So much time off and not a lot of resting.

I've had time off and for good reasons and it all went well and I am happy I got to do what I did but I need a vacation. I wonder if I could do a real vacation. Probably not. Maybe if I could just not have to worry over things it would make it better. Everyone has this problem to some degree but I have a fourth-degree black belt in it. HIYA!

But I digress.. regress... fall on the floor and whine!

The above photograph... a Lindstrand envelope crown ring. Beautiful!!!!

When they make a balloon the really make it. I love the burnished bronzeish color. I pretty much made poor Anthony stand there and hold it just so so I could get this shot.

The crown ring sits right at the top of a hot air balloon envelope and those straps, or what we call load tapes are to hold the envelope together. There are verticles ( which are sewed to this ring ) and horizontals. The stitching has to be just so and it is FAA certified.

Now that went first but let me back up and lead you forward in the right order.

Saturday my Son Mo received his Commercial rating for Hot Air Balloons with an onboard heater. No easy feat! So you are aware, for those who don't know, A hot air balloon is a real aircraft. It has to follow all the regulations and rules a fixed-wing aircraft does under it type HABwah. So when you want to become a Private or Commercial Pilot you have to do all the classwork, the flight hours, the training flights, the solos, the testing, the orals, then after all that you have to do a flight with an examiner. It's not easy to get either rating but if you study you can do it. He did it.

All I had to do was fret and worry... and give him my shoes off my feet in the end.

Here are a few shots I have. I was kinda working so didn't have the camera out until he took off.

Lofting up into traffic. We made sure his airspace was clear to take off. It was a beautiful day.

Up and over and North.

Out past a road called Northern.. because...well you get it... and into ground track mode and he at this time had to teach his examiner how to land on the whisper burner... ask me what that is later.

Landed on a road. Some conversation while everything stopped jiggling about.

The examiner, Beth will put you at ease nicely. She is an impressive person. Mo is smiling a lot and he still didn't know if he passed or not.

Down comes the envelope and it wanted to go Northish and we wanted it Eastish.. it went Northeastish. A big sail. Just let it lay down and then pack it up. No problem.

Sometime after this Beth let us know he passed..which was wonderful. Now he will be training new people who want to become private or commercial pilots.. and I hope to be one of them. I have a lot of bad habits though.

I had to give Mo my shoes as his were soaking wet from his initiation dousing and he had to go get refueled for Sundays Top Gun competition. I just walked around the desert in my socks for an hour. No problem..ok.. the little rocks were sharp.

Sunday was another very early morning. Competition... Top Gun competition is quite different than regular flying for fun. Rules.. lots and lots of rules...

The process for this morning was a watership down.. and yes.. it had to be explained to me too. Starting target had a hare balloon at it. The hare balloons launches and flys for 15 to 20 minutes then lands and lays out a target... then flys off again and lays out another target after another 15 or 20 minutes in the air. The competitors have to launch after the hare takes off.. get to that initial launch target then onto the others and I think there was another somewhere in there with trackers... I'm forgetting now.

Sadly it never happened. The hare balloon, which had just been purchased was getting knocked about a lot on hot inflation and the direction and speed caused everything to be canceled. The pilot did a good job on inflating it and not burning it but it was just too crazy.

Here are a few shots of that...


Basket laid just off the sidewalk. Chase vehicle in the parking lot. Cold inflating going on. The tracks in the grass were made by some ass the night before.

A slight dish on the right side was an indicator of a gusty wind to come.

Putting the heat to it. A good tie off set to the back of the truck and crew ready to put weight on the basket to hold her from slipping into the air too soon.

Rocking as she comes up. Not a lot of fun but done well.

Passengers in but being rolled back and forth and that about called it there.

One of the owners takes the position of rest and also stopping any more air getting in the envelope as she exhausts the hot air out the top.

