A moment while my lap is free. 26 days until....

The 2019 Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta

For ALL Fiesta information go to ... https://balloonfiesta.com/

Less than a month to go until Fiesta starts. Now something to consider. We start one day earlier for the Albuquerque Aloft flight. This is where we visit a local Elementary school and inflate and stand and if possible fly off after educating the kids on ballooning. A lot of school kids don't get the chance to see balloons up close or have a conversation with a Pilot. We go to a school that is so close to the airport that taking off is prohibitive. We would have to have the right winds and also advise the tower of our intentions as we launch. 

It's much easier to stand the balloons up and talk to the kids then deflate, go have breakfast, of which I pay for the crew who show up, and then go refuel and prepare for the first day of Fiesta. 

The kids enjoy it so we enjoy it. 

So many things to do but everything in its time. just can't rush some stuff.

If you are wondering why there wasn't a blog entry last Sunday... well... I didn't have the want to create it. 

Since we are into Fiesta time I figured I would put up something. 

For those visiting Fiesta here are some thoughts on what you should and shouldn't do.

It's from experience.

1. Wear layers and have a backpack to stick the clothes you are going to take off in.

2. Bring sunscreen and sunglasses.

3. Wear comfortable and sturdy shoes.

4. Arrive earlier than you think you should. Lines become unusually long for everything.

5. If you arrive early, get some food and drink and wander the field. There is so much to see.

6. Put all your trash in trash cans that are every 50 yards on the field. 

7. Do not step over or stand on a balloon envelope or rope lines.

8. Do talk to the Pilot and Crew if you want to know something.

9. Stay away from the fan when it's running. It's the most dangerous piece of equipment on the field.

10. Do come up close to the basket and take as many pictures as you want.

11. When standing downwind ( in front of a balloon coming at you ) get out of the way as it will run you over as it cant stop on a dime.

12. Even after the balloons fly off don't leave, visit the vendors because the balloons might fly back.

There are more but that's what I can think of off the top of my head right now.

For the Pilots and families, we are all trying to think of what we need to do to get ready. It is 9 days of flying and that means lots of things get stopped due to time. We make lots of lists. Make lots of decisions.

My direct thoughts right now are...

Do I load my racer balloon on the off chance I can fly her? Temp and passenger is the reason I can't fly her all the time. 

When do I clean the system for the last time before Fiesta?

When do I clean everything else around the house?

When do I buy all the soda, beer, and snacks for the crews?

I have a list to shuffle about.

Some of the things I've taken pictures of over the last few weeks.. or screen captured... with explanations.

 A Lindstrand lightweight basket. 59 lbs. That's close to what my burners weigh. A lot less than my wicker basket weighs. Lightweight means flying cooler and longer. Waiting to see if it's available in the States.

Took off without a hat this day. I have no idea how that happened. Flying over the new Elementary school going in West of Unser.

 A ring of fire for Patturns in Czech ( aka Terpsnickery ) A nifty thing. Also inflating next to my first balloon Kiss A Hoy.

Sony RX10V4 DSLR shots while flying. 

Randone over the edge of the basket shot of the slower people hahaha.

Nice down view of Kiss A Hoy as she leaves the launch field.

Since we are usually twenty or so balloons on fun weekend flying I rarely take a lot of shots as we all spread out. This was a nice day for bunching but not too many balloons.

Sony RX10V4 on the ground shots. More time to frame the shot and focus where I want it.

A very active shot. Background balloon cold to hot inflating. The basket on ground preparing to put burners up and we are standing Kiss A Hoy up at this moment.

Sky koala. Getting aired out pre Fiesta. Some blue skies behind for contrast.

Mojo's Reverse Gravity Machine ( aka YTIVARD ) rides over the tall choya cactus to a soft and gentle landing on the edge of the arroyo.

Stacking up to prepare to lay down in the arroyo. it was very soft sand.

Driving in the arroyo means having a very good four-wheel drive and common sense. Even a regular four-wheel drive can get stuck in this silty soft sand. Great place to land though.

So that was it really. I could go into minor stuff but why?

Next week we will be down another seven days and more things will come up. It's a busy September where its usually pretty quiet.

