Balloon Flying Competition
Monday, Oct. 6, 2008
A flying competition was scheduled for Monday morning at 7 a.m. In this
competition, the balloons take off from the launch field about a mile
away, fly towards a target, come in low, toss a beanbag at the target,
and then fly on to a landing field. The target was laid out on the field
in front of our Roadtreks, so we had front row seats to watch the
competition. Of course, this assumes the winds are favorable to carry
the balloons from the launch field to the target.
The weather looked good, the winds were a bit gusty, but generally favorable, and so the balloons launched and headed our way.
However, the winds shifted and carried most of the balloons too far to
the east, so they missed the target field. (Photo courtesy of Pat
Manning.)
For some reason, a couple of balloons did better and headed in the
right direction. This one was coming right over our Roadtreks. (Photo
courtesy of Pat Manning.)
He is still on target.
The balloon came in over the target field, dropping to only a few feet
off the ground. (If they hit the ground they are disqualified.). While
the pilot controlled the balloon, the passenger tossed the beanbag at
the target. I couldn't see how close he got to it.
Here comes a second balloon, on course towards the target.
He seemed to be heading too far to the east, but close enough that he
had a chance of tossing the beanbag to the target. (Photo courtesy of
Pat
Manning.)
Oops, he hit the ground. This disqualifies him. Too bad.
The wind started carring the balloon sideways, tipping the basket, so
personnel working for the balloon fiesta rushed to help the pilot bring
the balloon down safely.
The basket is down, on its side, but the balloon needs to be deflated.
The vents at the top were opened to allow the balloon to deflate. (Photo courtesy of Pat Manning.)
Finally, the balloon was safely down. The balloon's ground crew came
with a trailer, loaded up the balloon and took it away. (Photo courtesy
of Pat
Manning.)
In the competition on this day, these two balloons were the only ones
to get close to the target; the others drifted too far off. The
Roadtrek rally ended at noon on the this day, so most people, us
included, packed up and left. Later we got an e-mail from Jim Koch, one
of the rally masters, that said, "As chance would have it, ideal
weather prevailed at Balloon Park as soon as our rally ended. The few
Roadtreks that stayed over until Tuesday or Wednesday witnessed a sky
filled with balloons directly overhead and landing on our field, and
even on our asphalt tarmac. Such is fate!"