A Few Flights in August and September

It didn't feel like I flew very much at the end of the summer, but looking back at the logbook, I was able to get some nice flights in! I was just too busy to write about the flights, so today, I'll try to catch up a bit.

In August, I was able to fly with my friend, Jerry. He was on the committee that hired me for my present job, so I wanted to get him in the air as a "thank you." It happened that we flew during fair week, and we were able to fly right by the fairgrounds, for a terrific view of the carnival. We had all the Trimbles crew for us, with Bryan and Brad taking the lead. We flew to the southwest of town, where I made an approach on a gravel driveway between a corn field and a bean field. Bryan and Brad were there to catch us for a great landing!

In September, Jill, Bryan and I went out to fly with my neighbor Joann. Her husband, Marty came along to help. The forecast was for calming winds as the evening went on. The forecast lied! The winds were light at the beginning of the flight, but they gathered as Joann and I flew north from Austin. We just kept going faster and faster, and there were no good landing sites for a long landing. As we flew north, we came to a road bordered by crops. With the fast wind, we were able to make a lay-down landing keeping the basket out of the fields. Not the most fun landing, but a safe one!

My last September flight for the year came on a beautiful Sunday morning. Bryan flew with me with Brayden and Brad driving chase. We launched from a field north of Perkins in Austin. We flew south over town, with Bryan manning the burner. He did a great job keeping the balloon level and high over town while I took pictures of the fall foliage. Austin looked fantastic in full color. Once we were clear of town, we descended and turned to the southwest. All the crops were out of the fields, which gave us TONS of opportunities for landing. I practiced landing the balloon a few times, making sure to keep my currency up. We chose a field to land on that was adjacent to a mowed lawn and barn. A quick packup, with the help of a passerby, and we were on our way back to town to enjoy the last day of Sepember.

Next up: Jill and Tedd's Excellent Annual Trek to Columbus, KS!

Caledonia? Caledonia? What Makes Your Big Head So Hard?

MOP!

I love you! Love you just the same!

(My apologies to the late Louis Jordan)

Had a great time in Caledonia, Minnesota last weekend! Bryan and Brad Trimble joined me, and we left Austin at about 8:30 to head east for a weekend of ballooning and meeting new friends.

Caledonia is a town of about 3,000 people in Southeast Minnesota. It's surrounded by bluffs and valleys and lots of livestock. For several years, balloonists have gathered there the first weekend of December in hopes of flying and enjoying the local hospitality. Normally, they only enjoy the hospitality as favorable winds are elusive this time of year (although the friendliness is abundant!)

This year proved to be an anomaly (with respect to the winds), and Saturday allowed two very nice flights. Saturday morning, I was accompanied by the brother of my sponsor (and propane provider) Hokah Co-Op, and we flew to the southwest of town. I attempted to fly low when I could, but had to stay up over lots of cattle and other livestock farms. We landed in a valley, and after I called our crew on the phone (cold weather kills walkie-talkie batteries), they were able to find us for a nice clean road packup.

Bryan and Brad and I enjoyed breakfast with Santa, a Lion's club fundraiser, then went back to our host family's house to relax and warm the tanks for an afternoon flight.

We're nearing the solstice, so afternoon flights come early! Inflation was scheduled for 2:30, and the weather looked good. A storm was forecast for later in the evening, and the pilots decided that short flights would be judicious.

We started inflating, and about the time the first balloon "stood up," a gust of wind hit the field. We turned off our fan and let the envelope settle while the wind calmed down. We didn't have to wait long, and the fan was soon running again. Once the balloon was standing, I had Denny Jorgerson climb in the basket for our flight. Denny and Janel were our hosts. We really enjoyed our weekend with them, and it was fun to fly with Denny.

 We had a fun flight playing "leapfrog" with Ed Chapman's balloon as we made our way south from Caledonia. All was going well, and I found a property with great alternatives for landing, so I set down. The crew wasn't nearby, yet, and the winds were blowing us around a bit (we were on a bit of a hill), so I deflated the balloon and we laid down there.