Get some rest now. Sleep in all you can because I leave at 0500 for the field during Fiesta. If you are driving to public parking on a weekend you ahd better be at the gates by 0500.

Praying for calm winds and cool weather.

40 days.... just 40 days

When it was 120 days it was like.. Hay..we have lots of time to do all the things! We have time to sit back and watch the things until its time for us to do the things...

We are running out of time...

Fiesta... The 2019 Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta is 40 days away.

Should I worry... you're asking yourself.... you should worry!

Okay,... dial it back... So what. Sit back... it's coming.. You have propane right... Right... Okay.. tomorrow when I refuel from this Saturdays flight I will have propane.

Trucks okay right....kinda.

Trailers right... yep!

So what's to worry about?

Not a thing!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAhahahaahahHAahahAHAAhAhaAHHAHAAHa

Sigh...

Due to the high temps this year it feels.. and it probably isn't different than last year or the year before but humans have such short memories for such things.

Its more like its getting close but the things I want to do are held up because its still hot outside.

Its all butter on the bread type of stuff...

I would like to clean the balloon system... Burners cleaned, basket cleared and washed and soaked, bolster and leather conditioned Tanks wiped down... everything put back together.

The truck really needs two new tires and the side steps reinstalled.

Trailer is okay except it needs a bit of a sorting preparing it for all the items that will be put in it during the fiesta.

That and a myriad of things in the house to deal with... well... it seems daunting but it's not really.. just sitting over your head because nothing can be done all at the same time and you want it out of the way.

I am thinking the basket conditioning can wait till the last week of September. That way I won't get it dirty flying it before Fiesta starts... Check!

Truck tires are an any weekend before Fiesta thing I think.. so let's call that the weekend after Labor day...

The steps will be the weekend after that because it should be cool enough to get on the cement and under the truck to remove the old bolts and see if new bolts will fit and work.

So it all seems a terrible amount of things but it isn't.

Now getting food and drink in is a different chore altogether but that can be done anytime just prior to Fiesta so it's not eaten and drank up before.

So why am I still freaking out?

Okay.. find your special space... Breath in... relax...

*

This week was a wash. Many interesting things that have no interest to you all...

Saturday though I went flying. I got to fly!!! I got to fly my own balloon!!! I had new people to fly!!!

It was nice.

I had a new bag made by Aerco for the extra red line in In Czech. It kept it from wrapping around my legs when I turn around. Worked great. now I did get my head wrapped in my turning vent lines somehow. It was very comical at the time.

Here is the problem.

I have a 42 by 52 inch basket. Throw three fuel tanks in there and three people and it gets ... snug.
So I had little room to move about as did my passengers... though they loved the flight I should have pulled the 10-gallon tank. Its a great size for two people but three is pushing it. Patturns In Czech would have been a bit more fussy to handle as she likes to go and not sit. If you have too little weight in her she will try and take off...too little and she turns into a sail.

But it was a fun flight and we ground tracked, which I really love doing, and we lifted into the air at 600 feet per minute which seems slow but is a lot of fun. We saw a lot of back yards that  ( like my own ) need some TLC ( not in this heat ) and a lot of things that baffled us. One thing balloonists do it critique your landscaping as we drift over it.

I had to do a little 100 foot adjustment on the end to get the balloon to move away from the power lines and into a nice arroyo to land and it was a powered landing which was awesome. Powered landing. I had to drop fast enough that we would have banged the ground hard to get to the spot that was perfect for the landing but also use a lot ( only half power really ) to slow us down at the last moment so as not to bang into the ground... which means hammering the heat then venting hard at the last moment to stop the balloon going right back up into the sky.

It worked. We touched down and slid over a couple of feet because of a rim of dirt but stopped right there. It was wonderful to have that kind of control over a 90,000 balloon.

I took zero pictures with my Sony DSLR. I was having fun flying and talking and all the other balloons went elsewhere... but then seems to come right over us at the end. I landed where I thought was the best place as going farther West it's much harder to get the chase crew vehicles in there...

Loads of fun... but no pictures.

Here are some throwback shots form 2015 with some comments in lieu of iffy stuff from Saturday.

My 10 gallon backup tank. It's always nice to have when flying from Fiesta field.