And her other owner is doing the knee squeeze down the envelope. Makes for some green knee stains and a lot of talking... LOL... No. it's one way to get the air out fast. It's okay on grass but I don't do it because we normally land on rock or gravel and that would be bad.,

 A new to them balloon with no name picked out yet. From what I heard of names it should go along with her colors nicely.

Congratulations guys!

After that, it was back home and try to do more cleaning inside as the outside temp was floating around 100 degrees. Making that harder was being so tired.

Something got done. If it would just cool down a bit I could get more done..but so far no luck there.

So a good weekend for the most part but a very tiring one all over.

Still working on a switch of the blog site to my own website and clean it up a bit in the subject matter.

Time to post this...


Have a great week and Friday will be here before you know it. For those of you that don't go to a fixed job...  Harder for you and I don't envy you much.

Shoop! Missed it.

What is the saying.. for the loss of your shoe your foot hurts, for the loss of your foot you cant walk... yada yada yada..

Back to front again...

So for the want to verify the integrity of my balloon envelope and to run a bunch of cameras in what was a sucker hole day for winds I stayed on the ground.

and I missed a chance to fly.

Okay, so there were some very reasonable reasons... I was planning flying a very lightweight balloon that acts quite differently with excessive winds. Especially on inflation. I would have to have gotten the balloon standing up and launched quickly. I had no desire to sit high in the air for a long time to get to where I would need to be to land as safely and gently as I wanted. I wanted to take the time to check the balloon out to make sure she was not hiding any unknown damage.

So I get to punch myself up a bit on that.

That was Sunday morning.

It was supposed to be 3mph going Southwest. What we got was gusts from zero to seven-ish on the ground, a slightly faster layer just above and a calm layer up around five hundred feet then another speedy wind above that going Northish.

Quite doable if all you wanted to do was go fly and muddle around at altitude.

I wanted something different.

And there you go.

So now I have to figure out a time to pull out and inflate the envelope where I can look it over and then if possible fly or fly another day after I check her out.

I did get some pictures...

We were almost the first there, Picked a nice spot and watched everyone else struggle with their inflations and crazy launches. We helped everyone around us get in the air. Patturns In Czech just got to sit there. Small and lonely.

Half an envelope. Even standing up the winds were pushing the balloon into a sail. That's how I got two melted panels the weekend before.

Once off the ground, they all looked nice as they climbed for some calmer air. They did and some had wonderful landings and one of our own soloing even got back to the same field he launched from.

Watching the spillover clouds on the mountains.

We almost did it when it calmed down for a longer than the normal seven minutes but then it got windy-er. More ER.

 So we bagged it, packed up and went for bagels.

Yesterday we got Mo in the air for a training flight. A nice inflation day but a crazy quick wind up high going Northeast! His landing was picture perfect(ish) as he landed somewhat short of the road but better than hitting a wall or fence.

Here are some shots of that day...

Shawn with Bob I think having a bit of fun cutting across the Sandias looking for a good place to set down. They did nicely.

Mo, coming into his final just South of a nice road. It had houses on the other side with walls and fences. Alan is trying to reel him in. Didn't work.

They walked him up the hill and onto the road and laid it down there. Lots of sticky bushes on the left side I had to roll the fabric off so it didn't get to poking holes through.

A pre-landing landing after a fast descent test. Mojo glows nicely is the crappy light.

A good day for them.

Some of the outtakes I took while wandering around because it's not always all about hot air balloons...

I loved the gates and the walls. The colors and the textures were so very nice. Even the patina on the gates themselves was excellent.

Super great detail on this feather. Only took five shots to get the focus right.

Another fun one for the Sony RX10V4 to deal with. Which flower is in focus. It was nice and easy to select that very tiny flower out and lock onto it then recompose.

We call this the snake house as it is one writhing tube with little adits off it and a garage. So very weird. I mean.. if it was me wanting to waste so much money making such a strange abode I would have hidden the square garage somewhere and not have it just this chunk of gray and then I would also not have had it be so close to the neighbors who have it as a lovely view out their windows from ten feet away. Hay.. takes many crazy people to make things interesting.. or chaotic.. whichever.

