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!
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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.
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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!
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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.
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| Marty made this comment,
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!
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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.
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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!
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Saturday, March 10, 2007
Copied some old posts from the old blog
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