Nice Flight Last Night

Since Hurricane Ike moved through, Little Rock's weather has been GREAT! Yesterday's forecast was for winds to be 7 knots out of the NE, dropping to 3 knots, so I lined up a flight with my friend David Hoover. David's friend Alex served as crew and chase driver, and once everyone was in the truck, we headed north to Maumelle, AR. A nice big launch field was a good thing, as the wind kicked up during our inflation. Though the balloon rocked and rolled a bit when we were standing it up, the launch was pretty smooth.


We headed mostly south, over Maumelle Country Club, and a very nice subdivision, then out over the Arkansas River. We dipped down for a splash and dash (or dunk and dash, I got my ankles wet!) and then floated over the river for a while. The winds over the river were pretty light, allowing us to enjoy the scenery before lifting higher and leaving the water.

We flew over some cattle farms and some horse farms, then into a nice landing in a nice grassy field surrounded by some small homes. Packup was a breeze, and I can't wait to get back in the air!