This Topeka family has a high-flying hobby — hot air balloons. Here's how to see them

The science, in principle, is simple.

Hot air is lighter than cold, so it rises. More technically, the cold air, being dense and "heavier," pools at the bottom of a given area — in this case, the atmosphere — and pushes up any hot air.

So you're taught in middle school science.

But scientific principle has little to do with the magic that goes on in the quarter-ton basket — held aloft by thin strands of rope tied to a vast, hot-gas rainbow envelope in a severe-clear blue sky — as it floats lazily several hundred feet high above the treetops and outstretched hands of waving children.

It's a magic that Tony Goodnow grew up loving, ever since his parents took him on balloon rides at about 6 months old.

"I never really knew anything different," Goodnow said, as he pulled a control line and waves of furious heat and sound raged from his hot air balloon burner. "This was just normal when I was a kid.

"I know I got to experience a lot of things other kids didn't," he continued, after another puff of hot air over the southwest Topeka sky. "We never had a boat or went to the lake or anything like that, but I got do something they didn't get to do."

Balloons, compared to their winged, heavier-than-air counterparts in airplanes, are uncomplicated, Goodnow said.

He still frets that one day, science is going to figure out how airplanes stay aloft and they'll quit working, Goodnow says wryly, but hot air balloons — or baskets "held up by bag of fabric, which themselves are held up by hot air" — are something he still understands.

Every breeze, every wind and every landing is different, so every flight is a new adventure. Goodnow learned this from his father, who helped instill a love for hot air balloons before he passed away in 2006.

Together, Goodnow, his mother Connie, his daughter Taylor and other friends and members of the family still participate in about 30 hot air balloon rides every year, some at local rallies and others at national festivals.

A few of those rides will be this weekend, at the Huff 'n Puff Hot Air Balloon Rally, in which about 20 balloons will launch from Mount Hope Cemetery in west Topeka on Friday evening, Saturday morning and evening, and Sunday morning.

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An extended hot air balloon family stretching across the plains

Connie knows its the 47th annual rally, because that's how old her son Tony is, and she still thinks of him as her "Huff 'n Puff baby."

In the ballooning community, Connie says she, her late husband and children found a second family, with friends and pilots from all over the region. Pilots from Oklahoma, Missouri, Iowa, South Dakota and even Florida will join the Topeka-based Goodnows and other Kansas pilots for the weekend rally.

"It's close knit, and it's a family," Connie said. "It might be a hundred names, but it's family."

Taylor, a sophomore at Seaman High School, hasn't yet done a solo flight, like her father did for the first time when he was 16. Funny enough, she — like so many other hot air balloon pilots — is afraid of heights.

But a hot air balloon is different.

"It's relaxing," she said. "It's calming. You get a chance to relax, almost like meditation, but up in the air."

As Tony Goodnow searched for a spot to land Wednesday evening, he floated past the same field where his father let him take his first solo flight. In theory, ballooning only becomes exciting when things go horribly wrong, but he cracked a smile as he passed that field.

He landed the Libertas hot air balloon gently in some tall grass, next to abandoned debris of some long-ago demolished house. The mechanics of what he does as a pilot are simple, but it's a well-experienced hand that knows when to run the burner, and when to let some hot air escape.

"The science tells you what to do, but the art is executing it correctly," he said.

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Where, when to see the 2022 Huff 'n Puff Hot Air Balloon Rally

More than 20 balloons will take to the skies at this weekend's Huff 'n Puff Hot Air Balloon Rally, presented by the Great Plains Balloon Club.

The club expects thousands of attendees at the free event, with balloons taking off from Mount Hope Cemetery.

"I think it's the mystery of it all (that gets people excited), how it all works" said club president Lori Hutchinson. "You see these beautiful balloons float in the air, and it's all kind of a mystery."

Balloons are scheduled to take off four times this weekend, at about 6 p.m. Friday, 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. Saturday, and 7 a.m. Sunday. Exact launch times will vary or may even be cancelled, since pilots have to wait for wind to be lower than 8 to 10 miles per hour. A representative from the National Weather Service's Topeka office will help coordinate with the club to ensure safe balloon flying.

While the event is free, the club is asking attendees to contribute to one or both of two baskets that will be at the balloon field. The first will collect children's toys for Toys for Tots, while the other will collect nonperishable food donations for Harvesters. Holiday food items are specifically requested, but any donation is appreciated.

"We encourage all families to come out," Hutchinson said. "Things are so expensive nowadays, and we're so happy that we can provide this free event to the public."

When: Pilots will attempt to take off between 6 and 7 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and between 7 and 8 a.m. Saturday and Sunday. The club will also host balloon glows at about 7:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.

Where: Balloons will take off from the Mount Hope Balloon Field at the corner of S.W. Huntoon and S.W. Fairlawn Road. Parking is available onsite by entering through the gate entrances on either road.

What to bring: BYOC (bring your own chair — or blanket) to sit along the open field and see the balloon launches. The free event will feature food vendors, although attendees may bring in their own non-alcoholic beverages. The club asks that attendees leave any drones, weapons and pets at home.

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Rafael Garcia is an education reporter for the Topeka Capital-Journal. He can be reached at rgarcia@cjonline.com or by phone at ‪785-289-5325‬. Follow him on Twitter at @byRafaelGarcia.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: How to watch Topeka's free 2022 Huff 'n Puff Hot Air Balloon Rally