But that left the next weekend to look forward to though. A note to fly was put out before I was reminded I had offered my balloon system to Bob for a tribute flight for a friend CQ who passed suddenly... and so I passed on flying and supported Bob to get that flight done.
Saturday morning was pretty iffy on the winds after the reports said it was going to be next to nothing in the wind area. Normal. We stood around for quite a while while feeling the winds go from fast to nothing to fast to nothing over and over again... Not a feeling to put confidence in getting up in the air. But waiting helped and after Mo rocketed out of field next to us going West... ( His balloon was penduluming left to right and he released as it was right adding to the momentum to go that way which he did ) .. not pretty but he got it in the air...
We set up quickly and after correcting a few cable and rope issues got In Czech standing up and ready to go.
Off they went with nary a bother.. easy and slow... They flew off and up and CQ got his last ride and we chased.... They came in to land in a nice green grass park but it was so water logged and it was only a short flight that we told Bob he should fly on.... which he did to the fun of a new passenger and CQs brother Micky... Landing again just past the Volcano Vista High School with no problem there either as the Pro crew were out as well as the new strong guys to grab him out of the air and get them settled.
Packed up and back to the field for a larger than normal tailgate, toast to CQ and a good bit of chatting. Home after and rest.
Sunday the damned radar died again.... lucky for me the guys were already there and on it before the called me to let me know. Chatted with them a bunch and now later its back up on another new motor. Taking bets on how long this one lasts... Something is going on but there are no indications other than it goes boom to the motors after a few days. We will be looking into it this week.
Shots of the week.
Inside of the radome that sits some 40 ish feet in the air. Sharp open stairway and at night with a wind.. treacherous. See that little greenish circle. that's big enough for one person to stand up ( kinda ) in and the motor hangs down by that white thing ( slip rings ). A mother sister to get out and reinstall.
Display from camera in radome to watch the dish spin. Good troubleshooting tool.
Saturday pack up of Patturns In Czech / Terpsnickery ( AKA as Terps ) Lots of crews for one light basket. NOT COMPLAINING AT ALL.
It was packed up so quickly that the snake of the envelope never happened.. just popped in the bag.
Look at that master process!
Back in the launch area. Tents up, fan going, people chatting.. even a new born baby to cuddle...
Flight instruments run time is off by a bit. Seems they only turned the time on when the balloon hit a specific speed and altitude. I had set it to auto start but it has flipped that switch. Time to reset it.
Izzy after a hard evening snoring the house down is working on her fifth nap of the day. Dog is old but probably will never die because she sleeps all the time.
The balloon card mock-ups for the 2017 Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta are out. Slight error on the naming conventions Patturns In Czech is the balloon in the background that I snuck in for myself and Mo. Both of our cards I photo-shopped ( GIMP really ) our secondary balloon into . No worries as its an awesome card regardless.
Then I told myself that instead of just shooting and filing away shots I needed to get to business and start frame processing my favorite shots... so a shot a day out of different portfolios and get them printable and frame-able. Both will print at least 20 by 30 inches.
ASPECT
PITAS KISS
Ill work on another for today but its time to prep for another busy week and hopefully some flying for me Saturday or Sunday... Weather willing.. body function hoping...
