Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Last Day at Balloon Fiesta 2013

 

 

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Sunday morning was our last day at crewing for The Durango Balloon.  As is often the case in out travels, this is a bitter sweat time when we have to say goodbye to folks we have come to love and respect.  This is a real Family Affair; Susana and her Brother Edwardo are both commercial pilots as is Julian their Father, who is also qualified to multi-engine fixed wing aircraft.Aprecio Family 2013

 

 

 

 

 

 

We shared several meals, each one reminding me of the festive Italian we enjoyed in the South End of Hartford or where ever Anne-Marie was serving,

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Sunday’s flight was picture perfect.  Our launch was without incident as usual.  The 450 on the Balloon celebrate the 450th anniversary of the city of Durango in Durango, MX.DSCN0076 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We landed in the same alfalfa field the we landed in on Wednesday when Anne-Marie acted as ballast.  Today was another ‘Mass Ascension’ when about  500 balloons were launched in about 90 minutes.  This gets a bit hectic.  In the scene shown our balloon is spread on the ground we will start to inflate now.  The beige Balloon is ‘hot’, moments from lift.  Blue & Yellow Balloon in going to ready just before us, we will go ‘Hot’ as he is lifting.  The 2 balloons on the left will go hot after beige clears the area, we will follow them.  Got it?

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I have a new Nikon ‘Point & Shoot’ camera.  I limit my self to these $100 cameras as they are small and when I get clumsy and drop them the pain is less that a big & fancy Sony.  Below is a sequence that was filmed by a gentleman bystander on the perfect landing and repacking.  It is amazing how wonderful the help is that appears when we land.

Durango Balloon Landing 2013 Balloon Fiesta

I also found this ‘In Flight’ movie that I took on my flight.  This was taken with my I-phone.  I’m new at this video stuff, you will have to suffer while I learn Winking smile

Panoramic view from 1,000 feet at Balloon Fiesta 2013

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