Friday Night Flight

It's been forever since I got to fly, but the weather was good (a little cloudy, but flying's flying) and I was free to fly. Also, crew was available!

Marty and Dana said they could help, then Janie Terry overheard me tell Dana that I just needed one more person to help set up, then to ride in the basket with me. She missed the part about "ride in the basket" and volunteered her dad, who was coming to visit. Jim graciously accepted my offer for a ride, and Janie was surprised when he climbed in. Janie's daughter Gracie (who loves the balloon) was terrified for her grandpa. It's ok for Tedd to risk his neck flying the balloon, but when grandpa goes up, the tears turn on. Jim explained that he brings her skittles. He also said it was nice to have a girl cry for him!

We had a nice 45 minute jaunt, made two crash and dashes, then a very steep approach to my final landing. We bounced a bit, but not too bad for being a bit rusty!

Several ballooning friends are getting together for our annual end of the season gathering. With luck we'll be able to fly there.

A Nice Weekend in Joplin

Well, this weekend was Joplin's third annual hot air balloon event, and FINALLY I was able to attend. The event benefits Joplin's Big Brothers/Big Sisters program, and lots of people came out to watch the balloons. A nice newspaper article appears HERE. I don't know why the picture on the website is different than the one in this morning's paper. That one shows several balloons in the air, but Jill and Tedd's Excellent Adventure is in the center of the photo. Maybe they'll post it later.

I drove down on Friday in hopes that there would be a flight and a glow. A driving rain storm curtailed any actual balloon activity, so I went to dinner with the Venables and their crew. Saturday morning had questionable weather and wet ground, so only a few balloons set up so spectators could see the balloons. Three flew with two landing just across the street from the launch site, and one flying all the way to Carthage.

Saturday afternoon, Jill drove to Joplin with Beth and Mallori, and I met them at Art's nursing home for a visit. We took Art for a short walk outside, then went to lunch. Beth and Mal headed back north, and Jill and I went and got the balloon and prepared for the Saturday evening flight.

Not long after we got to the launch site, Marty and Dana arrived (on Marty's motorcycle) to crew for the flight, so I had crew, but no passenger. The event director found the sound engineer who had brought the speakers for music and announcing, and she flew with me. Her name was very unusual: Honna. We had a short flight to the south, landing after about 30 minutes, just a few miles from the launch. There are lots of trees beyond where we were, and a good landing site is hard to pass up!

After the flight, most of the pilots set their balloons up for a "glow." My friend Charlie flew his balloon in to the launch site, landed, and kept the balloon inflated for the glow. I spent some time in his basket while he walked around visiting other pilots. Norma got in David's basket, and flew on a tether to take a picture from above.

Next we all refueled, and Jill and I went to Braums for dinner, then went to the hotel and fell quickly asleep.

Sunday morning came early, and we got up and drove to the launch field. I recruited three of Big Brothers/Sisters board members (Steve, Lisa, and Ryan) to crew. After some instruction, we turned on the fan and had a great inflation. Steve climbed in and off we flew. We flew northeast, and landed across the road from the airport. As I made my approach, I knew I had chosen the right place to land. David Reed's vehicle was there, and David has a big tarp. Packing up on a large tarp is the best way to keep your balloon dry when the grass is wet. Plus, there was another balloon there, and we could share crew, making everyone's packup easier.

After refueling, we had a quick breakfast, checked out of the hotel, and drove home for a nap, and a relaxing Sunday afternoon!

Thanks to everyone who helped make this a great weekend!

Betty Finally Flies!

At the YMCA auction last November, Bill Wynn bought a balloon ride for his wife, Betty. The joke was that (because they're my next door neighbors) Betty probably could have flown with me sometime anyway. But it was a nice donation to help the Y provide programs to kids that need help!

Betty and I left the neighborhood at 6:30, picked up Dana (Marty had to work) and met Jonathan and his roommate at Wood's Supermarket. Scott met us at the High School, and we unpacked and inflated.

For some reason (probably the lack of wind) inflation took a long time. The top wouldn't seat, so I heated the air in the envelope, pulled the top out, and cold inflated a second time. This time, we got enough of a cold-pack that I was able to hot inflate it, but I bet I used nearly a gallon of gas in the fan getting the balloon up today!

