Well, the weather was good, our friends Alex and Sandy were free, so we decided to brave the "cold" (25 degrees) brought on by the Polar High sitting over the entire Midwest, and go out for a flight. Jill and I picked up Sandy and Alex at 6:15, and we headed north to Vilonia, Arkansas. Flying there is nice, because there aren't many obstacles, and lots of places to make practice landings.We launched from the school that's west of Vilonia, and didn't really know where we would go. The forecasts all said the winds were light and variable. That was exactly right. A pibal before launch went straight up, making small wiggles one way or the other. So we were really in a "no wind situation."
Once we were in the air we tracked slowly west (didn't even get past Jill's footprints in the dew where she had been at the end of the crown line), then east, over the school (took about 5 minutes to get over the school). We landed on the playground, where Jill took some pictures before we went back up. This time, I decided to climb a bit higher to see if I could get any wind.At about 500 feet, light winds carried us northwest. We flew (still slowly) in that direction, toward a cattle operation next to a big, clean hay field. Even though we hadn't been in the air very long, I could see there weren't many options beyond that field, so I made an approach and a very gentle landing. I called the chase crew, and told them where we were, then I practiced my precision flying by lifting off, and staying just a few inches above the ground. I flew across the field like that for a few minutes, then popped up, and came back down for another soft landing.
Once our crew got close, they couldn't find anyone to ask for permission to come into the nice clean hay field for a good pack up, so we carried the balloon into the cow pasture next door, where we did find a landowner home who said it was ok to pack up there. Fortunately, all the cow pies were frozen solid, so we deflated and packed up quickly, before the thaw came.
A nice flight on a crisp, pretty morning! Thanks to the Wellses and to Jill!
