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.