Once the balloon was standing, Betty climbed in, and off we flew. wind on the surface was calm, but just a few hundred feet up, it was moving along at 11 mph or so. We traveled mostly northeast, but a few hundred feet off the ground there was a bit of a right turn that went away as we went higher.

After we flew out of town, we descended a bit, the right turn was still there, and there was still a little left underneath (if you look at the flight track you can see where I climbed or descended through the "right turn" - the wind took us a little more easterly). We stayed pretty low over some corn fields, and a very neatly planted field of what I'm pretty sure were soybeans. Then, a hay field that I had been watching for quite a while continued to be right in our flight path.

I climbed a little to steer toward the middle of the field, and made a nice approach. We dragged just a bit on the landing, and soon the crew was there to drag us to the road for a dry packup. Despite the heat and lack of rain, the ground looked soggy, so we were glad to use the dry road to put the balloon back in the trailer.

Betty had flown in a balloon before, but as soon as we were off the ground, she said this was better because it was over her turf, and she could pick out local landmarks. She was a great passenger, and I hope to get some of her pictures to post here soon.

From Gentle Breezes to Moving Right Along

Last week's flight was so gentle, I was happy for a chance to practice a windier flight. Well, happy isn't exactly accurate, but it turned out to be a nice flight despite the fact that it was a fast one!

Last night, I asked Alex if she wanted to fly with me. The forecast was for light winds, and a comfortable temperature, so she agreed, even though it meant waking up at 6:00. Jill came along with the camera, we picked Marty and Dana up on the way, and the Terry family met us at the launch site.

Driving to the site, it seemed very calm. the flags were hanging on the poles indicating a still morning. That continued until the balloon was inflated and I heated the air. Just then it got windy. The wind caught me by surprise, so I deflated the balloon and tried again. This time, We got the balloon standing, Alex got in, and we launched. Our takeoff was a little bouncy as the wind gave us a little false lift.

We were barely above the trees when I glanced at the GPS and saw we were traveling at about 24 miles per hour! It isn't hard to fly a balloon really fast. It can be tricky landing one that fast, though. Also, it makes chasing the balloon a little harder. But, Marty's a great chase driver, and Dana and Jill are great spotters. Every time I crossed a road, the van was right under me.

After about 20 minutes I could see Rinehart Church in the distance. I knew there were some open fields to the east of the church, so I tried to steer that direction. I was able to get us over the field, but not on a good approach. If I had been low enough to land, I would have flown south of the field. So, I crossed the road, dropped as low as I could (I still had some power lines to clear) and we took a nice left turn that carried us along the north side of the road, right toward a hay field. There was a big pond in the field, but there was plenty of land beyond the pond, so Alex took her landing position, we flew over the pond (barely, Alex thought we were in for a splash-down...no way!) and set down on the far bank. We dragged for about 20 yards before coming to a full and complete stop.

The crew was right there to ask the landowners if it was ok to drive out to pack us up. They were happy to let us drive out and pack up, but they wanted to come out to watch! They asked several questions, and I left them with a card with a picture of the balloon on it. We drove back to town, and out to breakfast at Cowboys!

Maybe I can fly again next week!

Ground's Dry Enough to Land On, Let's Fly!

After a rainy 4th of July holiday week, the waters have finally receded enough that there were dry places to land. After nearly a month on the ground, and after having seen two balloons in the air over Kansas City last evening, I was anxious to punch a hole in the sky!

I saw Marty this morning as both of us were leaving the neighborhood to run some errands, so I asked him if he and Dana were available to crew. They were, and so was Jill, so I made plans. The weather forecast called for perfect winds, and temperatures that were just a bit hotter than I like, so it was a go.

My neighbor Betty wasn't available to fly with me, so I was going to take either Marty or Dana with me. As we drove to the launch site, Marty called his mom, JoAnn, and asked her if she wanted to go along. She did, and raced to the High School to meet us.

Inflation went very well, and soon JoAnn and I were in the air, headed for the fairgrounds (the livestock auction was taking place, and the parking lot was PACKED!) There was a left turn down low as we tested the winds, so we stayed high, to keep headed toward the fair, but pretty soon, even the winds at higher altitudes were pushing us northeast instead of east to the fair sale.

So we descended a bit, and resigned ourselves to the winds' wishes. After about 35 minutes in the air, I saw several good hay fields that would be good for landing. Beyond those fields were lots of crops and woods, so I brought the balloon low, and told the chase crew where we were going to land. Marty and Red (JoAnn's husband) asked for permission to land and packup from the house by the drive into the field. Then they drove in and Marty grabbed the basket as we "set gently back again into the loving arms of Mother Earth."

