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.