Someone give me a grant. I have a very good idea for a home that would enhance and blend into this beautiful landscape.

"shrugs"

I've worked on getting my stereo back to operation. I will not bore you with the details as I have already driven every one of my friends to distraction with it...ad nauseam.

I need some shelf supports and some speakers. Both I plan to rectify this week.

Then it's back to the main list of things needing doing.

Why is the stereo so important... because its something I can deal with and make right.

Much better than punching walls. Cathartic?

*

Lastly.. cause I have always wanted to run with this subject... what is correct etiquette for
( uncontrolled ) launch sites.

Today it was awesome as everyone to line up with space between each vehicle and enough space to inflate with some closeness but not on top of each other... I try to respect peoples space.. but some people are totally clueless and will park right behind or directly next to you and start setting up.. who does that??? How rude!!

Just terrible!!! Just kidding on the picture but it was perfect for my illustration of... WTH. Thoughts?

My repairs. I do not like that that happened. I would rather it didn't and I would have loved to just replace both whole panels but you do what needs doing. Due to the nature of the fabric of the balloon and at the throat and how fragile it is to heat it's bound to happen in high wind inflations... so I am avoiding high wind inflations from now on!    ... with this envelope...

Double sigh.

Now a full week of work and much to do or deal with. See, I have a tower next to my office I want down. Why you ask? Because it's not needed and it needs obstruction lights to have up. There is no safe way to replace the lights now. There is also no reason for that tall a tower. The rule for safety is. Remove the danger. So its gotta go. This week we will ( we..hah! Il be on the ground while the guys deal with it because I have not been to refresher training yet ) remove the climb assist device and remove the top segment then drop down and remove the guy wires and drop that segment then drop down and remove the third and last segment. That will leave just a short tower to support the wind system that is needed. 

That's one thing this week to deal with...

Its like juggling cats and somewhere in between they change them to water buffalo.

Fun huh!

Hope you all have as much fun this week too!!

Patturns Of Highperactivity: Dragonfly Daze 2019

Patturns Of Highperactivity: Dragonfly Daze 2019: It might be dry in the desert but the sun sure can fry your brain. Especially days like today when it's near 100 and too much moisture i...

Dragonfly Daze 2019

It might be dry in the desert but the sun sure can fry your brain. Especially days like today when it's near 100 and too much moisture in the air. When the humidity is low it's lovely. Now.. not so much.

Ballooning this weekend.. nada!

it was a down weekend to get stuff done around the homestead.

I got a lot done! I have a lot left to do.

The highpoint was replacing my cage on my inflation flan. pictures below.

Beside that was pond cleaning, muck moving, week relocation, and box processing.

To do one project you first have to do another project to do another project to get to the initial thing you wanted to be done. A very good person with works calls it "knock back". I call it Stacking.

For me, it was.. Move stuff out of the house to declutter, To do that there had to be space in the garage for that stuff so I had to clear space in the shed for that stuff from the garage I wanted to keep.

See...

It was a trap!

I did end up clearing the shed which enabled me to clear part of the garage which allowed me to move unneeded things from the house. Partially.

I had to stop the process in the garage and shed because it was too hot and I didn't want to spend the night in the hospital.

So I have some stuff to finish but it was a very good start and I feel happy for the little ticks I can scratch off on my list.

it's a long list.

Here are the shots of the fan process....

This isn't exciting stuff even for balloonists.. but it's a good way to be sure of your equipment... and fans are the most dangerous part of our gear.


Fan blade itself is in good shape. some chew marks along the edge but that's normal. Composite blade.

That cage though.. whew eeee.... Old welds that broke.

Missing stringers is not good.

