Air-Olina Aviation

10/31/2024

180 amazing photos from GRAZE+GLOW!

Thanks to all our friends for helping us make this happen!

10/28/2024

We had a beautiful rain check day for GRAZE+GLOW!

We greatly appreciate everyone’s flexibility in rescheduling to make this a success.
Thanks to all the pilots, crew, snack chefs, food trucks, band, attendees, and especially to our friends at Equuvation :: Therapy + Education Center!

10/27/2024

Tickets are now available at the gate, so come on out and see us glow! Food trucks, live music, trick or treat!! 👻

10/26/2024

Unfortunately due to a pretty late change in the weather forecast, we’re going to have to postpone GRAZE+GLOW to TOMORROW NIGHT

We’re also looking for extra balloon crew if you are interested in giving us a hand! Free entry to the event in exchange.

🌟ATTENTION — RAIN PLAN — GRAZE+GLOW
🌟GRAZE+GLOW is officially moved to TOMORROW Sunday, October 27th, 4:30-7:30pm. We are having to implement our RAIN PLAN as the forecast changed quickly and now shows 60% storms and rain from 4p-8p (and beyond) due to an unpredictable cold front moving through. All ticketholders have been emailed so PLEASE CHECK for details!
🌟Our balloons, music, and most of our food trucks will still be there with the date change! We will also still have our costume contests, trick-or-treating, and more! The weather will be cooler—in the high 50s—so bundle up! But it’s a great excuse for hot beverages, great food, and cozy costumes.
🌟Since we are utilizing our rain date of Sunday, October 27th, we are GOING TO ALLOW OPEN TICKET SALES AT THE GATE! If you were not able to reserve tickets, or you have friends or family who were not able to come today, let them know that they are welcome to join us tomorrow!

🌟We put a lot of work, love, and energy into this event, and we want it to be the best that it can be—as well as safe for everyone. However, rain and storms make it risky for guests, and the balloons will not be able to inflate or glow.
🌟Thank you for hanging in there with us—we are a small team and this event funds our client scholarships for a whole year. 💙

Full details for the event:
https://www.equuvation.org/gg-details

10/22/2024

The donations from our balloon ride raffle were made yesterday to the three amazing Western North Carolina charities.

Thanks to the support of all of you, we were able to donate $900 to EACH CHARITY!!!!
That’s almost 3X what our original goal was. Amazing!!!!

Thank you so much for supporting us, Equuvation :: Therapy + Education Center, and most importantly our recipients Sharing House, Brother Wolf Animal Rescue, and Wine To Water!!!

Next up, GRAZE+GLOW!!!
This Thursday is the LAST DAY to buy tickets!! Come see us and help raise money for Equuvation so we can keep doing great things together. 🔥🎈🎃🍫🧡

10/10/2024

🌅 It doesn’t quite feel like it’s okay to move forward just yet. We have been doing what we can to support WNC, and now, we are holding Florida in our minds and hearts as well. So many families and animals are displaced or lost due to a very tragic hurricane season. And it feels selfish to go back to ‘normal’ so soon, with so many still in need in our area.
💛That being said, we have some things in the works. The rebuilding of these regions will be a marathon, not a sprint, and the collective trauma these communities have suffered is real. We are developing ways to support those who need to heal as we continue through the months ahead. And we can’t do that without getting back to our fundraising events and regular programs.
🗓️ Over the next couple of days you will see us return to promotions for our upcoming experiences as we look to wrap up our Fall semester. The more money we can raise at our events, the more we can help.
🎟️ A reminder that our raffle fundraiser for a hot air balloon ride with Air-Olina Aviation ends on Friday, October 11! The winner will be drawn on Monday, October 14th. We blew our goal of 100 tickets out of the water and have a new goal of 250. We are SO close—only 21 tickets to go! Check the 🔗 in our bio for more info.

10/08/2024

Our goal for this raffle fundraiser was $1,000 to feel like it was a successful idea.

We’ve more than doubled that with now 215 tickets sold!! We’re going to let it run until the end of this week, so there’s still time to participate if you want to.
Thanks everyone that has chipped in. I can’t wait to send this donation over to our charities:
Sharing House, Brother Wolf Animal Rescue, and Wine To Water!

