Last Day at Balloon Fiesta 2013

 

 

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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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?

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

Panoramic view from 1,000 feet at Balloon Fiesta 2013

What, Me Fly? Yes, with Great Joy, a dose of Serendipity 2013

Before the story; Best wishes and hope for a rapid recovery to our dear friend Ursula Kaminsky who is recovering from respiratory distress which visited her during a a recent air flight.

Today’s adventure started at 5:15 at the huge tent where our fellow crew members have coffee + as supplied by yet another crew of dedicated volunteers.  Remember: In this activity about 2000 volunteers support 500 Balloons!

At 5:30 the Pilots have a meeting where they are given their flight plan for the day.  We are in a contest of skill, with is saturated with luck I am soon to find out.  We are to go off site at least a mile and launch with the aim to cross the field and drop a bean bag on a target.  We did the same deal on Tuesday with a measure of success.

‘Dawn Patrol’ is launched at 6:15 which as a spectator I very much enjoy.  Today however we are faced with the realization that there is virtually no wind.  Is is calm right up to 3000 feet.

Off we go in search of a magical launch area that will allow us to return to the field.  We have about 300 other teams in the same search.  We drive in circles while we watch ‘Dawn Patrol’ and other non-combatants launch and stay virtually still, most will land within a mile of launch.

Most teams we talk to are frustrated, this is like running a race with a blind horse!  We are not frustrated, we are determined!  That will soon morph into the realization that making no decision is more unproductive than making the wrong one.

 

With Great Skill, our Supremo Commander locates us on the front lawn of a beautiful estate where we are given permission (and assistance) by the land owners.  Our take-off is smooth and without incident as we have enjoyed all week.

Soon we are at about 1,000’ altitude, finding ourselves virtually becalmed and unable to control even our very slow movement of about 2mph.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here I am at 1,000’, surrounded by several hundred balloons and my lovely and most skillful pilot.  Obviously she is lovely and her skill is proven by the fact that I am writing this. Before you get any dark thoughts, this is her Daddy.  I'm too old to tangle with him!

 

 

We had a beautiful landing in a baseball field.  Several folks rushed to help us store the balloon.  The shadow in this picture is from our balloon.  If possible we leave it inflated to assist the ‘chase crew’.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the map below, you can see we made a somewhat straight flight passing about 1/4 mile from our target.  Most of the pilot came nowhere near as close as they knew at the start of the contest that they would be unable to manuver.  They did launch to ‘Show Their Colors’.

 

 

 

 

Anne-Maries flight was able to Zig-Zag as the wind blew in opposing directions at 1,000 feet of the ground.  Notice that she went north to south when close to surface, at altitude she went South to S-West.  This characteristic is referred to as the famous Albuquerque Box.

 

Tomorrow, we will launch in early morning, Sunday is to be our last flight day.

 

To our daughter Kelly:  This a week we will put in our box of Men’s Toes!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Balloon Fiesta; Annie Flies and More. 2013

 

You might remember that on Sunday 6 Hydrogen balloons were launched in a distance of flight contest.  This is a map of their landing spots.  For More info, visit this web site.  To our friends in the Northeast, Balloon #2 was sponsored by the City of Springfield, MA.

Our Pilots P/U truck developed serious differential problems on Tuesday.  No problem; Wednesday morning The Blue Ox was pressed into service and transported us in grand style.  We woke up at 3:00am to go and pick-up the trailer & sleepy eyed flight crew.  No photos, it wasn’t pretty!

 

 

Unfortunately our launch site is located on the west edge of the field, this makes taking good photos very difficult as I must shoot into the rising sun.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anne-Marie was delighted to be asked to fly on Wednesday.  This was to be a ‘Mass Ascension’ which means that 500 balloon will be launched in 2 flights in rapid succession.  It is also ‘International Day’ Hence to display of our teams Mexican flag.  We are seconds away from launch here, several passersby have been enlisted to help hold the balloon down.  In the left side of the picture, you can see our truck's bumper which has the safety rope still attached.

To our east the 7 story tall Fire Hydrant is ready to go.

 

 

The safety rope is released by the pilot, lots of furious fire from the burners as she heats to 105,000 cubic feet of air to supply gradual lift.  We shout good wishes and cheer like teenagers, it’s over in 30 seconds.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The sky is full of Balloons, ours is one of hundreds.  There are also many ‘Special Shapes flying on the day.  Anne-Marie gets several great photos.

Notice all the balloons on the ground, they are all to take off in about 15 minutes.

 

The location of our 5th wheel is shown, the large open area is an old dump site which is too soft for campers.  Many Balloons land there!

 

 

 

 

 

Altogether too soon the flight is over, our pilot Susana and her Supremo Commandor Julian sense that the wind is coming up and put down in a very convenient freshly mown corn field.  200 feet further the would have been in a cow pasture, that would be crappy to say the least!

Time of flight, 45 minutes.  Length of memory, Forever!  Thursday flights are canceled due to high winds. 

On a sad note we found out the 1 balloon hit high tension wires causing 2 injuries, a passenger was badly burned and required surgery, our prayers go out to him with wishes of a complete and rapid recovery.

Balloon Crewing, Our 1st Landing

We are 4 dedicated crew members running around in a pick-up truck.  Everyone is looking UP to pick our Balloon out of several hundred.  So, we have about 500 pickups (many pulling trailers) cruising around with all eyes in the sky.  Adds excitement to this old fellows day to say the least!