Then we have those that break as soon as you touch them. This won't do! If a fan blade shatters this cage may not capture all those shards. Off it goes!

Four main bolts removed. Checked for damage or stripping threads. Clean! Now to get that main Allen wrench nut behind the blade.

It was tight but not too tight and off it came. Hub and plate look good. Some discoloration but solid.

Cage is held to the frame by six nuts and bolts and metal strips. Lining it up is going to be fun!

Off and cleaned up a bit. That's a smoke smudge on the right. It will be back that way the next time I run it so I didn't even clean it off.

Back cage on and aligned top and bottom and sides.

Only had to adjust it twice. See that it's not straight up and down. that's due to the six retaining nuts and metal strips.

I had planned to attach the front cage with pipe clamps but this cage clipped together easy as pie so I didn't need them. I did add one at the top just in case. Never can have too many levels of safety. Ready to go the next flight.

I also looked at how my envelope bags were set and they were always in the way across the trailer. If I moved my AERCO built tarp bag to the corner and then have Patturns Highperactive in her dry bag after and then Patturns In Czech after... the basket will fit right behind her and you can get to everything. There shouldn't be a fuel spill as the fan is locked down with an oversized strap to the floor but the dry bags that the envelopes are in will protect them in case of that.

See. nice and roomy and space for my Lindstrand basket on the left. The black bed liner makes it easier to slide off the trailer. I can get my basket out of my trailer by myself if I ever had to. I even have a padded rail down low for the wicker to rest against when she is strapped in. Take care of your equipment and it will take care of you!

Now to get the basket back in the trailer! We have a plan to do that easy but not today.. too hot don't you know.

While I was working on the above ground pond I spotted a big orange dragonfly. He landed on a piece of bamboo and I grabbed the phone camera to get some pictures. They were crap. There was too much of a breeze to keep it in focus so I got the Sony out and I got some very close up shots.

His head was a might bit farther away than the center of his body so it's slightly out of focus. The wings are amazing!

Backing off a bit.

So many little fish in the in-ground pond. I have to have someone come in and capture them all and move them to the above ground pond. Lots of snails too.

A productive but very tiring weekend.

Hope you enjoyed yours as much as I enjoyed mine.

This 4th of July my Son is flying and the following Saturday I plan on getting In Czech out to check her repairs and get some air above the Earth again!. Pictures maybe.

Videos I have been too busy to sit down and do yet.

Skipping through the boring parts.

Really there hasn't been many... but I missed last weekend because I was so tired from the trip to Angel Fire and with the bug I caught just had no strength to deal with it. Not much better but fighting it. Also 8500 feet... no air...no air!!

Angel Fire as fun. Three days of flying which was really two due to a miscalculation and funny winds. Better safe than sorry.

Great sponsors and fun crowd of people. We thought this might be our last time going up but that got thrown out right away.

Here are some shots of it with explanations...

 The little daisies I got to lay down in were very nice. Granted I had to be ferried over there.

Serious birds. All off to the local watering hole.

Mo and Alan striking poses by accident while we wait for our Sponsors to arrive.

Police presence for traffic control.

Morning brief. Lots and lots of people.

More little yellow flowers and the side of my foot.

The static display on day 1 as it was too frisky in the wind department to fly.

Lots of weight on the edge of the basket.

People walked up the taxiway and around the trucks and in the grass. All good sports.

Day 2 and Mo was off first. He just had to.

I'm off with my passengers and family and crew below shooting pictures.

Burning Desire lifts over Black Magic Woman. Everyone going their own special way.

The farthest South balloon. I never could find a wind going that way. Always zig-zagging about then stopping me dead in the sky,.

My passengers enjoying the view though Grandma didn't want to lift the granddaughter up so much. Kids are heavy!

Traffic overhead. Nothing very close though.

A view of Eagle Nest Lake and the fog.

811 call before you dig balloon. Nice view North West.

