What started as a race between a few friends has become an internationally renowned event. The Forest Park Balloon Race is an annual event drawing thousands of spectators. In this episode we’ll explore the origins of the race and ballooning history of St. Louis.
St. Louis has a rich history when it comes to hot air balloons. As early as 1859, St. Louis saw its first hot air balloon— or lighter than aircraft as they were called initially.
In attempt to seek financial support for a transatlantic balloon trip, a ballooning enthusiast, Professor John Wise devised a plan. He would journey halfway across the United States via hot air balloon. Proving success in this trip, he assumed he would stimulate interest and supporters would finance his trip across the Atlantic Ocean. The plan was to fly from St. Louis, Missouri to Henderson New York, a trip of 1,200 miles.
The balloon was constructed by John LaMountain, a fellow balloonist from New York. A man called Mr. O. A. Gager would finance the build. Gager was a Vermont businessman with an interest in the project. The balloon was made of the finest Chinese silk, measured 50 feet in diameter and 60 feet tall. It could hold 60,000 cubic feet of gas. Below the balloon was suspended a wicker basket (much like we see today with hot air balloons). Hanging 16 feet below the basket was a small wooden boat to hold supplies while traveling and to use for a potential water landing.
The balloon was christened the Atlantic.
The journey started on July 1, 1859, in St. Louis. On board were Professor John Wise, LaMountain, Gager, and Mr. William Hyde, a reporter for the Missouri Republican (a St. Louis paper of the time).
At 6:45pm, the Atlantic was cut loose and began her journey.
Of the first leg of the trip, Hyde wrote:
“The applauding shots of the people reached our ears for some time after we left the earth, growing fainter and fainter as we receded. Objects became less clearly defined. Finally, the city faded into a spot. The balloon afforded an extended view of the Mississippi River, the Missouri and Illinois rivers. I had an opportunity to realize, as much as possible to a practical person, the meaning of poetic dreams when attempting to portray the silver, glittering sheen of the waters produced by rays of the declining sun. Nothing could be imagined more gorgeously beautiful.”
By 6:45 the next morning, the had reached Lake Erie. Shortly after this, things began to go awry. While traveling over Lake Ontario, they encountered a severe storm with terrible wind gusts. As no land was in sight, they began jettisoning everything they could from the aircraft in an attempt either outfly the storm or reach an altitude above the storm.
This didn’t quite work out.
By 1:35 pm they could see land but were still caught in the storm. A strong wind caused the balloon to crash upon the shores of Lake Ontario. Before the men could leave the craft, another gust of wind picked up the balloon and began dragging it along the treetops of a nearby forest. The Atlantic miraculously landed safely in the forked branches of a large tree. None of the men aboard were injured, but the balloon was shredded.
In total, the Atlantic flew 809 miles, for a duration of 19 hours and 50 minutes. A record that would not be broken for over 50 years.
During the early 1900s, Washington University sent roughly 50 experimental balloons into the atmosphere to measure various weather conditions. It would not be until 1907 that St. Louis saw a hot air balloon race.
On October 21, 1907, St. Louis was host to the 2nd James Gordon Bennett International Balloon Race. This race was about total distance, not speed. 100,000 spectators viewed 12 balloons representing 4 countries launch from Forest Park. The balloons were mostly made of silk and were filled with propane or natural gas provided by Laclede Gas Company. Even if St. Louisans were not in Forest Park to view the balloon race, they knew about the event. During the time it took to inflate all 12 balloons, citizens lost gas service.
Side note: I want to point out the hot air balloons of this time did not look like the beautiful colorful and shapely objects we see today. They looked like creepy black or gray orbs floating in the sky with a basket suspended underneath.
The winner of the 1907 Gordon Bennett cup was a German balloon, the Pommern. It landed in a seaside town in New Jersey and traveled 880 miles in 40 hours.
St. Louis would go on to host the James Gordon Bennett International Balloon Race again in 1910 and in 1929.
During this time, St. Louis held annual balloon races of its own, and enthusiasm in ballooning soared. This led to the creation of the Aero Club of St. Louis. Which lead to the establishment of Scott Field in 1917. It was developed as a “lighter than air” training center.
The Aero Club of St. Louis also established Kinloch Field. They were the only Aero club in the country to have their own dedicated field. As Major Albert Lambert was president of the St. Louis Aero Club, this interest in ballooning also led to the creation of Lambert Airport.
