This morning was a nice one for a flight, so Jill, Mike, Cynthia, and I left at 5:30 to go to Vilonia. We set up at the normal launch site. Cynthia and Mike have learned the process of assembling the balloon very well, so it was a very smooth inflation. Soon, Cynthia (it was her turn) and I hit the sky.
Cynthia is certified to fly lots of winged aircraft, so as we flew, she noticed several nice landing spots. She explained that when she trained in single engine aircraft, she was taught to always look for places to set down in the event of an engine loss.
Just north of Vilonia are three ridges that run east and west. It wasn't long before it was clear that our path would take us over them. I hadn't ever cleared those ridges before, but I had studied the land to their north on Google Earth, so I was pretty certain that we'd have good landing options there. Once we could see beyond the last ridge, I spotted a field full of hay bales. Surrounding that field were several other fields that looked like good landing sites, but the field with hay bales was my first choice.
We were headed a little to the west of my preferred field, so I climbed a bit to catch a right. Soon, I was right on course to land in the hay field. As we made our approach, the winds slowed. We could see that the gates to the field were open. This was going to be easy!
A gentle approach, and a soft landing made for a perfect ending to a very nice flight. I look forward to more flights with Mike and Cynthia, as I think they may pursue their ideas of becoming balloon pilots themselves.