From the portico on fiesta field on a cold evening. it was lovely to sit and watch the sun go down behind us and see the colors the Sandias had on.

There are many ways to get into and out of a hot air balloon basket... This is a bit more complicated.

Wear sturdy shoes.. preferably a high on the ankle type... because these bad boys can go through jean material easy.

A design for Kkisses up pin. I should do the same for my own but never find the time.

My son Mo. Now a commercial rated balloon Pilot and I am very proud of him. Shh...

This is a picture I took that's completely unrelated to balloons except that they fly balloons out of this park. Its a picture of Victoria Park in Bath England. My favorite spot. This was a badly shot picture with film. I intend to get back and take the exact same shot with my Sony RX10V4. It will be crisp and clean and beautiful. It will go into this frame too. I will take many other shots of which I will post here.

Edit edit edit... Patturns Highperactive with Holly and Joe crewing. Time to do some more flying with her... after Fiesta.

A great sign that needs to be recreated and put in the trailer.

See how much room is in the basket. Take out the burner bag and upright pole bag and still tight.

A well-maintained trailer is wonderful. Yes.. it looks like this right now. The white storage thing on the right has been changed out to a more sturdy version in black.

So now that a few off the hook shots have been shared as I have nothing else...and some insight into the preparation for fiesta for a ballon family... a very tight view...

Maybe if it's a quiet week I will get some details in on what we do right before, during and after a balloon fiesta.

Lastly... I changed phones to the Samsung Galaxy  Note 10 Plus. 1TB of memory onboard was one of the reasons. It's very fast, very pretty, very powerful. I am still playing with all the settings and things it can do. Maybe that will be what I talk about next weekend.

I am far too scatterbrained right now to think which what how who when where why what.

Hope you are better, brain-wise.

Reflecting

I had this thought the other day...then again today. We so are wrapped up in ourselves and what our needs or wants are that rarely does anyone think about anyone else that's affected by whatever you're doing to make your life better. I was just thinking. No judgments at all. Am I doing something for the better or because I want something? Why would I think I should change anyone or tell them to change. Don't they have that exact same right to do what they want how they want? I have no right to force them to do things my way. In fact, I should be ignored. So if my Granddaughter wants to eat her sprinkles one at a time I will not force my ideas on her.

Reflections

It's been fun to come home to my Granddaughters very happy face. Its been too long visiting with her via a computer screen where you can't really see what her face is doing when she is talking.

She is very emotive and her expressions and mannerisms are a sight to see. I laugh a lot.. which is very good for the soul.

On the ballooning side of the reality... I had to skip flying this weekend due to shortness of crew.

We went out to try and fly the AAAA rally in Rio Rancho and I had only two die-hard members show up. The people we were going to fly and use as crew didn't show. So we helped Mo get in the air and chase after the target.

He did well and his maneuvers got him close to the target but the winds shifted as he was making his final run to it and stopped him and sent him back the way he had come.. and then it started to rain lightly so everyone dropped to the ground and packed up as fast as they could. 

Here are a few clips from the Kodak 360. Oh..and I have not done anything with any videos in ages... just keep collecting it. I just have no mood for it.

Liftoff over the Civil Air Patrol balloon. Just slipping over it low heading Southwest after they hare balloon.

Clearing the field and dropping down to see what was below wind wise and also line up I think.

Target down after 30 plus minutes instead of the 15 we were all told. Ray had some fun out there.

Heading for it at about 3 mph. Sloooooowwwww......

Total reverse of the ground wind and here come the clouds. Jump over some power lines and lay it down quickly..and backwards.

So the 360 camera digs into the very soft damp sand...much better than rocks. I have to clean the lens cover more but it came through AOK.

Here are some I took of various things...with explanations.

Pfred inserts a toggle into the rope support for the basket. Not unlike the toggles on some coats. Just much bigger.

The hare balloon dragging its tail. The way the competition goes... Hare balloon cold inflates, then hot inflates. All other balloons cant cold inflate until the hare balloon hot inflates and stands up. All other balloons cant hot inflate and stand up until the hare balloon launches. Then they have to navigate to where the hare balloon lands after 15 or so minutes using the available winds. Sometimes it works out.. some times it doesn't.

