You come out to the launch site. Yay.... Do a happy dance! Round and round!
The balloon crew takes its cue from the Pilot. He guages wind.. direction and clouds and the latest weather report before anything else is done. He will even go as far as talking to other Pilots .
On the thumbs up from the Pilot the crew gets the balloon out. Setting the basket up and installing the burners..lines...connected... covers on ... ground cover out.... fan out....envelope bag out in front ( downwind ) of the basket.
The Pilot checks all the connections and the hoses... jumps in the basket and starts sniffing around..... whats that about???
The Pilot is smelling for propane leaks prior to testing the burner function.... So he sniffs where the hoses attach to the tanks and he smells around the burner themselves. If all is good.....get ready
The Pilot yells.. No smoking!!! Burner check!!! and he will turn on a tank then ignight the pilot light then ignight the main burner... BAWOOOSH! Its loud and hot... In the winter everyone raises their hands to the heat to get warm... Main burner check good... So then Its time to check the Whisper Burner.... wwwWWWoooshh!!
Ask me about the Whisper Burner and Ill tell ya all about it.
That's one burner checked and re-secured... tanks shut off...
If the Balloon has two burners or three or four he will continue to test them all.
Then the crew will help lay the basket down towards where the envelope bag is... Everyone staying away from the still hot burners.
The crew will open the envelope bag... you will note that I have my flap away from the basket side...
They will pull the throat and scoop out with all the lines and carabiners. Each corner of the basket has a carabiner to attach to its specific carabiner. The vent line is attached as well as any turning vent lines.
The crew will then pick up the envelope bag and draw it away from the basket until the whole envelope is out.
Two of the crew will hold each side of the throat using the lines coming from the throat to the top of the burner frame and stretch the mouth of the balloon open. The fan will be started at a very low speed and directed into the mouth.
At the top of the balloon the crew are pulling out the crown line and attaching the velcro tabs to the velcro tabs of the crown.
See the crown up in the top in the picture above. There's a velcro tab for every load tape section.
That's me just "helping"... another word for getting in the way.
The Pilot will walk around the envelope and make sure again that everything is connected and looks right. he will go under the envelope and check for damage that cant be seen from the outside. If he is satisfied he will check for how packed the balloon is. If its looking good he will give a thumbs up to his crown person and get ready to Hot Inflate.
The Pilot will get inside the basket uprights on the ground and signal the two crew on the throat as well as the crew person on the fan to see if they are ready and watching the Pilot. When they are ready he will have the fan crew person slow the fan down... then he will light off ( turn the fuel on and light the pilot light) a burner... And carefully burn to raise the envelope off the ground..
Hot Inflation!!!
As the balloon rises the crew on the throat will let the lines go and grab hold of the basket sides. Putting weight on! The fan will be turned off and removed after stopping. The crown crew member will stabilize the top of the balloon so it does not swing to the side or back over the top.
At the direction of the Pilot the crown crew member will bring in the crown line and attach it to one of the carabiners.
The Pilot will then go about setting his instruments and checking that all is correct with connections and lines and envelope settings. He will call " Don't look up and watch your toes"!
Don't look UP!!!
The Pilot is setting the top.. that means he is pulling on the crown line to rip out the velcro that's been holding it in place and the heat in the envelope sucks the crown up against the load tapes in the top. Not looking up saves you from getting a face full of dirt that always seems to get into the envelope... and watching your toes is that the basket can HOP and land on your toes hurting you needlessly.... Remember this..LOL...
I always get dirt in my face.
Setting the top also allows the Pilot to check is centering lines holding the crown in place and all the other lines too...
Whats next.....
RIGHT.....
YOU......GET.....IN... at his direction.
Wow.... awesome.......
Now what.....??
Stay tuned tomorrow for ..... speeches.... comments.... advisement.... LAUNCHES!!!
A link to the Jingle Bell Rally Shots.... http://invisibleblack.zenfolio.com/p943589458
And a link to the Friends and Lovers Rallys Shots... http://invisibleblack.zenfolio.com/p668735477
