Fly With Cato — Josh and Amie Cato

Josh and Amie in the basket with the burner firing

01 — The date

Dinner ran long. That was the whole plan gone.

We were not looking for a new life. We were looking for a table and a showtime. The food just took forever, and by the time we paid we had already missed the movie.

Outside there was a balloon event. We walked over. That is how this started. Not a calling. A late dinner.

A colorful star balloon climbing over the trees

02 — Scott and Bill

We met two guys who needed hands.

That is where we met Scott and Bill. They found out I work in public safety — I am a firefighter. Their version of it was simple: a dumb fireman can lift heavy stuff.

So we started crewing for them.

Josh after a flight, balloon packed out on a desert road

03 — Five years

We stayed on the ground for a long time.

Chase. Pack. Hold the line. Show up before the sun. We crewed for Scott and Bill for about five years. I was good at it, and I was fine staying crew.

Flying other people’s balloons was their job. Ours was to get them in the air and get them home.

Badlands and valley north of Española, New Mexico, from the air

Then Amie decided she wanted the ticket

I told her I would be the best crew chief she ever had.

Then I changed my mind.

Josh and Amie smiling from a balloon basket over the New Mexico desert

04 — Both of us

If she was going to fly, I was not staying on the ground.

Amie wanted to become a pilot. I meant it when I said I would crew for her. I also knew I was not going to watch her do the whole thing without me.

So we went after it together.

05 — 2020

Private first. Then commercial.

We started private and commercial training together in 2020. Same books. Same early mornings. Same checkrides.

PIC is not a speech. It is the person in the basket who has to make the landing decision while there is still a good field ahead.

Española, New Mexico

A balloon over the hills north of Española — Over the hills north of town

Josh flying passengers in a Kubicek basket over New Mexico — In the basket

Passengers and Santa Fe Balloons crew during inflation in New Mexico — Work for other companies

Special shape and sponsor balloons standing on a festival field

06 — The work

From then on we have been traveling to fly.

Different companies. Different envelopes. Same early alarm. Amie works remote, so she flies mostly on the weekends.

One thing that still makes me laugh: Amie has more hours in a 210,000 cubic foot balloon flying passengers than she does in our own smaller balloons.

Amie laughing on the launch field, a balloon reflected in her sunglasses

07 — Amie

She was the one who said we should fly.

I was going to be crew chief. She was going to be the pilot. That lasted until I admitted I wanted the same ticket.

Now the weekends are hers in the big passenger balloons, and the rest of the week she is on a laptop. That is the deal that actually works.

Envelopes lit from inside on a night glow, crew still standing in the grass

After the sun leaves

We still stay for the glow.

That part never got old. Envelopes turn into lanterns and the same people who needed a dumb fireman to lift heavy stuff are still standing in the grass.

Fly with Cato

Passenger flights are with Paris Ballooning.

This page is just how we got here. If you want a flight, that lives on the ride company.

Paris Ballooning