AUBURN – I’m sitting in a dayglow contraption that looks like a go-kart except for the large propeller at the back. Stretched out behind me on the grass of the Auburn Municipal Airport is a long rectangular parachute constructed of bright neon panels.

The chute is attached to the cart, and there are no plans for any trips around any tame oval track. Instead, I’m about to be launched skyward for my first powered parachute ride.

Saner people would be afraid, but I’m all geared up for a bird’s eye view of the Great Falls Balloon Festival. My pilot is a Sun Journal coworker, Mike Theriault, who’s been addicted to what he calls “low and slow” flight ever since he first saw a powered parachute on television in 1993. (Powered parachutes can travel at speeds of up to 50 mph, Theriault explains, but more often motor along in the 20 mph range. They can travel up to 8,000 feet or more, but staying low over fields and open areas is half the pleasure.)

“It was just one of those things that I just had to have,” he says.

It’s 6 a.m. Friday morning, the sky still glowing sunrise orange as he checks the cart over in a preflight inspection. He’s making sure all the nuts and bolts holding the metal frame together are secure – the engine causes a lot of vibration and they can become lose over time.

Then Theriault pulls the wheeled cart – weighing about 300 pounds – out onto the grassy near a runway strip.

We unfold the parachute and warm up the engine, and then it’s into the cart. We’re buckled into harnesses and wearing helmets. Theriault fires up the engine and the propeller hums behind us as we move forward.

After a slight jerk of the chute catching wind, we’re rising upward and before I know it I hear Theriault announcing we’re at 500 feet.

I am wondering whether this is really such a good idea as the airport falls away, replaced by long-distance views of trees, roads and houses. But as we go up, the ride takes on a surreal, dreamlike quality. We’re so high I can’t fathom what it would be like to fall.

By the time we reach 1,000 feet, I’m distracted by the sight of hot air balloons rising in the distance. Nearly a dozen hover over Lewiston and Auburn as we approach.

This may be the closest I ever come to feeling like a bird. We reach the city and there’s the chill of the air rising from the river, the warmth of the air touched by the sun. There are few smells, but we drop and rise and arc in wide circles around the colorful balloons

The balloons barely drift due to a lack of wind, but we are able to turn away, heading out past Lake Auburn where we drop low over cornfields, a herd of cows looking on with curiosity.

We buzz over open grass, and rise over the trees, birds sometimes passing alongside us.

Before I know it, an hour has passed.

We circle outside the airport while waiting for a plane to land – sharing airspace with larger craft was one thing I had not anticipated, and there was one tense moment when we crossed a stream of turbulence in the wake of another plane.

But apart from that, I was disturbed by nothing more that the damp chill of the morning air. That’s easily remedied by a warm cup of coffee and a wool cap after landing.

My conclusion: The best way to enjoy the balloon festival may have nothing to do with balloons.

Catch a lift

Mike Theriault says powered parachutes complete with safety gear cost between $12,000 and $16,000, and require about 30 hours of training for starters. Another option is a powered paraglider, or a backpack complete with small motor, propeller and chute attach. This option is more physical – one has to run to get off the ground, but also a little more maneuverable and more affordable. Powered paragliders cost between $7,000 to $9,000 with all the necessary equipment and require about 10 hours of training to start. For more information on powered parachutes, check out mainepowerchutes.org; on powered paragliders, usppa.org.

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