Cheers Aerial Media

Cheers Aerial Media began as Cheers Over California, a sole proprietorship in 2001. At that time our focus was on hot air balloon rides and special events featuring tethered rides. In 2003, owners David and Shelly Wakefield purchased a new, larger Cheers balloon in order to expand company operations, gaining valuable experience in the industry.

When a blimp flies over town it gets serious media and public attention, so why don't we see more of them? Simple, because they're extremely expensive! Goodyear reports the cost of their Zeppelin NT airships will be $21 million per airship, not including the Helium to fill them. These airships also require large ground crews and expensive ground equipment and storage facilities.

Our Gefa-Flug thermal airship is a four seat design and is 135 ft long (nearly half of a football field). It has full aircraft communications capability including a Mode C transponder, which will allow it to operate in and around congested, tower controlled airspace such as Sacramento, Oakland, even Los Angeles.

Imagine your customers (and potential customers) stopping their cars to take a picture of your billboard. Even better yet, imagine having your billboard ad highlighted in a positive way in major media. Believe it or not, it happens all the time, but not for the reasons you'd expect. They either love them or hate them and they rarely remember them.

FACT: Cheers Aerial Media provides more tethered balloon rides annually than any other hot air balloon company in California!. Tethering a balloon means that the balloon is anchored. To do this, ropes, or tether lines are run from the balloon itself to at least three fixed points. Generally, heavy vehicles such as 4x4 trucks or cars with trailer hitches are preferred.