On the Road to...
Hot Air Ballooning With Greg Taggart
For the "On the Road to..." column a Quarterly Speed Bump writer sits down with a hobbyist and finds out about how to get into their particular hobby and what they find to be rewarding about it. In this issue we're on the road to hot air ballooning. We were pleased to sit down with Greg Taggart to learn more: QSB: Do you prefer the term balloonist, pilot, aeronaut, or other? Greg: All are good. I actually own a balloon and am a pilot but none of those terms are derogatory. We have a ceremony for first timers and I tell people after their first flight that they're aeronauts. QSB: What about hot air ballooning attracted you? Greg: I wasn't attracted; I had a purpose. I was in an upper level photography class in college-beyond the darkroom: color. I needed color to populate six slide projectors for a class project (I was shooting slide film at the time). Then there was a cover story in LIFE magazine about the Albuquerque balloon rally. That was color. QSB: How long have you been hot air ballooning? Greg: October 10th was the 32nd anniversary of my first balloon ride. I hitchhiked and rode freight cars to get to the Albuquerque rally (the rally starts the first Saturday in October and lasts for nine days). I built myself a treehouse and lived in a tree for a week. It was the Seventies. I got to Albuquerque in the afternoon and asked 6
Quarterly Speed Bump Magazine | Autumn 2012
Erwin Pfeffer