I had a great time (as always) and enjoyed my passenger's company in the air. It was a beautiful night, and I can't wait to fly again soon!

Bushwhacker Days 2007

Another Balloons Over Bushwhackers is in the Books, and this year's was another rousing success!

We started with a our traditional dessert reception, with all the pilots (but one) dropping in as they arrived in town. Alot of visiting (you know about balloon stories, right?) and catching up as well as some meeting of new friends made the evening a success. The party had to come to an early end, though, the pilot's briefing was to come very early Saturday morning.

Saturday morning did indeed come early, but the fine flying weather woke all of us up and got us ready to go! All 13 of us got our weather briefing, then drove out to the "apron" of the airport. We all set up and inflated. I launched in the middle of the group, and had terrific views of the balloons in front of me as well as those inflating at the airport.

Gayla was with me, and she took several pictures in the air. I'm looking forward to seeing her pictures, but one of our crew members, a young woman who was an exchange student from Japan, had a camera, and took some great photos from the ground. See my Flickr page for those.

After about 30 minutes, I tried to land to let Shiho (I'm not sure about the spelling) have a short flight, but the winds on the surface had picked up considerably, and it was likely that if I landed, I wouldn't be able to launch again, so I aborted the landing.

We flew for about an hour, and landed about 6 miles north of the airport. It was a pretty straight flight, with a little steerability between altitudes. I used that to cross back an forth over a road several times, and tried to use it to put me in a great spot for a final landing, but couldn't quite get there. The fast winds on the surface made for an ugly landing, one that was a little hard, but we were able to keep the balloon up. David Reed landed next to me (his landing was slightly better), and let us pack up on his tarp. That was a good thing, because otherwise, the balloon would have gone back in the bag pretty wet.

After refueling, I took a trip with Rebekah to Nevada's square (for a train ride and a stint in the bounce house). After going home for a nap, it was time to meet the pilots at the parade lineup place for some visiting, and a slow drive through town. Once we made our way through the parade route, we high-tailed it to the airport for a weather briefing. Storms in the region scared me out of flying, but nearly all of the other pilots made the decision to go ahead and give it a shot. Their experiences with weather forecasting was better than mine, and those storms dissipated before they could be threatening. I had a great time with my family watching the other pilots launch.

Seven balloons flew from the airport, but four headed to another spot to try to fly over the concert downtown. They were successful, and thousands of people were treated to a fly-by. Kathi Wysong, our Chamber of Commerce director took some GREAT pictures, both of the launch and of the fly-by. (Click HERE to see her pictures) After refueling, we met at Greenfields for a wonderful meal, and good company.

Sunday morning felt like it came even earlier than Saturday. We met up and got mixed messages in our briefing. Most of us chose to keep the balloons in the trailers, but four balloons went south of town to try to fly into the airport. They failed, but they all had nice flights. I got to chase one of my favorite balloons, because David Reed flew off with the keys his wife needed to come get him. I drove to where he landed, got his keys, then drove back to where his family waited in the chase vehicle, and gave them to her.

Many of the pilots and crew members stopped at Cowboys for breakfast before loading up and heading for home. Everyone seemed to have fun, and most said they couldn't wait until next year!

Another Flight in Nevada

Another nice weeknight, and I had a passenger to fly! Jerry McBeth won a flight in the Rotary auction last February, so I called him yesterday around noon to see if he was free. He was, so we flew!

The winds were very calm when we arrived at Nevada High School for the flight. A pibal floated straight up, only moving a little bit to the east northeast as it climbed. But, I knew there was wind up there somewhere, so we inflated and launched. The calm air led to an easy inflation, and soon Jerry and I were flying.

It didn't take long to find a little wind, and we slowly worked our way east over the city. The flight path provided great views of the square and a youth baseball game as we flew near the fairgrounds. After about 30 or 40 minutes, we buzzed the future site of the jail Vernon County will build soon. As we dropped in to the field, we took a slight left turn which gave me a great idea: a little altitude should take us south, then we can drop back and head more to the east, right into several nice landing areas along Austin Street. We climbed, got south, then dropped down for that left turn. Just like I planned, except the left turn was gone! the surface winds had shifted and we got a right turn!