When the crew arrived, they got permission to pack up our balloon from the landowner, but reported that she might be a bit unbalanced. She complained that the balloons were part of a plot by Syrians to spread chemical weapons on her. It got worse.

We packed the balloon and as we were loading the basket in the trailer, someone said, "Hurry up! Here she comes!" We loaded the basket, closed the trailer, and sure enough, here came the woman who owned the property, asking for the names of the people who rode in the balloon. I approached her and discussed our presence on her land.

In addition to her concern about the Syrian chemical warfare plot, she was upset because:

• An eagle spent quite a bit of time in the big evergreen tree by her house last summer. As a result, she was unable to let her little dog outside. Because the eagle had "a white tail and a white head" the government prohibits her from shooting said eagle.
• The grandfather of the balloon event organizer had nefariously stolen the county snow plow operator's job from the previous snow plow operator. When the crazy landowner took a petition to one of the county officials to protest, the official threw the petition aside and refused to read it.
• There are hog farms nearby and the effluent might affect her land/air/water.

She also suggested that all ballooning activities should take place in Mexico, then she opined that they probably didn't want hot air balloons there. She was surprised when I said they have balloon events in Mexico and that most Mexican landowners are just as happy to have an unexpected hot air balloon land on their property as most landowners in the U.S., which is to say quite happy!

I listened to the woman for 5 or 10 minutes, apologizing when I could get a word in, for my imposition. She seemed to smile more when we neared the end of our conversation than she did at the beginning of it, but when we offered to give her a ride from her field back to her house, she declined, saying that she hoped she had a heart attack while she walked to her home, and that her children would then sue us!

So, we left our landing spot, drove back to the launch site for fuel, and returned to the Torgersons' house where Janel fed us sandwiches and chili. We enjoyed visiting with them and relaxing until it was time to go to the wine tasting and silent auction. Caledonia's community center is a beautiful building that hosts all kinds of parties and receptions for members of the community, and Saturday, it played host to the fundraiser for the balloon event. Wine and beer samples were served, and lots of neat items were available during a silent auction. I was unsuccessful in bidding on a few items, but I sure had fun talking to other pilots and members of the community.

We knew that Sunday morning would be snowy, so we didn't even bother having a pilots' meeting. We just gathered for breakfast and goodbyes. Elsie's restaurant was a super spot for our morning meal, and we left with full stomachs and great memories on our snowy drive home. The roads were a bit slick, so we took our time making our way back to Austin. We made it safely, and in time for the Trimbles to watch the Vikings beat the Bears! The cherry on the top of the weekend was the Packers' victory over the Lions.!

What a weekend!

If I'd Have Known You Were Coming

Well, we're finally through a long, but wonderful series of guests at the "Retreat at Turtle Creek" (or the "Turtle Creek B & B" as Jill likes to call it. "Retreat sounds too much like a psych hospital," she says. "You've met our guests, right?").

Anyway, when Carol and David were visiting from Memphis, the weather was great, so Carol went with me on a flight. The Moseleys have come to a few events where we've had the balloon, but it's always been too windy to bother to open the trailer, so they questioned the veracity of our assertions that a balloon was really in there. Well, week before last Carol and I had a nice flight. David, a Methodist minister, wrote about it. His words are nicer than mine, so here!

Pastor’s Perspective

“The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” John 3:8

Greetings from Austin, Minnesota. My week-long spiritual retreat is going well. I missed being with you all on Sunday morning.

The setting for my retreat has been wonderful. There is a meandering stream that flows nearby. I have seen deer, otter, ducks, turtles, and heard tell of beaver (made me miss Kalee a little.) I have studied, prayed, got some exercise, and slept well. You know, I might be dangerous, or at least a little obnoxious, when I get home.

