Remember When: New Kensington beauty salon owner best known for piloting hot-air balloons

The late Ron Barth of Lower Burrell was best known by many as the pilot of a hot-air balloon that was a familiar sight in Alle-Kiski Valley skies for more than 25 years until the mid 1990s.

Barth purchased his first balloon in 1971 for less than $6,800. He took an eight-hour training course from a veteran balloonist in Pittsburgh and obtained a commercial balloonist license, which allowed him to instruct others.

The owner of a beauty salon next to the Town & Country Pharmacy on Freeport Road in New Kensington, Barth would launch his balloon from the city’s former Falcon Park or the Veterans of Foreign Wars lot in Lower Burrell.

The 50-foot-high balloon held 68,000 cubic feet of air. Initially, it was inflated by an eight-horsepower wind machine with a 30-inch propeller that could provide a 65-mph gust of wind.

As the balloon was being inflated, Barth would gently heat the air with a propane burner, causing it to rise and adopt its familiar balloon shape while still on the ground. Once the pilot and passengers were aboard, the balloon was released from its moorings and the propane burner above the basket was heated up.

It would take about 20 minutes for the balloon to reach a cruising altitude. Ideal conditions for flying a balloon are a 65-degree temperature and a wind speed of less than 11 mph.

Once aloft, a pilot would have two controls at his disposal. He could fire up the propane burner causing the balloon to rise, or he could pull a vent line which allows warm air to escape through a slit in the balloon’s outer membrane, causing the balloon to descend.

The only directional control for a pilot would be to catch wind currents at varying altitudes. Ballooning is relatively safe, but a potential danger would be high tension wires.

The average balloon trip was 1½ hours and covered a maximum distance of 20 miles. Since a balloon trip is a one-way proposition, it was necessary to have a crew and a chase car to pack up the balloon after its flight and bring it home.

The pilot and chase car would communicate by using walkie-talkies.

Over the years, Barth, who died in April 2000 at age 64, had four balloons he piloted. The last was designed with the help of his wife and daughter.

In the 25 years that he flew balloons, the cost of a new balloon rose from less than $6,800 to as much as $28,000. The cost of a balloon ride was about $125 per hour.

Barth piloted the Parkvale Savings of Oakland balloon for more than four years. Parkvale was the first local company to use a balloon for promotional purposes.

He also flew corporate balloons in the Three Rivers Regatta for 15 years, taking first place for three consecutive years in the Hare and Hounds Race.

Finding a safe place to land would be of concern for a balloon pilot. Barth once had to land, unannounced, on property belonging to Alcoa Corp.

Neither the Alcoa security guards nor the state police were quite sure how to write a citation.