A broad view. Since everyone went every which way getting a pack shot was difficult if not impossible but this shot just gave me a nice wedge of balloons.

Kisses of Fire dances up close for this picture with the lake behind.

Packing up Mojo in a field on the Girl Scout Ranch. Watch the horse apples!

Burning Desire was closer to those apples. I watched where every foot went.

It was a good time and the drive back was quiet and uneventful.

This weekend we had a framily reunion fam flight. Winds were squirrely and frustrating but with a ton of help, I got off the ground. unknown to me I had torched two spots of my envelope down low to the throat due to the way the wind shifted. That will be fixed this week. We got off and had a fast straight line flight North East then as we were getting ready to drop in and land on a nice green field the winds changed and corkscrewed us to the East then South East then South .. but we came in over some houses and landed in this nice cup of space that the wind was hidden from. Stand up and soft landing.

Here are some shots.


It was very hazy from the fires in Arizona. Made the sunrise special.

Lofting over this balloon. Some false lift but with the Lindstrand burners easily overflown with a squeeze on the burner.

Everyone else is trying to get up and off. Mo helped everyone else out and ended up not being able to fly due to the frisky winds after we left.

Still very hazy. Looking at 11 mph straight North East. Yay! Even though it's not the greatest composition for a shot I liked it because you can see the atmosphere we were cutting through.

Looking back at the struggle!

A fun time but busy flying. It's more fun when you can relax a bit and ground track and play chase the wildlife about. This was all processing. To get to point B you must do the next set of programs...

Today we did day two but the winds that were supposed to be nicer we nothing of the kind. Only one of the balloons in our flight flew and that was a quick hop and an Adams Pop Top drop.

This is a ride balloon. There are four passengers in there I think. One of them ( Girl in tan hat ) does not look really happy.

A meeting of the minds! Its what we do. Stand in the middle of dirt fields and decide who is silly enough to temp the winds. We said no.

Pibal by the moon. Moon going West and pibal going East.

We moved West and North to get some space to do a quick flight. Robert figured he could get up then down and fly low and pop her around where we were first. It almost worked.

Inflations are fun with a breeze pushing your side in. Good control on the throat lines helps out a lot.

Just a little extra on the side of the basket to keep it from running to the end of its tether.

Off they went. Happy people in that basket.

Looking down the valley and Shawn got in the air. From reports, he landed way South of town.

The top popped right in front of me as they got to the road. Nice job. A load of laughs from the basket and some juggling on who needed to exit first.

Basket out in the bushes. Envelope just everywhere.

Winds picking up much more.

The nice thing with loads of crew. It's so much easier to pack up. They could have walked the envelope out and not had one-bit touch the ground.

The basket retrieval was made by putting the truck in four-wheel drive and backing to it. It was still heavy with fuel but that liftgate came in real handy for that. I stayed out of the way.

Packing the envelope back up until the next time.. and hopefully nicer winds.

A really fun time with a lot of fun people.

When I got home we unloaded my basket so I could rearrange my envelopes so they can go to get repairs done without the basket being in the way. I also had to bolt down my carb on my fan. That meant removing the fan cage front.. yeah.. fun.. not. Once that was off I had to wiggle the socket into where the bolt was then tightened them both up... dropping the socket five or six times... but it got done.  Putting the cage front back on was a load of fun and I knew I would catch a finger somewhere but didn't and it did go back on. Sadly its close time for a new cage. It's pretty old and gone through three or four different balloons.

A busy couple of weeks.

A few interesting web sites I ran across since I have the time...

Mummy brown is really mummy!

https://www.messynessychic.com/2019/06/20/night-of-the-living-painting/

Cement and its uses. Ahead of his time...

https://www.amusingplanet.com/2019/06/thomas-edisons-forgotten-passion.html

And lastly the pied piper... still no clarity on that ...

https://folklorethursday.com/folktales/a-pied-piper-mystery/

Now to brace for the remainder of the day...