Day late and a Dollar short!

Wah!  This didn’t get published on the right date!  See what happens when you click a link and then forget to check it… There ya go.. A day late and a dollar short.

This last week was a culmination of utterly strange things that were so low key that they now don’t register.

The week ended up with the day after a very spur of the moment two and a half hour run to Taos for the Taos balloon rally day 2.

We left at 4am and made it there by 630ish. Very good time as the roads were pretty clear if not wet and a bit of fog thrown in for the heck of it. Not a bad run all in all.

Arriving in Taos and to the launch field and parking area.. well muddy was the word of the day. Normally it’s a field of talc powder and the fun that goes with that but this year it seems that it wanted to be muddy. Not bad most areas but it wanted to be worse but couldn’t make up its mind.

Overcast was also the name of the day since the clouds were bunched up against the Eastern mountains and not wanting to move. The sun did try hard to break but it was after most balloons had settled to the ground that the sun made an appearance. Bad for photography but good for temps.

Flying was dicey due to the location of the launch field to the local pueblo….. The word was that if you landed on their land .. Even by an inch it would be at least 100 dollars to access the area and probably 300 to retrieve your system… I understand sovereign land and I have every respect for it but this seems like a money grab. No.. it is a money grab. But.. Their land their rules. It was heavy on many a person’s mind on the fly / no fly decision.

Fly they did once the pibal showed that you could get away from that restrictive area. Since crew was short I lent a hand launching PITAS KISS then Takach Another Breeze and even got to fly with Keith which was a nice surprise plus gave me a wonderful perch to take pictures.

Keith was able to get up high enough and fast enough to grab the 1kt Westerly and draw us away and into an area that was less prone to running into bad things. On the way he took the time to do some target practice and throw a baggie at Bob on the ground below us. Good hit just on the D panel area. Must have gone “bong” to them on the ground.

I took about 806 shots with one cam and about 50 with the other ( fisheye ). It was so overcast that I had to really force the edits to get some color and lightness. I hate that.

Keith ran to a nice low wind heading almost exactly back to the launch field but we popped over some power lines and landed in a field so that his wife could fly and I could get some shots from the ground.

I did but still not great. A lot of balloons opted to move and launch south and had good flights too. They also had no problem getting back to where they took off from… or very nearby.

After Keith made it to within a hundred feet of his take off area and we packed him away we sat around telling lies, eating some munchies and drinking water, juice and other things.

Since the Parade was going to start and we wanted to visit the plaza we drove off to do just that. With the parade imminent we were forced to detour the area but in the end went in a huge circle taking us right back though the area and ending up exactly where I wanted to park.

We walked the plaza and looked in shops and checked out prices.. The Nambe store is my favorite… If I wanted that much shiny stuff in my house I would buy a lot but don’t and didn’t.. it was still a nice walk… Few pictures…. Been there.. done that…. We decided not to eat there and as the parade by that time had passed we were able to jump in the truck and drive off into the … well South…. Again it took us about 2 hours and 20 minutes…. A stop in Espanola for gas and a break. Made it home.. unloaded all the gear… fed and released the doggie.... freshened up then went down to Sadie’s for a well-deserved Sopapilla…. I had less than half because it was very very hot…. Tomorrow's dinner… yum. Home and editing… the rest of the day was a fog… Sunday was editing what I thought were worth the work. I think I came out with about 40 good enough shots.

Sundays flying was wonderful from what I heard and saw in others great pictures... about the same as Saturday without the overcast… that meant the pictures taken were beautiful.. full of color and light but no clouds… If you take pictures like that of balloons you need a ground reference or they could have been taken anywhere. From the shots I’ve seen so far there are some wonderfully referent pictures. Good job guys!

Next year I am hoping to be in the rally myself…. Less chances to take pictures but more chance to get video…. And a chance to fly the skies of Taos in my racer.

I spent the remainder of the weekend moving and copying video files from Fiesta 2015. Duplication and verification takes a long time when you ran three video cameras almost every day. We are talking lots of Gigs of raw video. Still not finished but will hopefully tomorrow ( Monday ).

Some picture form Saturday.

A couple in wedding gear braving the mud to get photos against the balloons.. very weird.

Still at it while Bob poses for a shot.

Off Bob goes as the wind dummy.. his words... Classic Bob... Cool calm collected and on the roof.

PITAS KISS up and over. Really up and down and all around and then down then up and lastly down again.

Fav shot of Keith and Takach Another Breeze all in one shot!

Our helpers taxiing us towards the Southern fence line just to give us that added 100 feet of South.

Fantastic local peoples all the more happy to help out. If I see you again in a year and I get to fly and I dont have anyone else to fly that I have to I would fly you guys.

Off into the cloudy sky... then elevator up to about 800 ft to find a West wind... We did. Keith Did... I just kept snapping pictures hoping for a good shot... but that was a few back.

 ALl of these were from the Fish eye. 10.5mm which is totally awesome but you can catch yourself in the frame as its so darn wide.

Okay.. Hopefully this will load today.....

Burn Out!

