Mother Nature and Steve Spradlin will have much to say about how Freedom Bird fares during the Balloons and Arts Festival's hot-air balloon race.

Mindful of that fact, Freedom Bird owner Jon Friedrich of Gordonville figures the only thing left to do is to hop in his car, give chase on land and hope for the best. "I feel like we've got a chance to win the race," Friedrich said. "I also feel like I've got a shot at winning the lottery and Publisher's Clearing House sweepstakes."

Spradlin of Jackson said, "We're here to have some fun. If we do well, great. But the experience is the most important thing."

Friedrich is of the same mind, deciding to become the first local entrant in the race as owner. He is in the race for the sheer enjoyment.

"You don't really get involved with hot-air balloons to win races as much as to just learn as much as you can about them, relax and have some fun," he said. "Getting to know people who enjoy doing the same thing is just a bonus."

Such friendship was tested on Friday evening. The fan Friedrich was using to inflate his balloon began to lose power. Another balloonist noticed Friedrich having trouble and came to the rescue, offering temporary use of his fan.

"You get to know all the other pilots and owners and they seem willing to help out all the time," Friedrich said.

Spradlin, who is a veteran commercial pilot, will be in charge of steering Freedom Bird today. "We're good friends and Steve knows a lot about hot-air balloons, so it should work out pretty well," Friedrich said.

He said he became fascinated with balloons a few years ago as a volunteer chase crew member. "You develop a friendship with the pilot and it just seems to grow from there," he said.

He purchased his balloon for $4,200. "Most of the newer ones will run around $15,000," he said. "My balloon has about 188 hours of use, so there's still some life left in it." Hot-air balloons are used about 70 to 100 hours a year.

Hot-air balloons usually last through 500 hours of flight, Friedrich said, adding that it depends on the quality of material.

"If the balloon is taken care of and is made of strong material, you can make it last for three or four years," he said.

The carriage of a hot-air balloon is called a gondola or basket and is usually made of hand-woven wicker or rattan trimmed with suede. This makes it light for flying and durable enough to handle landings. The balloon envelope is made of about 1,000 yards of nylon or Dacron, similar to a parachute.

Friedrich said flying a hot-air balloon involves 99 percent luck and 1 percent skill.

"The weather becomes such a dominant factor," he said. "There are things you can do as far as elevation and reading wind conditions, but Mother Nature usually decides how the ride will go."

Temperatures inside the balloon can reach as high as 250 to 300 degrees.

"It's not that bad because you can cool off once you make your ascent," Friedrich said.

Once he leaves land and rises toward the heavens, Friedrich said he feels like he is floating on clouds.

"It's a very peaceful feeling," he said. "I like to go over the town I live in and wave to the people along the way. There are a lot of friendly people around here."

On a practice run last week, Friedrich and Spradlin encountered a farmer who signalled with his hands that his land could be used to land.

"He just shouted to us to bring the sucker in," Friedrich said. "We were kind of reluctant to do that because we could see he had someone baling hay. When we got close enough he said it didn't matter."

Although Spradlin was the pilot of Freedom Bird this year, Friedrich plans to pilot it in the future.

"I'm still in training to learn how to pilot the balloon," he said.

"He went up last week for the first time and did great," Spradlin said.

Hot-air balloon pilots must have 10 hours of flight training and answer a 40-question test administered by the Federal Aviation Administration. There are more than 5,000 licensed balloon pilots in the United States.

"I've always heard that to be a good pilot it's better if you're not too smart because the less you know about the danger the better off you are," Friedrich said. "You've got to be a little crazy to do it. But I would recommend it to anyone. You should try it at least once in your life."

Spradlin said, "I don't know about the crazy part. It's really pretty safe if you're careful and bring along plenty of maps."