<<<  Can you find our balloon in this picture?  No?  OK try the picture below.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Still cannot find it? OK, ‘X’ marks the spot in this view.  Note that very few of the balloons fly with an X over them.

 

 

 

 

Our first landing was without incident in an industrial park.  Very soon a large crowd assembled who were eager to help with the heavy lifting and packing the balloon. Akin to packing a parachute this must be critically over looked by the pilot.  A lot of this work is repetitive and done on Hands & Knees.  In my later years I have avoided this type of work; Anything on the ground is my enemy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

At Dusk, our balloon participated in a ‘Glow’.  Several hundred Balloons were setup and lit their burners to a wonderful effect.  The set-up and storage was the same as a regular flight, minus the excited kids to help repack it.  We got home at 10:00 exhausted.. We fly tomorrow so there will be another 4:45 wake-up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now to introduce you to Susana and Julian, our great flight crew!

1st Days at Balloon Fiesta 2013

Last month, our Escapee’s friend Charlie Boles suggested that we travel to Albuquerque to join The Boomers at their Rally at Balloon Fiesta.  Why not?  We’re retired and have no better task at hand but to have 4:00 Happy Hour and watch hot air balloons.  Here we are at about 4:30 planning Pot Luck Suppers and swilling various adult beverages.

Would we like to join a Chase crew?  Sure, why not.

A strong dose of reality; set I-Phone for 4:45am Wake-up!  Put on 3 layers of cloths under our jackets, it’s a windy 40 degrees outside.  Bring a flashlight (it is very dark), wear tuff shoes as there is lots of walking.  The 1965 school bus used in the fleet of shuttles pick us up near our camper and drop us about 1/2 mile (WALK) from our designated lift off point where we will meet our Pilot & Crew Chief.

 

These Balloons are ‘The Dawn Patrol’.  They launch about 1 hour before dawn and test the weather aloft.  In an hour, the Flight Authority (FAA) releases us to a Green Flag as it is clear and wind under 5mph.  A ‘Yellow’ would mean Pilots Discretion.  A Red and we are grounded ;-(

Soon we are put to work with the launch, roll out and spread ‘our’ Balloon sponsored by the city of Durango, MX.  Annie and I are holding it open while our Crew chief uses a large fan to fill it.  our  pilot will hook up the myriad of steel cables from which the whicker basket hangs.

 

 

Our balloon is full of ambient air, next come the tricky part.  Our Crew chief must fire the 1,000,000 btu propane burner into the center of the balloon. Loud and furious action result in the balloon slowly rising and pulling the basket upright.  Did I tell you that I think everyone checked that we were tied to the chase truck’s bumper?,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

While this has been going on, about 200 other crews are working in concert, there will be 3 flights this morning.  In the picture below, you see our balloon is still down, we have to wait for a formation near us to lift before we add heat and lift.  Study the distance and note there are several balloons down as ours is, in the far distance you see a previous group in flight.

 

  Quick as a bunny, we are released and cast off. To float away and land, somewhere???

Tomorrow, we will introduce our pilot & crew chief if they let us work again.

Stay Tuned

 

Pete & Anne-Marie

It’s The Chase that we will enjoy 2013

We are settled in at the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta with about 30 rigs of fellow Escapees Boomers.  These are many of the same folks we party with in Quartzite every January, happy hour is 4:00 if you are in the area .

We have volunteered to work on a Chase Crew for one of the Balloons.  On Thursday we had orientation and we were assigned a Balloon.  We received ‘Crew Passes’ which allow us admission to the event and identify us as worker bees.

While milling about with the other newbies I was approached by Brother David Tennis who is the owner/pilot of the Balloon CAVU.  I presented him with one of M.W.G.M. Simon Laplace’s pins and asked him to carry it to new heights.

CAVU = Ceiling and Visibility Unlimited.

 

 

The launch field is huge, when we walked to the location of our launch it was better than 1/4 of a mile from the edge of the field. Our Luck is that this point is at an extreme corner from the location one enters the field.  We are told that we will be tasked to assist a 6 person crew  {Special Shape Balloons have up to 20 man crews!} in launching the balloon, than we must hustle to our chase vehicle and follow that balloon and assist with landing and/or more probably supply labor in folding and repacking the balloon.

On Friday morning we were scheduled to do a test flight at 6:00am.  That was canceled at 5:15 due to high winds.  Resultant is that we go into Saturday AM flight with no hands on training.

 

 

Keep you eye on the Sky and find our balloon!

Repositioning to Albuquerque 2013

I could never move to Albuquerque, New Mexico, I have to Google it every time I need to spell it!

We’ve shutdown in Coronado, NM at a very nice campground owned and run by the city.  Note we have a casita and water & electric hook-ups.  Very nice for $22/nite and close to all types of city services.

 

We finally found a CVS and got my meds straightened out.   To make my day, they gave me a 20% slip and I found a 1.75 L of Fleischman’s gin on the discount shelf for $4.99!  Looks like my friends will be slurping down Gin & Tonic this weekend.

 

Our big news is that we went over to the Albuquerque Balloon Festival area and got a coveted RV space where we can Boondock on the landing area with a group of our friends from the Escapee’s Boondockers.  Unfortunately there is a weather front coming in forecasting wind for Friday & Saturday, that will keep the Balloons grounded.

Stay Tuned!