No bother, we were headed toward an open lot. As we dropped in to land in that lot, a gust of wind carried us quickly away from it. A look at our GPS track shows we actually flew in a circle. Then another, then another. Finally, we climbed out of the swirling winds, and made our way slowly over 71 highway. Then we stopped. A busy four lane highway is fun to fly over, but parking over can be disconcerting, particularly at the end of a flight, and near the end of your fuel!

We descended a bit, and the winds had stabilized. We flew south into a field next to Champion Diamonds. Our chase crew couldn't find a way into the field, so Jerry pulled the balloon to the parking lot at Champion where we packed up. Our initial crew of Dana, Marty and Tom had grown on the chase. Janie, Gracie and Kali were there to help deflate, and to join us in the post-flight toast!

The map of our flight is below. You can email me at teddmaxfield@gmail.com if you'd like the GoogleEarth 3D track.

Finally, a Passenger Flight!

After several charity events over the winter, I had three rides to give, but no time or good weather in which to give them. Finally, this weekend's weather looked good. I knew Friday evening would offer flyable winds and clear skies, the question was, "would the winds hold off for a Saturday morning flight?" Fortunately, Marty and Dana were able to crew Friday evening, and one of my intended passengers, Alberta Hagenson, was available to ride along, so I didn't have to wait until Saturday to fly!

The winds were forecast from the south, so I drove by the Hissinks to see how their yard looked. It looked like it was ready to be baled, so I looked at the Nelson's yard across the street. It was impeccably manicured (as always) and Don was working in the driveway. "It'd be a shame to have a freshly mown yard like that and not have a hot air balloon launch from it," I said. He agreed, so I went and picked up our passengers and crew and returned for our launch.

Don and Denise have a flagpole in their yard that served as a great windsock, although once we started inflating, the wind shifted (balloonists' corollary #1 to Murphy's Law), so we turned off the fan, repositioned the envelope and started again, this time with great success. The winds were a bit breezy on the surface, and the balloon bounced around a little while Alberta joined me in the basket. A little heat and away we went!

Alberta really enjoyed her flight. We flew over the west side of Nevada, and saw all the major landmarks in town. After about 45 minutes, we saw a nice hayfield that I thought would make a good landing spot. Even though I had hoped to fly for closer to an hour, the next available sites were over the river, and if I couldn't find a wind to carry us to the West a little faster, we'd be in for a long flight. I executed a nice approach over power lines and into the field. Just as I was about to pull the vent and set down, Marty radioed, "He doesn't want you to land here." So, I hit the burner, and flew on. Marty had further discussion with the landowner who was concerned that I'd crush his hay! Marty explained that the balloon might bend some of it over, but the hay would stand right back up. So the man said it would be ok for me to land there. "Tell him to fly back and set down."

Since you can't very well do that in a balloon, I flew on, staying at treetop level over the river to get as far west as possible. Occasionally, I'd pop up a little to get my bearings. It was strange, because I'd be on line to the landmarks I picked out, but when I'd get higher, the winds carried me farther north, away from the landmarks, so it didn't look like I was going where I wanted to go. I ended up on a pretty good course to get over the river, and found myself over headed for a green field with a brown field beyond it. I figured the brown one had probably just been planted, but Marty told me it looked like stubble from last year's crop, so I had a HUGE landing opportunity right in front of me. It was perfect!

I flew low over the green field, then over the irrigation system and a road, and dropped into the field for a short-drag, stand-up landing. A pickup with a young family (father and three kids) pulled in behind Marty and asked if it was ok if they came to look. Turned out they owned the field I landed in, and were pleased to have me there. One of the kids had said earlier "There's a hot air balloon. I wish it would land in our field." I guess dreams can come true!

The landowners helped us pack up, and they helped us celebrate Alberta's flight with the traditional balloonist's prayer. Having kids there made me happy that I use the "fake stuff" instead of champagne when I fly. It was nice to include them in the toast.

The next 3 months should be great for flying. I just hope I can afford to keep the chase van fueled! These gas prices are ridiculous!

Welcome!

We had to move our blog because blog-city is termninating its free service, and I'm not interested in paying them to host our blog! I'm glad you found us, and keep checking back for flight information.

The weather today was supposed to be good for flying, but afternoon winds are supposed to pick up, and the ground is still a little wet, so I'll stay planted on the ground today. Maybe sometime next week I can fly!

