Wow! What a beautiful morning!

Jill and I set out to meet our passenger and crew at the "usual location." We launched a pibal, and even though the winds were different than forecast, our original launch site was a good option, so off to the soccer fields on Cantrell we went.

After a smooth inflation, my passenger Sabrina and I were off. The winds down low started to take us East, towards town. That was a bad direction for us, but we knew from the test balloon that with just a little more altitude, we'd turn to the west. That's exactly what happened, and soon we were flying right along Highway 10.

As soon as we were at altitude, and we could look around, we saw some beautiful scenery! The river was completely blanketed in a thick layer of fog. The fog was contained by the ridge that runs along the south side of the river.

We stayed high for about 20 minutes, then dropped down to steer ourselves along the highway. We kept working the winds toward some good landing options, and I thought I had just the right area, but the winds just wouldn't help me get in to them, and there were some obstacles (power lines, livestock, restaurants), so I decided to fly on.

We continued over a construction area that looked too muddy for a decent packup, then I saw a small yard surrounded by trees. Beyond that yard looked like a neighborhood with lots of open areas. I thought I'd head for the neighborhood, but the winds were so calm at that point, I knew I could ease into the small yard.

The chase crew watched me clear the road in front of the landing spot. When they saw me vent to drop in, they got out of the car and watched the gentlest landing a balloon can have. I guess if I can have witnesses for my hard landings, it's good to have witnesses for the really good ones, too!

The landowner was away at church, but the gate was unlocked, so we backed the trailer in a little ways for an easy packup. We shared a quick toast in the road, just in time for the landowner to arrive home from church. We asked her permission retroactively, to pack up in her yard. Her only regret was that she wasn't there to see the balloon before it was back in the trailer!

A great morning for a really pretty flight!

Columbus Days - I Love Columbus Days!

Columbus is a great chance to see many of my best friends in ballooning. It's the first event I attended when I started to pursue ballooning as a hobby, and I've come to know many of the locals there, too.

I woke up Friday morning and prepared to leave Little Rock for my drive to Columbus. It was raining heavily at my house, and when I looked at the radar, it was apparent that it had rained heavily in Columbus, too. I called Charlie Venable, in Neosho, who told me they had over 6 inches of rain overnight! I knew it would be too wet to fly (I was wrong, but sometimes I love being wrong).

I drove to Columbus, making a short stop in Springfield, MO to drop off phones for the kids. It was a nice, but short visit with Alex and Shane. As I got nearer to Columbus, I saw lots of flooding. Baxter Springs, KS seemed to be underwater. Again, I knew we weren't going to fly.

Upon arrival in Columbus, we were told that because it was so wet, our normal launch fields wouldn't be used, I thought, "no other launch fields will be used, either!" But, we headed to the fairgrounds, and despite muddy conditions, many balloons glowed. Using tarps, and lots of crew, those that glowed stayed pretty dry. My crew was pretty laid back, and we made the decision that a static display wasn't worth getting wet for. "No fly? Stay Dry!" was our slogan.

Saturday morning, though, the winds looked too good to pass up a flight. Besides, we figured, if the balloon gets wet, we'll have all day to dry it out! So, we went in search of a launch site. We found one in a gravel parking lot on the highway that passes through Columbus. It was a short hop to the target field (a fly-in, in Columbus?) which I missed to the right. Janine, flying "Venus" launched to my right, and missed it to the left!

No worries, we had lots of fuel, and lots of morning left, so we flew on over a big school complex (Central School. It's on the edge of town. Huh?). Flying out of town to the southwest (I'd never flown that direction before in Columbus) I saw several balloonists ahead of me in good landing sites. Steve Libel had a nice big field, and I thought about landing by him (he has a big tarp), but when I climbed to fly over power lines, I got too sharp a right turn to get there, then I saw Tony Goodnow had landed next to a gravel road. Because he was packing up there, I knew there were no power lines, and it would be a great place to pack up.

