John Ninomiya of Solana Beach, Calif., will fly a helium cluster balloon
June 16 at the Thurston Classic.
There are only about a half-dozen such pilots in the world who use this
unique form of ballooning, according to Ninomiya’s Internet site
www.clusterballoon.org.
He wears a harness with dozens of large, helium-filled latex weather
observation-style balloons attached and has an emergency parachute for
safety.
Taking off with more balloons than needed to lift his weight, Ninomiya
releases water ballasts to ascend. To descend, he bursts or releases
balloons. He’ll use about 80 balloons — each ranging in size from 4 to 6
feet — at the Thurston.
Ninomiya is doing a project called “States of Enlightenment” in which he is
trying to fly with helium cluster balloons in all 50 states.
