Sky Sail balloon flights take place in the evening, seven-days-a-week, subject to prior commitments. Submitted photo

“Up, up and away in my beautiful, my beautiful balloon.”

Lyrics written in 1965 by Jimmy Webb, which, when recorded in 1967, went on to be a hit by the 5th Dimension.

Those lyrics may hold true for Geoff Turner as well. Turner always had an interest in aviation.

“My dad was a fixed wing pilot. … And he would take me up as a little kid – doing his touch and gos. I decided early on that I wanted to be a pilot. And so I’d ride my bike up to the airport and watch the planes take off and land,” Turner said.

Turner, a Jamestown native, wanted to be a helicopter pilot, but when he graduated from high school in 1978, no organizations were accepting helicopter pilots for training.

“So there was really no opportunity for me to learn from the government and the cost of a helicopter pilot was huge, insurmountable,” Turner said.

So while in college, Turner visited a hot air balloon rally, took a ride on a tethered balloon, and knew right then that he wanted to be a balloon pilot.

In 1989 he started his company Sky Sail Balloons Inc. Turner said the company, located at 2805 Carpenter Pringle Road, in Ashville, has become the area’s first commercial balloon operation.

Turner noted that he was trained by internationally known champion Balloonist at an Federal Aviation Administration certified part 141 balloon flight training center, located in Albuquerque, New Mexico. All pilots in command for ride operations at Sky Sail are FAA certified commercial balloon pilots rated for balloons with airborne heaters, Turner said. Sky Sail is insured and operates U.S. registry, state-of-the-art balloon equipment with valid certificates.

“I have flown all around the country, and this area of the country is one of the prettiest to fly. And certainly Chautauqua Lake is very compelling in terms of the views and that sort of thing,” Turner said. “Ballooning, probably more than any other form of aviation, is weather dependent. We have got to have less than 10-mile-an-hour winds and or winds that are dropping in the evening.”

Turner said that balloon flights take place in the evening, seven-days-a-week, subject to prior commitments. The primary flying season is June-October, and Sky Sail operates year round, weather permitting.

For more information on pricing and other services call (716) 782-2280 or visit skysail.org.