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.