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HUDSON – Hudson hosted the annual Hot Air Affair weekend Feb 4-6, where around 35 hot air balloons were scheduled to take the skies. The Hot Air Affair has been a tradition in Hudson for 33 years.

The theme for this year’s event was “S’mores, More and Balloons Galore;” the city hosted several events and balloon flying viewings over the weekend.

Long-time balloon pilot Mark Naber was among those flying the hot air balloons during the weekend events. Naber has been a hot air balloon pilot since 2008 and has been working on hot air balloon teams since 2004.

“I started working with the Remax balloon team and I got really interested and I finally decided to buy a balloon and get trained in to get my license to fly the hot air balloons,” Naber said.

Naber bought his balloon, called “Cloud Nine,” in 2007 and he immediately got his private balloon license in 2008, followed by his commercial pilot license in 2016. The process of becoming trained and receiving the license takes about a full year.

When flying the balloons, pilots have to first make sure the conditions are safe for flight. Some factors that they consider are the weather, the visibility and of course the wind speed. These factors can all affect the way the balloons fly and can become potentially dangerous.

One of the ways the pilots test these conditions is by using a regular helium balloon and letting it go. They watch the way the balloon moves, how fast it flies away from them and how far they are able to see the balloon as it flies. This is a much smaller scale of what might happen with the larger balloons.

Naber’s balloon basket fits about two people and most of the other balloons flying over the weekend were similar in size and scale to Naber’s. Some notable balloons that flew over the weekend were the infamous REMAX balloon, the Cloud Dancer from Family Fresh Market and the Touchstone Energy hot air balloon.

More fun facts about hot air balloons: The flights take about 45 minutes; animals were the first hot air balloon passengers; and one of the world’s largest hot air balloon festivals takes place in Albuquerque, N.M. where around 700 balloons take flight each year.

The four balloons getting ready for flight on Feb. 4 at the Hot Air Affair in Hudson.

The propane fire being used to help blow up the balloon to be ready for flight.

The balloon gets laid out and attached to the balloon during the next step of assembly. Mark Naber and his team are assembling the balloon and attaching it to the basket here.

The REMAX balloon and Touchstone Energy balloon also being assembled during the Hot Air Affair. These balloons have been a fun source of advertisement for these companies for several years.

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