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Balloon Life, January 1993
Hokan Colting
Follow the Bouncing Ball
By Lori Leonard
An airplane mechanic in the Swedish Air Force, Hokan Colting loved the air. His time out from under planes was spent in another type of aircraft - gliders. Until, that is, the day he spotted a hot air balloon. "It looked so peaceful," he recalls. "I knew that is how I wanted to fly." So he took a balloon flight, and even before leaving the ground, he bought his first balloon. "I was an easy sell," he says. "I knew just by seeing a balloon in the sky, that is what I wanted."
But Colting did more than just fly balloons. He became the third balloon manufacturer in Europe. "At the time (1975), I was importing sports cars to Sweden and I had a student helping me with the mechanics. I asked him if he would like to be involved in the technical end of a balloon manufacturing business and I took him for a flight to show him what a balloon was. It was his first flight."
That first-time flyer was Per Lindstrand and he thought balloons were great. With Lindstrand as the technical genius, and Colting the driving sales force, Colting Balloons was founded in Ireland.
"In the beginning it was a little hard to sell the chance for a company to be the first to advertise with a balloon. But I finally did it, and the company - Junior Centers (now J.C., a 70-store clothing chain in Sweden) has been advertising using hot air balloons for 17 years now. I think they have a flying pair of jeans now."
After the first corporate sale, they just kept coming, says Colting. As part of his sales tactic, he would travel with a balloon and compete. Not in just any balloon, but in Colting Balloons first special shape, the first special shape to fly in competition. Built for the 1977 World Championship in York, England, Pompe ri Possa (loosely translated as Pinocchio) has a 20-foot long nose and ears that extended from the envelope.
"It was an advantage to have a balloon that stood out from the rest. It was a sales tool. People would come over and talk to me about the balloon." Colting flew Pompe ri Possa in more than 20 countries, including Thailand. "It was the first balloon to ever fly in Thailand," he says. "It was also the first officially reported UFO in Thailand." Colting still has the whimsical balloon and "it is still flying, with no renovations."
As the business grew, the decision was made to relocate from Ireland to Oswestry, England. "Ireland was out of the way. We needed to be accessible to Continental Europe." At the time Cameron Balloons and Thunder Balloons were already operating in England. "We were just moving where the customers were," says Colting. "It's a little like why all the fast-food chain restaurants are all in one place."
In 1981, Colting made another move, this one to Canada, leaving behind Colt Balloons as it was then known to partner Per Lindstrand who would eventually transition with the company to Thunder & Colt Balloons.
Colting went to Canada with his wife, Elizabeth Taylor (a Canadian native), and their two children, Tina and Krystle now 12 and 7, to pursue his current passion, airships. "But I also knew I had to make a living, so I went into business manufacturing cold air inflatables." He also operated a passenger ride business, flew corporate hot air accounts for RE/MAX and flew a hot air airship for Miller Beer.
This experience with airships peaked his interest and he set to work researching airships and designing new methods for steering and altitude control. Colting now plans to manufacture airships as founder and CEO of 21st Century Airships in Ontario. "We are in the negotiating stage with some clients, and we have even received a letter of intent." 21st Century Airships is offering special shape airships, so only time will tell what creations will soon be buzzing the skies in search of new levels of corporate and product exposure.
1975 - Founded Colting Balloons in Ireland
1977 - Built and flew Pompe ri Possa special shape balloon
1978 - Swedish National Hot-Air Balloon Champion
1979 - Set European altitude record for AX6-27,575 feet
1984 - Canadian National Hot Air Balloon Champion
1992 - Set 9 World Altitude Records for Airship Classes
BA-2 to BA-10 at 7,450 feet.
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