With 28 hot air balloon pilots in High River for the Heritage Inn International Balloon Festival there is one that balloon that is just a little bit different.

Michael Glen from Roswell New Mexico has been in a wheelchair since 1996 and the basket on his balloon looks like a ski lift.

He was in a motor vehicle crash in 1996, and he got his balloon pilot license afterwards.

"Back in 1996 I was involved in a single vehicle roll over, I was going around a corner and the front tire of the pickup blew and when it blew I wasn't wearing a seatbelt and I got ejected from the car leaving me a T-11 and T-12 complete paraplegic."

Glen went for his first ride in a balloon when he was two weeks old, but it wasn't until after his accident that he pursued getting a pilot license.

He is involved in all aspects of ballooning, he flies a special shape and  goes all over the world.

"I am more in the fiesta side of things to take people up to give them a chance to fly. But I do also compete in the United States."

And the special shape he flies, a baby bumble bee.

"It is one of the most popular shapes in the world. We have a mom bee, a dad bee and a baby bee. We fly as close as possible, we fly and hug and kiss in the sky."

"It is a lot of fun and it is a great experience to do. Unfortunately the bees are already on their way to Albuquerque."

In order to make things work for him Glen has a basket that looks like a ski lift instead of a bread basket.

"It has a bench that I sit on. I have rotation vents in it to make it spin. We don't have control in a balloon like a steering wheel, we can't turn right or left, but in my balloon I can spin it like a top so I can land on the backside."

And what does he like the most about being a hot air balloon pilot?

"It turns everyone of us into a 10 year-old kid. It doesn't matter age, anything we all get big-eyed. It gives you that feeling of euphoria."

He adds here in High River the launch area is one of the prettiest places to fly that he can't stop taking pictures. And he already has thousands of flying pictures.

 

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