I have been avoiding all pictures balloon except where I cant get away from it... ala facebook. Not militant burn out but just not feeling it. After those 9 days out of ten I really didn't feel like doing anything to do with anything to do with anything with ballooning.

Went out today to watch the inflation and first long flight of a new Adams build balloon. 84,000 c ft. Nice. I got some good pictures and all but I am still cooked.

Really.. Flying the East side of Albuquerque and having to deal with the messed up weather reports and odd weather actions and having to deal with the oddness got me real tired.

We were trying to figure out which days what had happened and we are all getting it all mixed up.

Now a week later I am still thinking I am glad not to do anything in the air. I can deal with that.

I did get my office / computer room re assembled... In a different room. Now I have the back room which has a larger closet and its more square and a little better set up. I have to paint the walls and ceiling and do a few other thins like pictures and such but its pretty nice.

The old Computer room is now the guest room and looking like a guest room. Clean and ready for... next year... ahhahaha.... No... I can wait.

There is a rally in Taos next weekend.... Probably go up there and take pictures... and I have to register for the rally in Gallup because even though I do not want to fly right now I do want to fly in that rally if possible. Its an invitational so you have to be invited ...yeah.... Its not too easy to get into so I do not want to be sidelined by not going when I have been already invited.... you get the idea.

Some of the outtakes of today's pics because I have to post something and I do not want to go into the Fiesta stuff yet.... Only one video done and that was done so that I could check the video processor.

This is an Adams.. tiny basket under a 40 or 44. Its like a little canoe. Nifty.

Between a soft and a softer place. Head and Adams.

One eyed monster monster... Cool balloon.

Going for a drag. Crown line crew slide by.

What a good fun day to visit with family friends.

Watching goofy stuff on the net right now.... What to make of it.... Bwahahahahaha.......

A short blog for the week.. I mean I could go on about work and all but as it was good to be back and nicely no one would get hurt doing my job the different stress was still alive... LOL... But again.. good to be back at the desk.

Hopefully I will have a better attitude this next week.

Have fun.

A Great Run!

The 2015 Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta has come to its end.... we now have 344 days until AIBF 2016.

It sounds like a lot NOW... but in a bit it will be registration again and then the rush to the start again.

Yeah.. I am very punchy right now.

From ten days of flying.. including Albuquerque Aloft we clocked 9 days flying with one day one unflyable ( some still did and boy did they not like that ) day...which was the 9th. Ridiculous winds going in a clockwise run around fiesta field.. then cycled backwards and all the balloons were going in different directions and then going towards each other... Bad news. We sat it out. I was hard but we did it.

Of those nine days / ten days I was able to get nine days of photographs ( I forgot my camera on the Albuquerque Aloft day.. too much excitement ) and nine days of video from at least three video cameras. I have to get them all together as I stuffed them everywhere due to the limited time to download and file and charge before the next day.

The light sucked a lot... Major clouds and low light make photographing anything a chance but when the sun did come out it was excellent.

The video cams I had running was the Kodak 360 right on the back of the burner frame and a go pro to the left side.. and a go pro on a long arm out the back. Every day was captured except the last day when the arm cam failed to create any files. That sucked.

The flights were amazing but unpredictable.. Day 0, Albuquerque Aloft... nice landing by Kurt and Mo as I watched. Much fun there. Day 2 We flew off Fiesta field and landed gently on the Pueblo with easy access for the crew. Day 2 we flew off of Fiesta field and went to the exact same place on the Pueblo.. What was with that... Day 3 Fiesta field to just south of Paseo Del Norte and old El Pueblo.. fast and fast. Day 4 it was from Fiesta field and went over the river but no chance to go in and then got low on fuel and had to make a fast point landing besides power lines.. Ugh.. but perfect landing and broke a bit of wicker which sucked. Day 5 Off Fiesta field and off to the river again but at a nicer angle and speed.. in splash and dunk then up and out to a good landing with crew right there. Day 6 we had to go off field due to the winds and had a fast flight but landed with great help and some dragging by the crew commando Rory. Day 7 was the down day due to crazy winds. Day 8 it was of Fiesta field looped around and landed within a hundred yards of our take off spot.. NEATO! Day 9 was off the field into the river twice.. great photographs and off to the North... a landing on a sand bar to drop off my passenger then up and out and back down fast "lawn dart style" besides power lines again ( I hate power lines ) and a comfy landing.

Below are a very few shots .. one from almost every day... So much video and photo files to go through... and Andy got a lot of Crew Video of the chase and I cant wait to see that....He even made a cool pole mount for the cam that could see over the trailer... way cool.


Even being first wave leaves you off the field after lots of balloons have gone. Tons of people! Tons!

South view and a nosy whale.

Chase lasers! The morning light show... canned music was the same every day though.. not good.

Rio Grande River Splash and Dash... plunked her down heavy and had a great wake and tons of water in the basket.. hilarious!

Off field fun with new passenger... She loved it all the way.. even the wild landing.

Photographs..... um.. photographs.. Lets try that shot again... LOL... fun shot of ZKs Pilot and Crew... Reverse photo bomb.

