Remember how I was going to fly today.... Well I said I was hoping but that the winds were looking iffy.... and that we would probably go out and kick dirt but still set things up.... Wow.... I need to listen to myself more.
With the stalwart crew that showed up including a few Pilots it was a snap to get the balloon out.. sensor head sewed securely and the inflation started. The 360 cam was running fine but the two go pros were giving me a hassle. I have to either have them set before doing anything else of change their position.
Anyway(s)...we are up hot and ready to go and the crew get me taxied past a truck and up we go with the winds picking up quickly as we cleared the area. A good 10 plus right above the ground and 16 plus up around a thousand feet. So we are blasting along up there and deciding to find a good Westerly stream to get in.. which we found but it was thin... stayed in that. Mo got some burner time while I took a few pictures... Everyone went in different directions with Kurt finding the best high ( 8000 plus ft ) location that took him directly West. We zoomed over Paradise and started a nice even 200 fpm descent which came out right over the edge of a wall and in the open space area... We hooked a good 90 plus degrees to the East and came over Unser about 20 feet up and dropping... Figured trying to ground track off the escarpment was a bad idea at now 13 mph so came in and evenly about five feet up ( while this is happening in fast order I noticed an open space officer right to the left and ahead of us.. he was coming closer as we were about to touch down in quite dry high grass ) I flipped both burners off and up out of the way and hauled on the red line. We hit nicely and skipped about five feet and laid the envelope down on the soft long grass as nicely as I could ask. No burning grass.. no problems.. Officer stopped..watched and drove on. Crew went past as we got out of the basket missing the whole thing...hahaha... They did come back and help a while later.... it was a good flight.. fast but good. Great confidence builder.
The balloon system coming out of Aerco and annual handled wonderfully... Lindstrand you know... Very tight.. very controlled and did exactly what I wanted when I needed it to. Good for me.
I was going to put some more shots from Andrew up tonight but am going to hold those till tomorrow but I will add his link in here at the bottom. Tonight I will post a few shots from today and some information as to why I shot them.... Lets go to the pictures Chet!
Infamme. Mo was on the burner at the time. he didn't get much time due to the speed but he can stick a level very well. I took this shot to show you the force of the propane being ejected via the nozzles in the burner... look through the air ports on the side... that's busting arse propane getting torched to 15,000,000 Btu's of glorious heat.You can also see all three of my control lines coming down just like they are supposed to... Black, Red, Green. Or as I like.
14 MPH!!!?! Taken snapshot on our ascent and we are already going 14 mph per the GPS. Gotta locate this where I cant see the speed unless I REALLY want to know. LOL.
Surprisingly Pibal. Last time we flew it seemed we were in slow motion on launching. Today complete opposite and we were in the air quickly leaving our friends behind. They go up and got out even after seeing my swift departure from their midst. I was the PIBAL! ( Invader Zim outtake ).
Phred says I should name this Polished Prairie..... Hmmm..... It works. Had to take the shot as it was so contrasting. Very very dry tall grasses. Burners were cooling and no fire anywhere as I shut them off at ten feet. They are resting!
Yvette takes the bush..OUT! Puff goes for the tree and gets a good munch. It was fun to watch her whole descent and skip and tree visit. As Ted said.. the basket smells so nice now. ":O)
Posing! When you have a balloon that is posing .. you take that shot. I took that shot. Nice little pennants on this one.
Relax and lay back..... It was a good run. More races to go. The first flight of Patturns Highperactive stopped in near the same place.. probably farther East but darn close. Funny that. PH is out and settled. Had to pull the crown to the middle to get her to lay completely out. GoPros standing there and the 360 hanging out.
Chase Crew Arriving! They made it and found us just off the road. We did get some excited views as we went over the road. ... wah hooooooo
Videos are dumped but will wait till I have time to mess with them.. I have one for Eric that has to be done still first. Soon... soon......
I was trying to remember to post the Pop goes the weasel words here but I kept forgetting.. and this is going to be a long post tonight... The guy who looked up the real words then wrote a nice blog bit on it was great.. there were a few very good blogs post that night.. his was great... So here is the link and the poem....
Half a pound of tupenny rice,
Half a pound of treacle.
That’s the way the money goes,
Pop! goes the weasel.
Up and down the city road,
In and out of the Eagle.
That's the way the money goes,
Pop! goes the weasel.
Every night when I get home
The monkey's on the table,
Take a stick and knock it off,
Pop! goes the weasel.
A penny for a ball of thread
Another for a needle
That's the way the money goes,
Pop goes the weasel.
I have sung this as a child in England but never thought about the words as with Ring Around The Rosey..
http://www.neatorama.com/2015/08/27/Pop-Goes-the-Weasel-What-Does-It-Really-Mean/
Worth the read.
Now Andrews Zenfolio webwsite where you can see what him and Kelley get up to and his great Fiesta shots too.
http://kanda.zenfolio.com/
They do have some great adventures.
Now.. the Banner for the day and logo.....
I called today Adrenalin Daze!
What a day!
