More information can be found on the Freedom Weekend Aloft website

Northview IB School’s Teacher of the Year Matt Reid climbs in for his first hot air balloon ride Friday morning.

As the hot-air balloon started to carry Matt Reid away from Northview School on Friday, some of his students held up signs asking Airtime Balloon Co. pilot Marc Klinger not to bring their teacher back.

Reid waved to the cheering students as the balloon drifted away from the school grounds and higher into the sky.

To kick off Carolina BalloonFest, some of the pilots participating in this weekend’s 37th annual event ascended from schools around Statesville.

Reid said he wasn’t aware he’d be taking the ride until arriving at school that morning. It seemed some of his Advanced Placement World History students were disappointed he wasn’t taking off during their class sessions.

The students were clearly excited as they watched Klinger and his wife, Ursula, inflate the giant multi-colored balloon.

“Watch this,” Klinger said as he got into the basket. “Everyone will scream.”

He flipped on the burners and twin flames shot upward. Right on cue, the students screamed.

Klinger checked the wind speed with a “pie ball,” or pilot balloon, three times before the students crowded around the soccer field on the eastern side of the school.

At the pilot briefing earlier in the morning at the Holiday Inn on Gardner Bagnal Boulevard, the crew spent time talking about wind speeds. Pilots learn to use the wind at different levels to guide their balloon in certain directions.

Klinger’s goal Friday was to finish the ride at his house in Troutman.

Ursala said they will spend this weekend constantly preparing for the remaining four flights.

The couple has been flying for more than 18 years. Ursala said she got her flying license after spending a number of years on the chase crew.

After each flight, they refuel the propane tanks just to make sure they are filled. She said they are constantly checking the weather and monitoring any changes.

“The winds are cooperative today,” Marc Klinger said.

During the flight, which also included members of the media, Statesville and Troutman looked like Monopoly villages as Reid and Klinger passed over.

Klinger said his hobby is definitely a change of pace from his day job as the director of information technology at Piedmont Plastics.

“Most of the year we fly every weekend,” he said.

Reid said the flight was one of the items on his “bucket list.” He also said he had a good time watching the Global Positioning System as it pointed Klinger back home, where the flight eventually ended.

“This is way better than Google Earth,” Reid said. “This is amazing.”