I planned my approach, staying low over trees until I could drop in just over the road. This week, I was able to clear the barbed wire fence that was in my path, and landed just in the field on the other side. Crew member Ben Crawford was there to jump on the basket, making the landing very smooth. We carried the balloon over the fence, to the other side of the road, and packed up nice and dry. It was only a 30 minute flight, but Keith (my passenger) and I had a nice ride!

After the parade, we all napped then went out to see that it was too windy to fly Saturday night. My hosts, the Shumakes, then had a nice party at their house.

Sunday morning, we got up and went tot he Pilot's briefing, but the winds were too quick for a good flight. It might have been ok if the ground had been dry, but a high wind splash and stick is not a good landing option. So home to pack up, then off to Josie's for a meal I look forward to all year.

Many thanks to Darrel and Marylin, Carl and Pam, Ben and Mo, Marty and Dana, and John and Willa. They always make Columbus a fun event!
my best crew members, the Redburns, everyone's friends, the Rays, and Ben and Mo

Mountain Home, AR: Not Much Room for Flying!

Not much room, but pretty views from the short flight I made!

Mountain Home is home to a satellite campus of Arkansas State University, and a rapidly growing campus at that. All new facilities, many under construction, and more planned for construction, make this a lovely spot! The University was wrapping up a fundraising campaign and wanted a special event to celebrate their success. A balloon festival was the way to go.

They put invitations out, and 7 pilots responded favorably (not bad for a first year), so an event was born! Mark, the balloonmeister, got to Mountain Home on Thursday and hoped to fly a couple times before everyone else arrived. It was not to be, though, as the winds prevented his flights.

Friday evening was to be a crew instruction clinic, and a fun flight from the field. High winds prevented this, too, so the pilots did what pilots do when we aren't flying; we ate! After a lousy night's sleep (too excited about flying Saturday) I headed to campus, and met my sponsor and crew. The sponsor was Carter's Jewell Chest. T.C. Carter, his son, Chris, and his fixed-wing flight instructor Caura (sp?) were to crew. Since this was a fly-in task, we checked winds, and headed out to find a launch site. T.C. knew just the place, and was able to sweet talk the landowner into allowing us to launch from his pasture (the cows were way on the other side, "We won't scare them" we promised!)

Caura drew the short straw and had to fly with me. We launched, and right away found a wind to take us right toward the target. I was headed a little right of the "X" and I knew if I descended at just the right time, I could get a left turn and fly right over the target. I also knew that I would be too anxious to find that left turn, and I'd miss the target to the left. That's exactly what happened, and I dropped my marker about 135 yards from the mark.

We then flew on to find a landing site. The winds were quick, and there's not much space once you leave Mountain Home, so we landed pretty soon after the target field. On approach, I got a little behind on my burns and was headed right for a fence. I stayed high enough so that we only clipped the fence, but in doing so, I got the balloon lighter than I wanted, so I was in a sharp ascent, over the field I wanted to land in. I vented hard, and had an ugly landing, with three big bounces. Caura, an aviator, knew that any landing you walk away from is a good one, and if you can reuse the equipment, it's a great one! It wasn't my greatest landing, but no injuries to person or balloon, so I can't complain. It was a short flight (only 20 minutes) and it covered 6 miles! It was pretty quick!

We landed in a nice spot, sharing it with Gary Odom, a really nice pilot from Louisiana. Gary had a large crew, some of whom helped me pack up. We then shared the traditional Balloonists' Prayer with his group, and headed back for refueling.

I spent Saturday resting and geocaching before returning to the college for dinner and the glow. Lots of folks turned out to see the balloons, and enjoy a very nice evening. Everyone was very friendly. Lots of folks took lots of pictures. I found some good ones on my sponsor's FaceBook page, at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=115217&id=135763908570&ref=mf.

Sunday morning was too windy to fly, so we packed up and headed for home. Before leaving, I dropped in at Mel's Diner (didn't see Alice, Vera, or Flo) to visit with Gary and his crew, then I headed to the airport to see T.C.'s new airplane. Pretty sweet!

Thanks to all the folks in Mountain Home for putting on a really fun event!