Mo checking all of the carabiners to make sure they are set right prior to hot inflating. Secondary ignition system in back pants pocket. Mine are in pockets on my second tank.

Deep blue burner flames are very nice. This morning it was pretty humid so all that heat, even though it's going forward radiates a lot of heat in the water in the air. Uncomfortable at times. The rope is the tie-off to the truck so the balloon does not leave the ground prior to its lift-ability.

Alan dances with the crown line and hand loop. The orange loop is padded and much softer on your hands when trying to control the balloon during cold inflation and hot inflation when it wants to roll and move left and right.

Will gets lost under the envelope of the Civil Air Patrol balloon. Really he is walking under the envelope and looking for any holes or tears or problems.. he will also poke his head into a turning vent and look at all the lines inside to make sure it all looks right.

This triangle basket has some nice supports to keep the burner aligned with where the throat is and make it easier to hot inflate and not burn anything.

Ground tarps. Very fussy to lay out and a lot of work to repack. They are to protect the envelope from poky things or dirt or damp. Some people want to keep their balloons free of the dust use them all the time. I have one, a bright yellow one, but only for damp situations. Living in the desert is living with dust.

Mo goes over the CAP balloon. He was having some fun.

Grond tarp out the crew of this balloon drags out the envelope. It's attached to the basket at this time and they are letting it come out of the envelope bag as they move forward. There are many different ways to put an envelope out but this is the easiest.

See how the flame is right in the middle. Off a little bit and you have a singed or burned balloon. It's a very close thing every time. The statement is... There are two categories of balloon Pilots. Those that have burned their balloon and those that are going to in the future. It happens. To what degree...

My truck and trailer sitting sadly. We chased in Rory's truck and we were in and out of arroyos and down and up banks that the trailer would have had issues with. Loads of off-roading fun.

See the target? Me Neither!!! See the people. They are the scorers. The target is hidden from all but from above by the green brush!

Three balloons working for the target which was South of them only to hit a wall of air going North and the front came up faster than was expected.

The hare balloons find s a nearby road to layout on. Its a choice here. You can layout on a dry road, but the road has little rocks on it and they could cause tiny holes in the envelope or you can layout in the brush and get a hole from a sharp bush or get some damp on it. Choices choices.

You rolls the dice.. you takes your chances.

So much for that fun day.

Sunday was a down day and get some rest day. I went on google earth to see how fresh the overheads were. They weren't. Pretty old. I looked at some old haunts...

Italy! I was stationed at a listening post for what is called an overseas long remote tour. Saw a lot of friends come and go in the time I was there. It was a great time and a hard time. 

Brindisi on the left... See the road going from right to left. Halfway from Brindisi to San Vito Dei Normanni is the Air Station San Vito. Now closed up and shuttered.

Where I worked. The building with the silver roofed section. That's new stuff. Old New Stuff. The ring of markers to the top is the edge or the FLR 9 Elephant cage antenna. It was huge. A cage for big elephants.

My apartment in San Vito Dei Normanni. Top floor. The landlord lived below. The market on Mondays set up shop down this road and others. The wool merchant used to sit on my doorstep.

Above view. Even after all these years, I can find it quickly. The front was modern but the back had a very high full square arched ceiling of stone. Right in the center of the Clip.

A view of the Air Stations dorm area. Everything looks so dilapidated. no one is taking care of anything. It's all going to be piles of junk soon if not already.

Overhead view of the whole station.. tiny really. Its called an Air Station because there is no runway. You can see the size of the Elephant cage from this view. It was one of those places that as soon as you hit the front gate the people at the back of the base knew who you were. The best thing about the base was the musicians we saw at the base club. They were top-notch! Lots of memories of this place. Some good, some bad.

Id like to go back and check it out but it's off-limits and has security patrolling it. A bummer.

Reflections.

 Another week ahead. Many things to do. Need to get Patturns In Czech out of her bag and get her right ways around as she is packed backwards as I had to do a minor repair on her crown. That's always fun to do. Took 15 minutes once I had the pieces and parts.

Might have to wait till the week after next as this upcoming weekend is Top Gun both days. Sigh!

Time to find some nourishment of some form.

Cheers!