River Flying With David

It was a nice morning, and David Hoover and I decided to have a lesson toward my commercial certificate. We launched past where I landed last week, north and west of town. Wayne Wood flew alongside us in Miss Arkansas, The Natural State balloon. David and I started a slow climb out of the launch field, then decided to ascend a little faster, as Wayne was beneath us (also, David's tight balloon was really responsive with a relatively light load on a cold morning).

We flew toward and over the Arkansas River, then over a big field. David pointed out a deer stand or two with hunters in them. I don't think we saw any deer, which is pretty rare on a balloon flight. I hope they don't blame us for chasing their game away! We did see a couple raccoons running away from the balloon!

After flying along the north side of the river for a while, we climbed over a ridge and over part of Maumelle. Then, we stayed high over the river to steer toward Two Rivers Park, then we dropped in pretty fast for a nice landing.

It was a pretty morning, and a fun flight. David really helped me learn more about the local area. It was also a good opportunity to fly a larger balloon than I'm accustomed to, and a different brand system.

Balloon Arkansas! Take Another Peak

It was the best of times, OR it was the worst of times. I decided, as Marty Redburn and I flew up Pinnacle Mountain, and we were in desperate need of a landing site, that if I found that landing site before we ran out of fuel, it would be the best flight of my short ballooning career. When we made a nice landing, it was a done deal. It was the best of times!

We launched from southwest of Little Rock, and flew to the north, flying over ridges of beautiful scenery. As we approached the antenna towers on Shinall Mountain, we climbed WAY up, and saw a beautiful landing field just southwest of Pinnacle Mountain. Unfortunately, our path was not helpful in getting us to that field. So we went over the summit of Pinnacle. We were close enough to have a nice conversation with the folks climbing the mountain.

Once we passed the summit, our progress stopped, so we ascended a bit, got moving again, then dropped into the nearest, best looking hay field around. Sadly, a left turn low pushed us away from the field, and toward a dam. We had a great landing on the dam, then learned from our chase crew that we were in a restricted area behind a tall fence topped with razor wire! Fortunately, someone from the water department came and let our chase crew in, and we packed up quickly, and headed for pizza.

The excitment from the end of the flight, only complements the beauty of the scenery early in the flight, and the "coolness" of flying right over Pinnacle's Peak. What a great flight! If you use GoogleEarth, this is a flight path to check out. E-mail me, and I'll send it to you!

Thanks to Billy Roehrenbeck and Jill for crewing for us, and patiently waiting for help to arrive and let us in. Also, thanks to David Hoover for flying beside, below, above and near us for the flight.