On (28 Sep 03) Cindy Haglund wrote to Frank Vest...

Hello Cindy,

 CH>   I'm thinking of poor Dorothy as the good Professor (AKA little man
 CH>   behind the curtain) rides off ... er takes flight! back over
 CH>   the Rainbow.... when his balloon took off too soon without her.
 FV> Other than those couple of times when the pilot fell out of the
 FV> balloon on launch, we've never lost anyone. (joke)

 CH>  How deep is the basket? :) People have to sit strapped in or can they
 CH> stand up so as to see?

If you're a nice looking young female, the pilot might strap you
down. (joke)

Actually, the basket is about 3 feet tall on lowest part. Probably 4
feet on the corners. No chairs or straps. You stand for the flight and
look any direction you desire.

Other than the noise when the pilot is firing the burners, it's quiet
and peaceful. You're low enough to see the fields, roads, buildings
and other stuff. If you've ever played with one of those toys that
looks like a city with the cars and such, it's amazing how similar
things look from the balloon. I wonder if those toys weren't made from
someone's experience in a balloon. :-)  Yes, the fields really do look
like that. :)

 FV> Lots of that flight just isn't the way it is. :-) Each balloon is
 FV> supposed to be tethered to some kind of anchor (normally it's the
 FV> chase vehicle) to prevent a take off before everything is ready. The
 FV> crew also helps hold the balloon down until the pilot is ready to
 FV> launch.

 CH>  When is the next fest in Plano to be held. Perhaps now that we know
 CH> what to expect we'll bring a couple beach chairs, a deck o'cards and

Next year.

 CH> stick around longer :) We had sat up by the fence. There was some
 CH> shade had by the banner there. Sure was a nice day. ((Loved those corn
 CH> dogs!))

Corn dogs are the reason to go to the fair or other events. :)

 FV> The chase vehicle has to chase the balloon for an hour or more and
 FV> then has to go back to the launch site to drop off the passengers and
 FV> crew. Since chase vehicles have to be big enough to pull a trailer and
 FV> carry the passengers and crew, the mileage isn't that good on those
 FV> vehicles.

 CH> Wouldn't it be at all possible to navigate the balloon back to the
 CH> launch field given the wind cooperated? A round trip sort of flight?

Not impossible, but not very likely. If the wind is blowing north, the
currents at different levels (heights) might vary some, but the
general direction is north only. Balloons go up and down. That's the
only real control of direction that they have.

With that said, I've been told that at the Albuquerque festival it is
sometimes possible to fly back to the launch site because the festival
is in a kind of valley and the sides of the "dish" tend to make the
air blow from one direction at low level and the opposite at a higher
level. This is very rare, though.

 FV> Add in repairs, insurance and other things like that and it adds up
 FV> real fast. :)

 CH>  Yep. It does. I'm trying to recall what the longest Balloon flight in
 CH> history has been. (Yes I know go look it up but if you do know then
 CH> that would be a fine conversation get goer.)

Hot air, gas or combination balloon??   I have no idea on the records,
but the type of balloon makes a difference.


Frank

http://pages.sbcglobal.net/flv
http://biseonline.com/r19

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