The National Balloon Classic is held annually in Indianola, Iowa and features over 100 hot air balloons. Pilots participate in daily competition flights where they are assigned specific tasks to test their skills. Other activities include: Dawn Patrol, where pilots liftoff at 5:15am and land after the sun has risen. Mass Ascension is when all of the balloons lift off at once. Also popular is the Nite Glow, when the balloons are tied to the ground but light up the skies after dusk.
Most of the sequences were collected during the 2015 event, however, a few segments were shot during the 2014 classic. Helping me out on this project was my daughter, Carrie Abeling and my nephew Grant Songer.
