Arkansas State Championships

Jill and I had so much fun at Harrison last year, that we were really looking forward to the 2010 event. Unfortunately, Jill had a big training the next week, and had an insane amount of work to finish before Tuesday, so I was sent off to North Arkansas by myself.

I arrived in time to check into the hotel and head to the field for the cookout and pilot briefing, which was followed by a glow. Due to the amount of rain they've had in Harrison lately, the events were moved to various places, although the target locations, including the pole for the pole grab were the same.

We glowed Friday night in breezy conditions, but my capable crew (Emily, who helped last year, Twilia, a friend and co-worker of Emily's, and Charity, a newcomer) and I assembled and inflated the balloon. A few young men joined us, and the glow went very nicely.

I woke up early, Saturday morning, thinking how nice the pitter patter of raindrops sounded on the hotel roof. Then I remembered that I had hoped to fly soon, and knew that I wouldn't get to do that. So, I set the alarm for just before the pilot briefing, because I knew that appearances at those meetings are mandatory, even if flying is definitely not going to happen.

I spent the day hanging out with the Lawsons and the Bolte clan, looking around downtown Harrison. We had a great morning, went to lunch, then everyone returned to their rooms for naps.

Soon, it was time for the pilots to meet in preparation for the evening flight. It was a Hare and Hound event, and I was asked to fly the camera man for Exploring Arkansas. We had a good flight, but I was the last balloon off the field, so when the low left turn went away near the end of my flight, it became clear that we weren't going to make it close enough to score on the target. Oh well, at least I'll be on TV.

Sunday morning, the tasks were called and the pilots went out looking for the best launch sites. I followed Jim and Alan and we ended up at the home of one of Alan's friends. It turned out the winds were so good for flying that any spot was the perfect spot. Through the entire flight, there was a 90 degree right turn down low. Everyone saw the pole and the targets. It was terrific! I wasn't patient enough to get in the right position before I descended for that turn, and I missed the targets by about 300 feet.

Twilia was with me. It was her first flight in ANY kind of aircraft! It was a beautiful flight, and we had a terrific landing on the launch site from the night before. Does that count as a round trip? Probably not. We carried the balloon to the parking lot across the street where we packed up clean and dry.

A nice breakfast and a drive home for a little rest and a little work. What a nice weekend! I can't wait until next year!

Lots of Ballooning, Not much Posting

Well, it's been a good summer for flying. In August, a colleague (Ira Reasons) was coming to town with his family. I was thinking about flying before work that morning, so I told Ira that if his family was in town, they should come out to see the balloon. They drove to town the night before, just to come out to watch me launch.

I was a bit short on crew, and since Ira and the kids were there, and there was almost no wind, we decided not to free fly, but to tether instead. Ira, his wife, and all the kids got to go up in the air with me. Mike McKenna was there, and he took a few trips up and down with me, getting a little time on the burner himself. This was lots of fun, and it gave me a new perspective on tethering: When there's no pressure to do it, when I tether for a group of friends, just for fun, and when the weather's perfect, it can be kind of fun!

The next week, Mike's dad was in town, so we got up on Saturday morning and went to fly. Jill and Mike crewed, and Mike's dad, Tom, flew with me. We launched from a church near our home, and flew northeast. It was a typical morning flight, with slow winds on the surface and faster winds a little higher. The low winds' direction was to the left of the winds aloft.

We flew near the Air Force Base, then over Jacksonville. It was still early in the flight, so I ignored some potential landing sites in Jacksonville. We were 45 minutes into the flight when we started over the Holland Bottoms Wildlife Management Area; a big wooded area. Tom looked at me, obviously a little nervous about our ability to land when all we could see were trees, and asked, "So, what's the plan? Where will we land?"

I did have a plan, and it worked perfectly. We ascended into the winds that were moving at 20 kts, we cleared all those trees, and landed nicely in a big field. The owners of the house next to the field gave us permission to pack up in their nice grass backyard.

It was a nice flight on a beautiful morning.

Then, over Labor Day weekend, my sister, and my niece, Rebekah came to visit. Rebekah had recently celebrated her 7th birthday, and we were going to have a party. I wanted to show her our balloon so we decided to have the party at the Y, which has a big field. Since we were having a party with a big balloon, we invited several friends with kids to come, too.

We took a cake, lots of hot dogs, chips, and the grill, and had a great time. Paul Henry and David Simpson helped with setup and packup of the balloon. It wasn't as calm as the tether for the Reasons a month earlier, but with a 3 point hookup, it worked great.

The kids enjoyed riding in the balloon and running around, and playing on the Y's play structure. The adults enjoyed riding in the balloon and visiting. Thanks to all who took part!