October 13, 2011
Cool job: hot air balloon pilot Shannan Sorensen
Shannan Sorensen prepares to hot inflate a balloon before a March flight in Winthrop. (Courtesy of Airial Balloon )
What do you do? I get paid to fly a hot air balloon! Over the past few years, I’ve shifted from flying passenger flights [for Airial Balloon Company in Snohomish] to mainly tethering for commercial interests and in public events such as Redmond Lights and Kla-Ha-Ya Days.
How does someone else get a job like yours? You need to obtain a commercial pilot’s license from the Federal Aviation Administration with an endorsement for “lighter than air free balloons,” and, to be employable, you usually need several hundred hours of flight time and a spotless flight-history record.
What surprises people about your job? How stressful it is. People think it’s pretty easy just floating around up there in the sky, but Mother Nature always reminds you that she’s the boss.
--NWjobs staff
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