Not Just Hot Air
Published on Tuesday, August 08, 2006
Balloon Tours has been thrilling passengers for 15 years
By D.A. Barber, Inside Tucson Business
With over 15 years of experience, both national and international, and a 100 percent accident-free safety record, Mike and Becky Fleury have received national media attention for their unique business, Fleur de Tucson Balloon Tours. They’ve been featured in a segment by Jeff Corwin on Animal Planet in 2003. They’re also listed in “Fodor’s Arizona Travel Guide” and “Frommer’s Guidebook.”
Mike Fleury has been FAA-certified to fly balloons for over 20 years. He has accumulated over 2,500 hours, flying throughout the United States and in France.
Becky Fleury says her husband started flying in 1985.
“He went out to crew on a balloon in Colorado and he fell in love with it,” she said.
After he received his FAA certification and Becky got involved, the couple decided to start their own business offering balloon tours in Tucson.
“We really loved it and we loved meeting different people n it all goes together. We’ve met people from all over the world,” she said, estimating they’ve taken about 3,000 people on balloon flights over the years.
The company’s balloon flights take place at sunrise when the air and wind in Tucson are the most calm. They usually fly toward the northwest, over the Tucson Mountains and Saguaro National Park West. Rides usually last 60 minutes or a little longer, with balloon traveling 10 to 18 miles per hour at elevations from treetops to 2,500 feet above the ground.
According to Becky Fleury, about 70 percent of people express some fear of heights.
“We tell them it’s a different sensation from standing on the edge of a high building and looking down,” she said Most of their customers agree once they get in the air.
After landing, Fleur de Tucson treats passengers to a continental brunch that includes champagne. They also receive 10 digital pictures of their flight and a commemorative flight certificate.
Fleury says people of all ages and abilities enjoy their balloon tours. The balloon basket holds two to five passengers and has leather seats for people who would rather sit than stand during their ride.
“Because we have a seat in the basket, we can actually take handicapped and elderly people,” she said. “We’ve had one person who was 95 years old; then she came back at when she turned 100 years old, and she says she’ll be back when she is 105!”
Fleury doesn’t recommend children under two years old take the ride, saying children that age or younger just don’t seem to enjoy it. Prices are $230 per person for adults and $185 for children under 12. Fleur de Tucson also offers an Internet reservation special of $210 per person for adults.
Fleury says people take balloon rides to celebrate all kinds of events, including celebrating engagements, graduations, retirements, Boss’s Day, and others fly just for fun.
The ballooning season for Southern Arizona normally runs from Oct. 1 to April 1. Fleur de Tucson takes reservations all year long through its website. They’ve already got quite a few bookings for the upcoming season.
“We do about one hundred flights per year in Tucson,” says Fleury.
Safety is an important part of the hot air balloon business. Balloons are inspected carefully every 100 hours or every year, whichever comes first, at an FAA-certified inspection facility.
“We have to go to Albuquerque to do it n there is no local place,” she said.
Balloon pilots are fully trained, too. Most people are surprised to learn that hot air balloon pilots must be certified by the FAA, which involves completing a written test as well as a certain number of hours of flight with an instructor and on their own in solo flight.
Balloons last about 400 to 500 hours of flying before they need replacement.
“We really take care of our balloons. We buy a new one every four years or so,” Fleury said. The Fleurys create their own balloon design, which is then constructed by Aerostar, a firm in Sioux Falls, S.D.
In 1999, competing against 850 other balloonists, Mike Fleury won the grand prize of the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta in a “key-grab” contest that involved flying the balloon onto a set field area and maneuvering close to one of four poles to grab the prize envelope attached to it.
“It involves lots of precision flying,” said Becky Fleury. “You can only go up and down n there’s no steering. Half of the people didn’t make it onto the field.”
In the summer the Fleurys fly for their own pleasure, attending balloon rallies in Colorado, South Carolina, Vermont, New Mexico and New Hampshire.
“We recently got back from a 3-and-a -half week trip across country to balloon rallies, so we take the balloon in the summer where we’re able to fly in the summer and just fly for fun.”
E-mail comments for publication to editor@azbiz.com. D.A. Barber is a Tucson-based freelance writer.
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