Fred Grotenhuis, Balloonmeister

Pilot and balloon festival coordinator Fred Grotenhuis has over 43 years of flying experience. His first experience with piloting was in the military flying helicopters. From there he went on to get his fixed wing license and then his license for hot air balloons in 1980. Fred has flown helicopter, fixed wing, powered parachutes, hot air balloons and paragliders. He also enjoys flying Air HOGS (toy helicopters.)

When Fred is not flying the balloon in Harmony he can be seen paragliding off the scenic mountains of Costa Rica or Brazil. Fred runs a bed and breakfast in Costa Rica in the winter, where he is known as Grampa Ninja. (To see the story behind the name visit www.paraglidecostarica.com.)

Fred’s insistance on keeping safety first and also keeping the festival fun for the pilots is what has allowed the festival to grow from 15 balloons in 2001 to 41 (and counting) today.