Its already past 3pm and I have yet to even start to look over the shots. I did one high speed run through and saw many that are fantastic... did I think they would be.. no.. but they have that eye catch thing and yeah you can tell.. or I think I can tell...
BUT.. I cant edit and get them on here fast enough that it wont be midnight before this posts so as I said I would in last weeks blog I will post the shots from last weekends flying and explain about them.. then a little teaser on the end of this weeks and next weekend I will get to the shots I took today. If you are a friend of mine on Facebook you will get to see a few that I took today if I can control certain CDOTV from kicking in.
Lindstrand USA balloons. Built with Quality number 1. A new racer is in town boys.... It aint got a name but its been seen with some questionable characters.....
Moon over flames. This shot was a patience shot. Had to wait till the envelope rolled away from the moon so I could get the right angle. I took a lot of shots to get it right.
The No Name Kid is flying again. Nice little wisp of a cloud there to make the shot better.
Mojo standing and waiting. Love that this envelope smells like nothing. Old balloons smell like someones outhouse blew up. This envelope Ytivarg... is old but smells fresh.. and not because he washes it every weekend... its a good fabric and has been taken care of.
Some people have no sense of personal space.... Its a big field fellas.
Stacking up overhead. Winds were nice enough to let Trent hang and wait till Mo and Eric could come up and visit. They danced around the sky a long while before kiting off to different places in town.
Love shots that make you feel like you are hanging right there. With American Beauty out far and Hopper up close its a doable shot.
600mm on the Sony RX10V4 mean you can get away from me but not the lens.. I can see you.
Its nice to just troll along .... It looks like they are over the road but in reality they were above the dirt working the winds.
the arroyo... Great spot to land is the soft mushy sand. 
Pick up crew arrive. Paws and little hands. Little hands were much better at handing out straps for the envelope .. but the paws were more fun to watch goof off.
Speed Dane! Ears are at flaps up and prepared to launch.
And now that little added bit ..
Back story.
My racer is a bit quick running through fuel and every little bit of weight not in it means better economy while flying.. since I cant keep my hands off the turning vents and that is the biggest waste of fuel I had to think of something else... and that was .. a lighter weight basket. ( another reason is its much easier on the crew who have to lift it everywhere )... So I checked out a bunch of builders of lightweight baskets.. but every one was lacking.. fit, polish, and process... until I got my eye on Lindstrand's little secret.. The Nomad lightweight basket. Packs small enough to go on a plane.. in the baggage area.. sheesh! Its very very light. I didn't have the time to see it while it was at Fiesta but its residing here under wraps from Lindstrand UK but I have contacts for that sort of thing and they graciously filled my need for a fix and brought it out to the field so I could touch, feel, oogle and hold this sweet thing....
The Lindstrand NOMAD..
The bag.... Oh so small... but not really.. it is 42 by 52 inches!!
Lifting it out of the bag and set up took less than ten minutes and we had no instruction nor direction. It was a snap. There was some thought that the cross straps needed a dual lock but by setting them the correct way... intuitive of us, they locked completely and stayed locked which made the frame super rigid.. in the end when we went to undo it after going.. uh duh.. you got one good yank down and they came completely loose. hard core panels are in the sides with velcro slots for ease of removal if needed but are in place for shipping and flying. If I had to wash the fabric is the only reason I could see to remove them. Floor is marine grade plywood just like my wicker basket. Velcro and straps and your up and done!
The step is sturdy enough to take me standing in it with no problem. There are lifting handles at the bottom and runners too..
So it seemed high to me until Mo stood in it and it looked just right. It is supposedly set at the UK govt rated height. Okay by me. If you had anyone who couldn't get in over the top you could just open a side and stick them in that way hahahaa. Super easy to re-velcro the sides.
Thick leather on the bottom frames and a good solid frame on the underside. Weep holes in case you have some low lying river water, though I think any water could escape easily LOL. I could do a hard landing in this bad boy and not worry about it. I might still want more padding on the insides of the long ends but that's me.
Strap loops for the tank straps to pass through to hold them in place as they wrap the two corner uprights and the tanks... Smart Lindstrand.. smart... you should have seen us looking over ever detail.
What I came up with but I think you got that ( we figured it out ) , was attachable hand holds for landings... some attachment points for equipment but you could probably attach to the cross bands I'd still like something to hang my flight bag and doc holder to.... ( maybe more hand straps ) Minor things that each Pilot might want different... but that's me.. that's who I am....
So now...... what color??????
Patturns Highperactive is bright yellow with blue and red checks.. and Patturns In Czech is white and soft yellow........
Oh decisions decisions......