Now its time to rest... left elbow hurts a bunch from all the burning... right finger hurts from the red line pressure... have things to do but no get em done power.... gonna wait till tomorrow to get it all done.

More more more in the coming week. Tomorrow is Columbus Day... its a holiday and I will use it to get the system cleaned up a bit and the truck cleaned up a bit... and get myself... no.. that's done.... Get the house cleaned up a bit...

On a side note..... these people I fly with.... they are some of the best people I have ever known. We rely on each other in very subtle ways. There are comings and goings and we do different things and like different things but always enjoy each others company.

We only left the field today after the wind came up and took two of our awnings away... well.. they landed on my truck....

Rest up my friends..... we had a great run.

Day 2 of Fiesta ( not counting Albuquerque Aloft )

It was a dark and stormy.... morning!

Well it was... Low lying clouds... nasty funny strange. A pibal that went almost straight up and then North... Never good.... A delay on the field and a possible static display.

After a long wait we got the news that the field was open to fly .. and qucikly those balloons that were up go off the ground.. They were the Krispy Kreme morning display... But I am ahead of myself.

Last I posted was days before Fiesta started... and it was rush rush rush to get things done.... Well.. some things never did get done..... Oh well....

TO start at the beginning..... Registration Wednesday night.... Wonderful in the new Sid Cutter pavilion... fast ... clean and no hassles except for Dick... Hearts! LOL. Nice gear and a happy face.. cant beat that. Only down to that was the loss of half my keys.... I didn't stick around.. I retraced my steps back to the truck... passing the French aerobatics team that were in to do some cool powered para-sail stuff during the week. Said he.. Asked if they had seen my keys run by.. Lots of Non non's..

Drove back to the office to see if I had dropped them there.. no joy..waste of time.... But I checked in with my contacts at registration and they said they might have found a set... So the next morning I headed down there and yep.. they had found them under a table.. I have no clue how they got there but it saved me a lot of pains.

Day "Albuquerque Aloft" was excellent. A little dicey on the inflation with a huge 90,000 balloon next to me.. Not Paul's fault..hahahaha.. and I had Kurt out to help so he became my passenger when after a good quick launch became the Pilot as that sounded like a load of fun. Dude can fly a balloon.. He had no problem holding position and flying to a gentle touchdown South of where we took off... Hah.. We headed North and then flipped around half way throwing the crew off completely.. so.. that was fun.... We landed.. Kurt landed and I decided to stick Mo in and do a little hop with him at the controls... He did and we did this awesome spiral loop at about 6300 and came down to a gentle landing. Packed up and put away and ready... Off to propane ( long wait ) ( another story ) and home and get ready for day 1.

Day 1 was a bit of okay but the winds were minimal and in the wrong direction. North to the Pueblo... We would rather not land there as its a hassle for them. We had a great inflation and off we went and ended up heading right down the East side of the field going North... No luck and had to land right on the corner of the Pueblo... Officers got us in and out quickly.

Day 2 was a hold day... the winds were no existent or going towards the Pueblo again. We were on a hold... held.. then got released to fly... We thought it was going to be a static at best and a down day at worst. Great.... We started cold inflation and had it slowly going up but the crew had it all handled just fine.... even with a looped crown positioning line that had to be fixed... a very fast re-cold pack and a faster hot inflation they were cool calm, professional.. Then when asked to become lock downs while I stayed buoyant they did that too. With the impressive guidance of a Zebra  the crew slid me forward so swiftly to follow the Zebra to launch location that the envelope lagged behind.. which was quite funny to see on the rear video camera... liked sliding over ice... green ice. The Zebra had us set, up and off within ten minutes of hot inflation.. I like that.

We followed the rules and ascended at 200 fpm all the way but that took about 30 minutes to get to the North end of the field. Wow.. My crew beat me to the end. LOL... All the balloons around it was very hard to keep an eye out and stay safely away from other balloons. Looking down there was a nice slow South and we went down for it.... guess what.. It went away.... So we ended up landed about 500 yards from where we landed yesterday.... Again.. Great help from the Pueblo Officers a had started to sprinkle when we went hot and when we were driving back to the field after propaining it started raining hard.... then stopped.. weird! Good that we didn't get a wet envelope.

Now we are resting before going out again for the glow tonight. All the video cameras and photographs have been downloaded for the last three days.. wow... a lot.. Not great because of the crummy light but nice. Fantastic capture by Andy of the chase this morning. We are both going to get our heads together and see what we can do to make some cool stuff up.

A few select shots....

Registration parking.

Banner installed and ready to go.

Awaiting in propane line and watching the acrobatics.

Off the South East end of the field... Heading North on day 1.

Day 2 onlooking fun before launching.

Day 2 hay diddle diddle straight up the middle... missing all the the balloons along the way.

South View... Misty mountain breakdown baby!

Loads of pictures and video.. Videos from the long arm are my favs right now.... But the 360 cam is second.. so much footage and no time right now to do anything with it.

Not going to load up the fb banners and logos from this last bit as there isn't time.. maybe next week when I have much more to tell you about.. so much that I have glossed over.... woah!