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!