Copied some old posts from the old blog

Tuesday, 26 December 2006

Posted some photos to Flickr Last September, I had a very nice flight with Candice Moore. We flew over Nevada, on a beautiful evening. Candice has a nice camera, and took several pictures from the balloon. You can see a few of them at http://flickr.com/photos/jillandtedd/ . I'm sure I won't have a chance to fly again in 2006. The weather for the rest of the week will be too windy, and I'm off to Wyoming on Thursday. Hopefully I can fly soon after my return. Happy New Year! Last Updated: Tuesday, 26 December 2006 11:20 A GMT-06 :: Comments/Trackback

Saturday, 23 December 2006

'Twas the Flight Before Christmas Well, the weather hasn't cooperated with my schedule to allow any flight time lately, so I was very pleased to see the forecast for this weekend. It looked like it would make for great flying, and it did! If anyplace in town were selling propane, I might be able to fly again tonigh! I picked up the Redburns at 7:30. With them were Dana's sister and neice, Lisa and Emily. We had planned on Emily flying with me, but she was a little nervous about it, so I briefed both Lisa and Emily on passenger procedures, just in case EMily didn't want to fly, Lisa could go along. John met us at the launch field to complete our crew. The forecast was for light winds at the surface and slightly faster in the air. It was for winds out of the west, with a little right turn up high. The report from the airport was consistent with the forecast, and only 5 miles visibility. That's just borderline for flying balloons, but it seemed pretty clear on the drive to the launch site, so I went for it. We inflated, and launched, and it was pretty hazy in the air. Visibility wasn't great, but there was plenty to fly safely. And, the fog made for pretty views. I decided to try to fly in to the airport, and the winds allowed me to steer right in. I flew right over the middle of the main runway. I was going to land there, but I missed my approach. The cold weather made the balloon much more responsive than I've been accustomed to, and I leveled out when I should have been descending. That runway's a very narrow target! I flew on for another mile or so, and set down for a nice landing in a hay field. We landed, dragged for a few feet, and the balloon stayed standing nicely. It was an ideal spot for packup, so we layed the balloon down right there, and packed it back in the trailer. After our traditional toast, we drove home to start the Christmas weekend. Last Updated: Saturday, 23 December 2006 10:40 A GMT-06 :: Comments/Trackback

Sunday, 10 December 2006

Under the Burner, but not the Envelope Last night, I went to Neosho to ride in the Christmas parade there. I was on a float with three other balloonists in our baskets (actually, I was in Charlie's basket) decorated for the parade. We had lights on our balloons, and the float was decorated to look like a bed. The parade's theme was Christmas dreams. Janine Konstanzer rounded us up to take part for our second year, and we have had fun both times. We are typically a crowd favorite, as our burners provide heat on a cold December evening. Last year we won our division. I haven't heard if we received a trophy this year, but I heard we made the front page of the newspaper! Unfortunately, the online addition doesn't have any parade coverage or pictures, yet. After the parade, we undecorated the float, and had pizza, chili, snacks, and hot chocolate in Charlie and Norma's cabin. Charlie didn't ride on the float, he was in the truck, as I was scheduled to use his basket. He was supposed to miss the parade to attend a wedding, but the parade was postponed due to weather. I'm glad it was, because our after party was really nice! Hopefully, the weather will allow for a flight later this month! Last Updated: Sunday, 10 December 2006 3:00 P GMT-06 :: Comments/Trackback

