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!
