped them load everything up, the pilots need to return to the launch field and check back in with the launch directors, confirming that they landed safely.
“If anybody’s missing, we go into action to look for that pilot and make sure they didn’t go home,” Welch said. “Maybe they’re at the hotel and they forgot to check back in, maybe they’re going back home, but we want to make sure every name on that list is accounted for.”
Welch said his favorite part about being a launch director is getting to hang out with his friends, most of whom he’s known for decades.
His second-favorite part is handling all the logistics for the rally.
As the Launch Director Coordinator, Welch coordinates many aspects of the rally, from the Fox Run Golf Course, where some of the pilots take off on Friday, to pilots’ campsites and the overall security of the event.
“It’s kind of complicated, it’s like herding cats at some points,” he said with a chuckle. “There’s a lot of different personalities involved, so you have to adjust how you work with other people so that way we all have a positive outcome.”
He said the hardest part is finding people who can help out.
In the past, the rally had up to 35 launch directors working the event. This year, that number has dwindled down to 18.
Welch said it’s partly due to the aging of the sport.
The Balloon Federation of America estimates that about 80% of balloon pilots will leave the sport in the next 10 to 20 years. The launch director sector is seeing a similar trend.
Welch said he and other veterans expect to train about nine new launch directors this year, but the program could always use more people.
One way they’re trying to generate interest is through a “traveling trophy” program with the local high schools every year.
The federation staff invite local students on sports teams or in school clubs to come out and either join a chase crew or become a launch director.
Whichever group gets the most students to come out and participate in the rally wins a cash prize supplied by some of the rally’s sponsors. The group also receives a trophy.