Ballooning continued in St. Louis for next few decades. However, with the crash of the Hindenburg in 1937, interest in lighter than air crafts quickly declined, not only in St. Louis, but across the world. By the 1950’s interest began to surface again. This time with improvements in safety, including the use of propane instead of natural gas.
The St. Louis Forest Park Balloon Race began in December of 1973. With just 6 balloons and 20 spectators, Nikki Caplan and John O’Toole set out to have a balloon race amongst friends.
The event remained small for the first few years. Then, in 1977 a group deemed the Fab Four became involved. In the early 1970’s Ted Staley, John Schaumberg, Dan Schettler and John Marlow came across an opportunity to purchase a used hot air balloon. Dubbing themselves as the Mississippi River Balloon Transit Company, they learned to fly and began attending the races at Forest Park. By 1977, they had taken over as the event’s organizers and continue to do so today.
How did this race go from just 20 spectators to the 100,000 or so that attend annually now? John Schaumberg said about the balloon race:
“The race kind of grew organically. No one had any idea it would end up where it has. We just conscripted local pilots, then decided if there are commercial balloons, we could charge sponsorships to fund it. We made a connection with Forest Park. Every year more people got involved, more sponsors involved. It just grew. The race pretty much runs itself now, too. Each man has a job to do, either taking care of the pilots with gifts, accommodations, good food and a party; organizing the balloon glow; running the race itself; or managing publicity.”
At some point, the event planners ventured into something new. Dan Schettler convinced KMOX radio to not only cover the race, but to sponsor a balloon. This began the tradition of St. Louis companies sponsoring various balloons for the race. Not only did this increase coverage of the event, but also allowed the group financial backing for insurance, event planning, awards, clean-up, security-all the necessary things to make the balloon race a success.
The Forest Park Balloon Race is a hare and hound style race. The hare balloon takes off first and leads the pack of other balloons. It is the first to land. The crew of the hare balloon places a large X on the ground. The other balloons, the hounds, must drop their bean bag as close to the center of the X as possible. The balloon crew that gets their bean bag closed to the center of the X is the winner. After dropping their bean bag, the hound balloons must find a safe place to land. Balloons have landed all over the city— in parking lots, backyards (including Chuck Berry’s yard, parks, and even once at the convent for the Sisters of Notre Dame in South County).
The race is capped at 70 balloons and is by invitation only. Because of its urban location, the race requires pilots of great experience. It can be difficult navigating take-off in a city, not to mention you never know where you’ll have to land. There’s not always an open spot like a field. Pilots of course, must be FAA certified and licensed.
The entire event must be approved by the FAA. The FAA sends out a helicopter that flies at 3,00 feet. Pilots, unless landing, are not permitted to fly below that. Although pilots have clearance to fly over the international airspace of Lambert Field, it has been requested for balloons not to land on the runway if at all possible.
So, why is that we attend the balloon race in September and not December like the original race? Well, the pilots of the early days knew the weather was terrible in December—cold, wet, windy— really hard to attempt to take off and fly a hot air balloon. So, a member of the Fab Four contacted the weather service inquiring about the best conditions for flying balloons. Historical data has shown that the 3rd weekend in September has the best weather.
Now dubbed “The Great Forest Park Balloon Race”, the event continues to evolve. In 1997, the Balloon Glow was introduced and has become a staple component of the event. On Friday evening before the race, all the balloons participating are set-up in a field in Forest Park. At dusk, the balloons are lit up. It is truly something to see and I highly recommend making the trip if you can.
One of the best parts about the balloon race is that it’s not confined to Forest Park. Even if you don’t attend the Balloon Glow or the launch of the balloons for the race, you can still be a spectator. The Saturday of the race, balloons can be seen flying all over the metro area as they attempt to find the X, drop their bean bag and find a place to land. As a kid, I remember seeing the giant pink Energizer Bunny balloon flying over my house and thinking it was the bee’s knees. Some St. Louisans even have balloon parties hoping to catch a glimpse of the balloons throughout the race.
In May of 2000, The Forest Park Balloon Race was inducted into the Library of Congress’s American Folk Life Center. They honor local legacies of significance to their communities. The library holds photos, programs, posters, videos, pins and pilot gifts from the Great Forest Park Balloon Race. This past September, the balloon race celebrated its 50th year and continues to draw thousands of spectators for the balloon glow and race.