Saturday, 14 October 2006

Saturday Evening Loma Linda Let me start this entry with a simple request...Drop a line when you read this. I see that my entries are being read, but I have no idea who is doing the reading! Just post a note, and let me know who's here! Now, on to the ballooning! At last weekend's event in Columbus, KS, Charlie, Norma and I realized we hadn't seen each other for a while. We decided that I haven't been to crew for them since I got my certificate. In fairness to myself, it isn't an unwillingness to serve as crew, they haven't called! So when I pointed that out, they said they were going to do some flying on the 14th. I promised to be there. Late this morning, Norma called to say there would be a ton of crew, and she suggested that I bring the balloon. Let's see, good weather on a Saturday evening, willing crew...I'll do it! So we met up south of Joplin and caravanned (is that a real word?) to the Gene and Laurie's (they weren't home) to launch from their yard. David and Denise have helped me fly often through my lessons, and I was pleased to invite one of them to fly with me. Denise had flown most recently, so David got the nod. After a successful inflation, we waited for Charlie's passengers to take some preflight photos, then we followed him into the sky. The winds were weird. They changed direction several times during the flight. It was kind of neat though, I followed a highway for a couple miles, then took a left turn at an intersection and followed a different highway for a few miles. I tried to make an approach on a good looking field, and found, when I got low, a "left turn" that took me off course, so I climbed to get another "right turn" so I could make an approach on another field down the road. When I was ready to descend and find that "left" again, it was gone, replaced by more "right" turn that put me on a course for alot of forest. With one chance for a landing in a field, I took it. It turned out to be a great landing, but a lousy place to pack up. The field was full of stickers, and the chase crew had to drive through a BIG field to get to us. The van got all scratched up on the way in, and I probably have a bunch of little pin holes in the balloon's envelope. I need to get better at thorn identification from the air! Oh well, stickers happen! Click HERE to see my flight path! The light blue line is my flight. Last Updated: Tuesday, 31 October 2006 10:40 A GMT-06 :: Comments/Trackback (1-0)

Marty made this comment, Just catching up on what I missed out on. Looks like you had some good flights sorry I missed them. Really not sorry about missing the stickers. Marty comment added :: 31st October 2006, 10:40 GMT-06

Tuesday, 10 October 2006

Columbus Days Weekend Each year, Columbus, Kansas celebrates Columbus Day with a weekend festival that includes a car show, a parade, and a hot air balloon regatta. I've attended several times, seeing many flights cancelled due to weather, and few planned flights flown. So, I was pessimistic that my first trip to Columbus as a pilot would be fruitful. What a surprise I got as the weekend drew near and the forecasts looked beautiful; not just suitable for flying, but BEAUTIFUL! Highs in the mid 70s, lows in the mid 50s, clear skies and light winds! It looked like Columbus Days 2006 would be GREAT! Friday came, and I travelled to Columbus. I knew I would arrive early, so I chose some geocaches that I'd look for before I needed to attend the pilots' briefing. As I looked for one in a small park in a residential neighborhood, I heard a boy talking to his mom. I had parked the van and trailer in front of their house, and they were very excited that the trailer might contain an actual hot air balloon! I took a break from my cache hunt, and walked over to confirm that the trailer did, indeed, hold a balloon. I opened the trailer doors, and let the boy climb up inside for a close look at the basket. I gave them both pictures of the balloon and asked them to look for me at the "glow" that evening. I went on to find to caches, then went to the launch field. There was plenty of time to visit with other pilots and enjoy snacks while waiting for the sun to set when we would set up our balloons for display. My sponsors, Darrel and Marilyn Shumake and several of their friends arrived, and we got acquainted. Some pilots inflated and flew in time to return to glow their balloons, but I took the oportunity to talk to the crew, and brief them about my procedures. The sun got low, and we inflated, showing off Jill and Tedd's Excellent Adventure and her beautiful colors. Then we went to the Shumakes house where I tried unsuccessfuly to get a good nights sleep. I was just too excited! Satuday morning came, and we drove to the pilots' briefing. I was a "substitute pilot" of sorts. The Shumakes usually sponsor Ron, a Kansas pilot who's balloon is in for repairs. Ron couldn't bring his balloon, but he came to take part, and he brought his crew with him. Ron was good crew, and gave me lots of good advice and gentle suggestions throughout the weekend. The briefing was done, and we headed to the launch site. Watching balloonists and their trucks and trailers (followed by crew on foot) head out to stake claim to the best spots on the field gives you an idea of what the Oklahoma land rush must have looked like. We got out to the field, and everyone launched into a beautiful blue sky. All three flights were Hare and Hound contests, with Carson Eliff serving as the hare. I did a really good job following him, and when we got close, and I saw the target (we were to drop a ball on a large fabric X that Carson placed on the ground) I knew we had a shot. Unfortunately, my passenger and I were so excited, that we dropped the ball too soon. Hey, I have a pilot's certificate. As far as I know, there's no certificate for dropping anything on a spot in a field. Pam (my passenger) and I flew on for another mile or so, then landed in a hay field. I almost missed the landing site, and dropped in fairly quickly to make sure I didn't overshoot it. Pam gave me grief for the rest of the weekend after our "hard landing." The next flight was Saturday evening. Darrel's mother's cousin was to be my passenger. She was 84 years old, and walked with a cane. The winds at the launch field were a little squirrelly, so I suggested a different passenger might be safer. The Shumakes neighbor, who had come out to crew Friday night and Saturday morning, was conscripted (ok, he was a willing volunteer). We flew for a half hour, made an appearance near the X (though not close enough to score) and had a nice landing in a recently plowed field. I even got applause from my pilot friend Ron McKinney on my landing. Seeing that landing, 84 year old Lillian was not to be denied. She was lifted into the basket, and we took off. She said, "Tedd, I know landings can be rough. I'm not scared, you do your best and I'll be fine." We flew for 20 or 25 minutes, and had the gentlest set down I've ever experienced in a hot air balloon. We packed up, drove to the launch site, and celebrated the first balloon rides of two passengers! The final flight was scheduled for Sunday morning, and true to the rest of the weekend, it was a perfect day for a beautiful flight. Willa flew with me, and we flew behind Carson for one of the longest flights I've seen him make. Just as we were closing in on his landing site, I miscalculated, climbed too high, and went off course. On the bright side, my right turn put me in a great position for pack up in the field where we landed! The final event of Columbus Days was Sunday lunch. A great little Italian place in Scammon, KS is the host of the annual lunch and awards ceremony. FANTASTIC food, and lots of visiting made this a nice wrap up to a super weekend. There's so much flight information to relate, that I didn't even cover the parade or the skeet shooting competition! Hopefully there will be many more weekends like last weekend. I really hope that Jill can enjoy some of them with me! Last Updated: Tuesday, 10 October 2006 8:32 P GMT-06 :: Comments/Trackback

