Patturns Of Highperactivity: Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta Day 1

Saturday, October 5, 2013

Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta Day 1

What a day!

What looked to be a un-flyable ( for me ( over 8kts ) really ) day turned out with a little waiting to be most excellent. I wanted to fly a friend of my Dads and if it was fast I wouldn't be able to.... but it calmed down quite a bit so I was able to make someone very happy. Oh and she was too... We launched with only one hitch.. I forgot to release the tether on lift off.. we did not really go far. Just about to taxi out..stopped and then got off the ground smoothly. The ascent was great but the winds were very variable. Since ballooning is something like 3 dimensional sailing you watch for winds going the way you want to go... but it was like a slow speed rapids with stacking. You could see balloons around you going every which way. You could not guarantee that you would get the same direction some one else was. So it was hit or miss.. working with what you had and that meant changes.

I think I called the chase crew four of five times on the radio to tell them where I thought I was going to land. Nothing was going the way I wanted but what I had was usable. So I used what I had to avoid the power lines and other balloons and land us right on the frontage road and into the hands of my Son and some nice people who love to catch balloons. The crew were there and there then there..lol. On our final I was watching two other balloons on the right of me come across to the left of me.. I was going straight! Crazy. But fun as all get out. I did take pictures while I was flying .. and few below... and both video cameras worked great. So now I have lots of things to play with.

I am batch processing the pictures as we speak.. then I have to send a "clear" one to a friend then I will post them here.

Hang on a sec....

Dawns glow.