Angelica Flores (at left) helps her daughter Jennifer, 9, patch a hole in her tissue paper hot air balloon Saturday at Desert Sun Stadium. At right, another balloon is inflated for liftoff by using heat from a propane tank. A number of students from five local schools participated in the event to gain a first-hand understanding of what makes hot air balloons fly. --photo by Jacob Lopez

Angelica Flores (at left) helps her daughter Jennifer, 9, patch a hole in her tissue paper hot air balloon Saturday at Desert Sun Stadium. At right, another balloon is inflated for liftoff by using heat from a propane tank. A number of students from five local schools participated in the event to gain a first-hand understanding of what makes hot air balloons fly. --photo by Jacob Lopez