Be part of the team that helps launch, chase, and recover hot air balloons! Hot air balloons cannot take to the air without a dedicated ground crew. Our crew are very important to us and we’re always looking for additional folks that are willing to come out and play in the early morning hours. All of our crew members start as dedicated volunteers before working towards paid positions as Crew Chiefs. Any tips received from customers are split among the crew members.

Our crew members help with the following tasks during a flight. Please note that no experience is necessary. We’ll teach you everything you need to know.

• Moving the basket, envelope (fabric portion of the balloon) and fan into the proper position for inflation.
• Attaching the envelope to the basket.
• Holding the mouth of the envelope open during inflation.
• Operating the crown line (line that goes to the top of the balloon) while the pilot heats the air in the balloon to stand it up.
• Providing weight on the balloon before launch and after landing.
• Packing up the fan and other equipment used for inflation.
• Operating the radio used to communicate with the pilot.
• Chasing the balloon to its landing location – wherever that might be!
• Pulling the balloon over using the crown line.
• Deflation of the envelope.
• Packing up the envelope and basket.
• Refueling the fuel tanks with propane.

We value our crew members and hope that you will get as much from crewing as we do. We encourage all of our crew to work towards the Balloon Federation of America’s crew achievement program. We value this program and the continued education of our crew members so much that Willamette Valley Balloons will pay the BFA fees associated with the crew achievement program.

Interested in crewing? Fill out the form below and we’ll be in touch. We also use Meetup to schedule crew. You can schedule yourself on our Meetup page, here.