But it hasn’t been ‘all work and no play’. The couple we are staying with has a hot-air balloon. On Saturday afternoon, Carol got to take a ride in it. While she is not a big fan of ‘floating in space’, in the end, she described the experience as ‘excellent’.

Ballooning is a great parable of life. Jesus likened the Holy Spirit to the wind that ‘blows where it chooses.’ When the balloon lifted off, we thought it would go east. It went north. We expected the flight to last 30 minutes. It lasted almost an hour. A park was chosen for a landing zone. They landed by a big red barn off a country road outside of town. In the process, we met a wonderful lady that thoroughly enjoyed the ‘unexpected visit’, and was waving happily when we departed.

So it is with all who live by the Spirit. We work, we play, we plan..., but most of all, we react. The Spirit is always working ahead of us (we call that Prevenient Grace.) As we move into any moment, we need to be responsive, ready to react to the ‘new thing’ the Spirit is doing.

It can be frustrating. Sometimes, the Spirit’s plan is different than ours. And so, we land in a field north of town instead of the park near home. But in those moments, look for the ‘unexpected neighbor’ that joins us on our adventure and becomes part of the story.

My advice – loosen up a little. Smile more. And look for something unexpected. It may just turn out to be one of the best things you have encountered in a long time.

It’s just a thought.

Bro. David Moseley

An Evening Flight and New Crew

With the taste of Lobster fresh in my mind, I kept studying the weather in hopes of finding a good flying day. Sunday, July 15 looked like it would be a suitable evening for a flight, so I recruited Belita and Dick to crew and Gareth to fly. My new friend Bryan (who is the son of a balloonist) came out to help, too.

We got to the launch site a little early and had to wait a bit for the winds to calm enough to inflate and launch, but the weather turned out nice, and we had an uneventful inflation.

Gareth and I flew north over Riverland College, over Target and the landfill. We kept flying north until we found a nice road we could drop in on. We made an approach to land on the road, and Bryan was right there to catch us. We had only flown about 30 minutes, so I invited Gareth's daughter (and my co-worker) Selena to get in. She climbed on board, Gareth climbed out, and on we flew.

We weren't in the air long before we saw two planes approaching from the north. They split up and each started crop dusting nearby fields. I climbed provide plenty of separation while they sprayed their fields. Once past them, we descended and picked another road on which to land.

Again, Bryan (oh yeah, his brother made it there, too!) was there to catch us, so we put the balloon down on a gravel road between a corn field and a bean field. It was a great flight with new friends in my new home town!

A Flight for Lobster

Last month I saw a good weather day approaching, and I invited my friend (and board chair) Dick Schindler to join me. He said if he were to be involved, he'd have to give the passenger spot to his visiting sister-in-law. I was happy to take her for a flight over Austin, so we planned a morning flight.

Janelle, my passenger, showed up with Dick, Dick's wife (and Janelle's sister) as well as another sister, a niece, and her mother! Lots of crew for an early morning inflation.

We launched from Riverland Community College and flew east over town. When we got to the edge of the city, we dropped down and make a touch and go landing on the runway at Austin Municipal Airport! It was my first runway landing!

Then, we flew on and ultimately landed in a strip of hay running through a cornfield.

Dick offered to help pay for propane, which I refused, so he suggested that Janelle (who lives in Maine) could send some lobsters to thank me and the crew. I couldn't refuse that offer! So Janelle sent enough lobsters for quite a party! Jill and I joined Janelle's sisters and their husbands for a seafood feast. There was no way we could eat all the lobsters she sent, but we enjoyed all we could polish off, and Dick enjoyed the leftovers!

Thanks to everyone who crewed and who helped eat the lobsters, and mostly, thanks to Janelle for so generously shipping them to us!

Too Long Since My Last Post

Well, since I last added to this blog, I've been pretty busy. Not busy ballooning, but busy seeking a new job. I'm happy to report that I've successfully secured a new position, and I have a few balloon activities to report!

