The city simmers in a steamy haze on a downright ugly August evening.

        But up where it matters, a cooperative wind blows. Conditions are OK to fly, so Don Trapp, his son, Brian, and a half-dozen friends go looking for a place to launch a hot-air balloon.

Brian and Don Trapp prepare for a hot air balloon ride. (Yuli Wu photo) | ZOOM |

        Both Don and Brian will be in the basket, but there's no doubt who will be in charge. When it comes to ballooning, father admits he doesn't know best.

        “He knows what he's doing,” Don says of his 35-year-old son, “and I know that I don't.”

        But Don, a 58-year-old Miami Township resident, is learning. He has a student license. He also has some good instructors, one of whom is his only offspring, Brian, who lives in Oregonia.

Fateful first flight

        Brian took his first ride at 14 in a balloon owned by his grandmother. (It was her payment for helping someone get a book published.) Both scared and thrilled, “I remember hanging on real tight,” he says. Then, “I saw all the attention you got when you landed, and said, I gotta learn how to do this.”

        Which he did, thanks to his parents, Tina and Don. For a high school graduation gift, they gave Brian money for flying lessons.

        Today Brian is a technology consultant for NCR in Dayton, but much of his life revolves around balloons. He owns several of his own and has a contract to fly others for RE/MAX. He also teaches ballooning, is certified by the Federal Aviation Administration to repair balloons and has flown at competitions and festivals all across the United States. Even as far away as France.

        His father, meanwhile, was busy designing computer systems, then got involved in investment real estate. “I've got a little more time now,” Don says, “so (Brian) decided he was going to help me learn how to fly. But he's just so busy, he never quite gets around to it.”

Choosing take-off spot

        So Don also takes lessons from pilot Laurie Givin of Lebanon. She's part of the ground crew this evening when the group assembles at Heritage Oak Park in Mason.

        Brian wants to fly a red, white and blue RE/MAX balloon past the crowd at the Tennis Masters Series Cincinnati, which is in full swing this evening. Choosing the take-off spot is key; the balloon will go whichever way the wind blows it.

        About 7:30, Brian fires up the propane burner, and the balloon lifts off. A southeasterly wind carries it toward the tennis center.

        Father and son float hundreds of feet above quiet subdivisions. Over gardens, kids on bicycles, a park. Over a man relaxing in his back yard; he looks up, and waves.

        Only occasional blasts from the burner disrupt the serenity.

        “I find it very stress relieving,” Brian says of ballooning. “You can have a bad day, things aren't right at home or the office. I get in here, I don't think about any of that. Doesn't even cross my mind. So I have one hour of total solitude to myself.”

        His father agrees and notes another benefit: the camaraderie.

Coming down

        Brian is satisfied that the balloon has come close enough to the tennis tournament to be noticed by many fans. Soon, his attention turns to landing.

        “What are you shootin' for?” his father asks.

        An empty farm field is a possibility, but then Brian sets his sights on a residential street. As the balloon descends on Deerfield Township's Windsor Meadow, some two dozen children and adults watch in wonder.

        “Hey guys, how are you?” Brian shouts. “Mind if I land out there in the street?”

        “Go ahead,” a woman says.

        Brian deftly maneuvers the gondola over a mailbox, and onto the asphalt.

        It's a first for the neighborhood, says Belinda Douglas. She and her children, 10-week old Savannah, 21-month-old Ashley and 3-year-old Zachary, watch the balloon land in front of their house.

        “We just dropped in. It looked like the right thing to do,” Brian says.

        “You oughta come here more often,” says 7-year-old Brittney Young.

        Later, Don says he's proud of his son the balloonist, but even more proud of him for the person he is. “He gets along with everybody. A lot of people think the world of him.”

        The curious folks on Windsor Meadow keep Brian busy answering questions, while his father helps pack up. “Pilots get all the glory,” Don says, chuckling, “and I do all the work.”

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