Wednesday, 13 September 2006

Another Wednesday Evening Flight The weather forecasthad it right on the money: clear skies and light north winds. The weather sites had it pegged as early as Monday, so on Tuesday, I called Dr. Candice Moore, and invited her for a flight, which she enthusiasically accepted. When we talked on the phone before the flight, Candice wanted to try to fly over one of two parcels of land that they own on the out skirts of town; one to the south, one to the west. I thought, based on the forecast and the first 20 minutes of our flight, that we'd be near the one on the south side of town. The midflight addition of a low-level wind from the east, however, gave us a turn to the west, and we landed in a field neighboring the Moore's cabin! As we dropped down to treetop level for a little contour flying, I realized we were headed straight for the only suitable landing field for quite a distance. To my disappointment, our track was taking us slightly to the north of that field, so I climbed a little, found a slight left turn, and steered the balloon right into a perfect field. We were so close the cabin, we headed there for a quick tour, a toast, and a visit on the porch. What a great mid-week break! I can't wait to see Candice's pictures, as our flight took us right across town. Last Updated: Wednesday, 13 September 2006 9:40 P GMT-06 :: Comments/Trackback

Wednesday, 6 September 2006

Mid-Week Evening Flight - a two-hopper even! The weather looked good, and I needed to fly, so I called Scott Sommer, who said he was in (he didn't realize I was asking him to be a passenger, not just crew...a pleasant surprise). Then I asked Dana who said yes for herself and for Marty. On the way to the launch site, Dana said John McGraw said he could help if we wanted him to, so we called him. He almost beat us to the launch site; I guess I got him out of mowing the lawn! We inflated at the High School, and from our arrival to departure was about 25 minutes. Everything went very smoothly, and when Scott and I were in the air we tracked slowly to the south. There was a slight left turn down low, as there often is, and we were able to fly right down College Street, over Radio Springs Park and the Country Club, and near Scott's house (he took pictures). Then we dropped a little lower, and skirted Don & Denise Nelson's home, then landed across the road in the Hissink's yard. It was about 30 minutes into the flight and there was plenty of fuel and plenty of daylight, so Scott got out and John got in, and away we went again. The wind picked up a little (still only around 6 mph), but our left low became a right low. No problem, there were plenty olf landing sites where we were headed. We flew for about 20 minutes then started looking for a good field. We passed on a few because the crew couldn't find an easy way in. Then, we skimmed the corner of the Pitts' field (Tracy and Nancy were in the yard), and landed in a neighboring field. I couldn't see a gate, so I radioed to the crew to stay at the Pitts' property, and John pulled the balloon over and passed it across the fence. Easy packup in ideal weather (only about 76 degrees and no humidy). We should have weather like this every week! Last Updated: Wednesday, 6 September 2006 9:00 P GMT-06 :: Comments/Trackback