Riding the North Face.
( Or... Rio Rancho Fickle Winds of Fate )
This Saturday was the Albuquerque Aerostat Ascension Association Rally
in Rio Rancho New Mexico.
The AAAA holds a mini rally every month except October ( due to the Albuquerque international Balloon Fiesta ). The location switches from the a nice little field in Rio Rancho off of Northern and Unser or the AIBF park in town. The field in Rio Rancho is open to us by a nice landowner and though its unimproved space it is open and has a lot of open space around it. The AIBF field is on the North side of Albuquerque but normally the winds flow South right into the city.... not so much fun.
Let me preface this little story by saying this.. as nice and open as the field in Rio Rancho is... it also has serious wind issues. Even if the forecast for that area says the winds will be calm and slow they usually end up being neither slow nor calm. This weekend was no different.
There were a lot of balloons out... a lot.. more than your standard rally anywhere else. No really. This is the center of ballooning in the world. There are amazing places to fly... Saga Japan, France, Poland,.... Great Britain..... but for flying year round it's pretty much here. Our winds are smooth.. our space open... our skies clean and our landowners mostly fantastic.
50 or so balloons in fact. Winds were reported in the later than normal briefing as in the 4s. ( If you know us we are very informally formal.. so if the brief is stated as 0630 it will probably be around 0645). We goofed around for a bit waiting for the sun to come up and we watched the flags kinda flutter. Some were looking a bit more active than others but overall it looked quite nice........ warning right there.
This would also be the first time my son could fly next to me in his balloon MOJO and not with me in my basket. We had along, soon to be extended family. Two in each basket. That's okay in Mo's balloon as it's an 80,000 cubic foot balloon... me in the 69,000 racer it's was flying heavy. No problem.
Stand up and launch were wonderful. Mo and I were able to stay together for a few minutes but our reactions are different and our envelopes are different so we moved slightly apart and then I went South and he moved behind me to the West at the SAME LEVEL! So that was quite novel. We drifted apart as I decided to start hunting for one of the two targets out there to throw a baggie at.
I had an idea where it was in the arroyo to our Southwest and noticed the balloons low were heading from the Northwest to the Southeast and the balloons that were above me were heading West. I popped up and grabbed the West thinking I could get over West and drop in and that would let me run the arroyo at about ten feet up and go directly to the target.
It worked... and I came beside the target exactly where I wanted to be. I wished I could have been closer to the X but I'll take it. My throw sucked bad and I was short of the center of the target by about 3.2 meters. Mo... he decided to ride the medium then come over on the East side of the target and throw from about 100 feet up... and he hit for 3.9 meters.... not bad at all.... not bad.
After that fun I cranked up the burners and get up to altitude where the wind was pickling along faster towards the South West. This would take me out onto the mesa and a location to go ground track to a nice landing.... Yeah......
Cruising over Southern Blvd and looking forward I could see that all the balloons ahead of my were popping the ground harder than they should and dishing in if not just ripping out... Uh Oh..... there were the squirrelly winds.... Dropping out I had my eye on a nice dirt square out in the middle of nowhere. I saw it earlier but shooting for a 300 square yard zone from a half mile away is always a test in patience and luck.
Dropping out of the sky after the high voltage power lines it looked good for the dirt zone so I had my passengers.... ( my soon to be son in law and his mother ( YIKES ( DONT HURT THEM ))) assume the hard landing position and hold on... we swooped in to see three tall metal posts along the side we were heading to..DAMN! But I kept with the drop and leveled out to grab a bit of a shift off the poles.. perfect... cutting over the ground we got to the dirt and I vented out and we hit... dragged ... I am ripping out the top to stop us and some crew from another balloon ran over and helped us stop with the basket in the square, the envelope a third in the square a third in the road and the top over the berm.everyone happy and up and out...just to see my son coming in on my square but off to the East a little... A better line. About 10 mph...sheesh!
He was busting down and coming right down on it...no flare... no fluff.. right in.... yeah... wild.... cowboy.... We ran over and caught him just as he tapped the ground and about ten feet later he was ripped out and laid down... excellent. Everyone was laughing at the great flight and fun competition and wild landings. Now to pack up.
We all did Patturns Highperactive as she was sitting in the road... she is much heavier and harder to pack up but it was done quickly... then we ran over and did MOJO... whew! Packed up and back to the field for some tailgate before the family ran off to get ready for the wedding.
I got 4th place and Mo got 5th or 6th. Not bad.
After getting home and cleaned up and changed and play with Emily it was off to the farthest South Volcano and a wedding ceremony right West of it. It was fun and and lovely in the lowering sun. I have pictures to edit still... I expect it will be next week before I get them done. I could give you a play by play like the ballooning but that would just be silly.
Whew.... Sunday we went out to help Mo fly some friends. MOJO is getting a workout. Mo is getting a lot of hours and lots of experience. It was a fluffy day like the day before was supposed to be. Launching from Unser and Westside they puddled off to the North and landed across Unser from where we took off from Saturday!!! But this time it was so soft you almost had to push the balloon to get it to move. Another fun day with totally different environmental effects.
That's New Mexico.
Here are some shots from both days
MOJO rides in the East side of the arroyo with friends. Target is just below them. In the distance was the launch field.
Passing the target after throwing and they line up so nicely.
The take ( clip ) from the Kodak 360 cam. My baggie floating there ( with the arrow pointing at it ).. it landed right between the legs of the target.
Sunday flight... Looks like they are trying to break orbit.. and yes.. if he could he would try.
MOJO's Reverse Gravity Machine cruising low and slow.
I got it for a few minutes but didnt feel like heading West so dropped back down and let Mo have it back. He only gave my 25% and 30% so I couldn't go far and that's usually my put it down mark.
A seriously great weekend but I am exhausted! Completly sore and ready for some cookies and milk.