In April, shortly after accepting the new job (in Austin, Minnesota, home of Hormel Foods and their most famous product, SPAM!), I awoke early one morning to find a text message from David Hoover asking if I was up for a morning flight. I said, "Sure!" When he asked if I had anyone available to chase the balloon, I said, "Nope!" We went for it anyway.

I drove across Little Rock and picked up David and his balloon. We headed to the Jolly Roger Marina on Lake Maumelle. The weather was great, and with a little help from someone at the marina, we got the balloon in the air easily. We drifted east, back toward town. We hoped we might wind up at Two Rivers Park, but we couldn't get that far north, so we found a great spot by a bank at "The Ranch." We were able to pack up on a street, so the envelope stayed nice and dry.

The best part was the chase crew. Remember, we decided to make this flight at the last minute? We didn't have anyone driving the truck! So, while we packed the balloon, David called a cab. Taxi got there just as we were finished packing the envelope in its bag, I rode back to the truck and came back for David and the Balloon. It was a fun morning! I'm glad we didn't let a little thing like the lack of crew stop us. As they say, without crew, balloon pilots are hitchhikers!

Shortly after that flight, Jill and I began our move to Minnesota. It was a difficult time as during the move, our dog wandered off and was reportedly found by someone (the pink-haired girl) who we think has decided to adopt our Abby. Also, Jill's dad died. We had good times too, as we found a great house and we really like Austin, Minnesota (come visit! You'll like it too!)

Being in Austin, MN, we are much closer to my mom's home town of Two Rivers, Wisconsin, so we were able to go to the airshow in neighboring Manitowoc, something I've had on my list for several years. It was great to visit two of my mom's aunts and to spend time with my cousin Trish and her husband Paul.

Unfortunately, the weather wasn't very cooperative for ballooning. We got to glow on Friday, but all other balloon activities were cancelled due to wind and/or rain. We did enjoy watching the other parts of the air show as well as a very nice lunch at Beernsten's, one of my families favorite places.

Back in Austin, I kept a close eye on the weather forecast, and Thursday gave me a great opportunity to fly the balloon, so I lined up my friends Dick and Belita (I owed them big time for letting Jill and me house sit for them as well as for helping me find my way to Minnesota!) and we planned a flight. Belita has a fixed wing certificate and used to be an avid aviator, so she was very interested in ballooning. It was fun flying with her as she asked lots of well-informed questions, and enjoyed comparing flying in a balloon to flying in a plane.

The winds on the surface were light, although winds aloft were a little stronger. I knew there was a chance for faster winds on landing. It did pick up a bit, so the landing was a little rougher than I like, but it was still a good one (a great one...everybody walked away and we could re-use the aircraft!)

We launched from the Mower County Fairgrounds, and flew to the north for about 45 minutes. As we flew, I worked to familiarize myself with new surroundings. Belita's experience in the local airspace was very valuable, and Dick's knowledge of the roads from his bicycling, roller skiing, and roller blading proved useful on chase!

We had an intermediate landing on a driving range (lots of golf balls on the ground, but nobody up hitting them yet), then flew on. We flew over a race track, but that didn't present much of an opportunity for landing as there were lots of power lines throughout the parking area. Once we were past the racetrack, I spotted a field a few miles ahead that was full of hay bales. I like to land in hay fields because they usually are free from livestock. Also, I can land there without damaging crops, and usually farmers welcome the chase crew. So I targeted that field. I climbed enough that we flew to the north-north-east, lining up my approach. Then, I descended and took a slight turn to the left, heading north-north-west and right into the middle of my targeted field.

A friendly land-owner let us drive right in to pack up and head back to Austin. We enjoyed the traditional toast in the Schindlers' driveway, and I headed off to work. Summer is great! I have enough time to fly the balloon and still get to work. Of course, the late sunrise of winter let's a balloonist sleep in a bit. That's not so bad, either!

Here's to more ballooning in the Northstar State!