Thanks especially to our wonderful partner Equuvation :: Therapy + Education Center who had the resources and knowledge to set this thing up and execute it. We will be joining them soon for our next GRAZE+GLOW event 10/26!

Win a Hot Air Balloon Ride with Air-olina Aviation! 100% of donations raised through this raffle will directly support Hurricane Helene Relief in Western North Carolina! Tickets are $10 each!

10/03/2024

125 tickets sold in the first day!!!!
Amazing! Thanks to all that have participated. We’re going to let this raffle run for a few more days so please keep spreading the word.

Win a Hot Air Balloon Ride with Air-olina Aviation! 100% of donations raised through this raffle will directly support Hurricane Helene Relief in Western North Carolina! Tickets are $10 each!

10/03/2024

BALLOON RIDE RAFFLE FOR WNC!!!

In order to support the recovery efforts of Western North Carolina from Hurricane Helene, we would like to offer this raffle fundraiser.

100% of the donations (no admin fees taken, no covering our costs, etc) will go directly to three charities supporting people and animals in our beloved mountain area.

Sharing House in Brevard
Brother Wolf Animal Rescue in Asheville
Wine To Water in Boone

These are three tremendous local charities that we have a personal connection to and can vouch for how much good they are doing right now.
They have suffered impacts from Helene themselves, but are still fighting daily for the people and animals of WNC.

We could not do this without the amazing support of Equuvation :: Therapy + Education Center who offered their remarkable talents and experience to help us set up this raffle and helped us choose the charities to support.
Our GRAZE + GLOW event is coming up later this month and we can’t wait to support them there as well.

🎟️ BUY YOUR TICKETS NOW (link below and in our bio):
http://equuvation.betterworld.org/giveaways/hot-air-balloon-ride-support-wnc-2
💵 Each ticket is $10 — buy more to increase your chances of winning! Ticket sales end on October 11, drawing will be October 14.
GIFT DETAILS:
▫️One hot air balloon ride for 2 passengers
▫️Leaves from Statesville, NC
▫️Retail value $800
▫️No expiration
▫️Raffle tickets are available only for ONE WEEK — sales end on October 11th, 11:30pm. Winner will be drawn on Monday, October 14th by a randomizer. Winner will be notified by email.

Win a Hot Air Balloon Ride with Air-olina Aviation! 100% of donations raised through this raffle will directly support Hurricane Helene Relief in Western North Carolina! Tickets are $10 each!

09/27/2024

Excited for another GRAZE + GLOW! Come see us!

09/20/2024

Check out the amazing fall issue of Backroad Portfolio!!

This issue features a spotlight on a few of us that fly balloons here in the Statesville area, including ourselves, Big oh! Balloons, AeroSport Hot Air Balloon Company, and Almost Heaven Balloon Crew.

It’s free to read online and has a lot of other really beautiful content as well. Hope you enjoy!!

INTRODUCING OUR FALL ISSUE Our Fall Issue Features:Bridge to the PastThe Air Up ThereDisappearing GrasslandsThere and Back Again: Haunted PlacesPlus: Artist Leonard Jones, South Carolina’s oldest working bridge, sweet potato soufflé, artisan products, fall events, and moreLearn more about the pub...

07/30/2024

Love hearing all the excitement about our balloon encounters with Dale and Amy Earnhardt!

Dale is joined by his wife Amy to go live asking her questions submitted from the fans! Give us a question for her in the chat.Follow Dirty Mo MediaFacebook:...

07/26/2024

Beautiful start to what looks to be a great weekend for ballooning!

Great flying with Ryan at Q92!

07/26/2024

01/02/2024

2023 was another great year for flying balloons! We got to fly with lots of friends and family, won our only competition entered for the second straight year, pulled off a couple of great glows for charities, and made lots of fun memories!

As we look forward to 2024, we have decided that we are going to take some time off from offering paid passenger flights. This has always just been a hobby for us and doing a few rides helps to offset the costs. We plan to continue flying as much as we can, but only for our own enjoyment. If you’re looking to book a ride, there are lots of great folks in Statesville to fly with.

Here are just a few of our favorite pictures from 2023!

12/18/2023

Thank you to everyone who came out for the Drive Through Holiday Balloon Glow!! We were able to donate over 1.26 tons of food for Iredell Christian Ministries (ICM)!!