If you don't think a lot of heavy lifting goes into flying a giant parade balloon, then you’re as crazy as Felix the Cat.
There are the sandbags to distribute, the tarps to spread. Then, depending on the weather, you have to calibrate the helium in case it gets too hot or too cold.
“We have a lot of work to do,” said Matt Kaprielian, 25, a balloon technician who will work his fourth Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade Thursday.
“But fortunately, a lot of the work is behind us. This is kind of the fun part,” he said.
Kaprielian and hundreds of employees and volunteers spent Wednesday night on the Upper West Side preparing behemoth balloons that will soar above Sixth Ave. — and working on floats that will glide along the ground.
More.
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/manhattan/macy-day-parade-technicians-air-fly-balloons-article-1.2885678
