Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta - Last Evening

 

This was part of the grand finale of the 2015 Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta.  A couple of us went down to the park and saw the balloons up close.  It was a mass of humanity, but being close to the balloons being blown up was worth it. 

 

 

This was one of the more unique ways of getting the balloons out to the field.   You can see the basket in the back, since they hadn't unloaded it yet. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After it got too dark for pictures - more fireworks!!  Then - ice cream!



 

 

This event was great fun! 

 

Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta - Special Shapes

 

The other day at the Balloon Fiesta Park, the theme was special shapes.  Of the 500-600 hot air balloons in this Fiesta this year, I don't know how many special shaped balloons there were.  These are only a few of the balloons we saw.  It was great fun!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta - Day 5

 

This is day 5 of this fantastic event even though I've missed a few days by doing other things. This is the first day we took a shuttle from the casino to the actual field where the balloons take off. We started out from our RVs about 4:45 to get the shuttle the casino supplies for a small fee. 

 

It was still totally dark when we arrived at the gate and wandered out into the field where trucks were pulling trailers full of balloons and equipment into the area. We watched them as they spread out the balloons and started getting the other equipment together.

 

As the balloons were filled with hot air, they started to rise from the ground until the baskets were sitting upright. The balloons were still tethered to the ground and every once in a while you'd hear them give the propane burner a throttle just to keep the hot air in them.

 

They sat there a while, lighting up the balloons and then letting them go dark again until they needed more hot air.

 

When it became light enough, the balloons slowly started to rise. It took approximately 1-2 hours for most of the balloons to take off. We wandered around the field looking at all the different balloons and taking pictures.  Even the police were there.....

Hope you enjoy these photos......
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta - Day 2

 

 

This morning, I got up at 5:30 to see the balloons glow as they rose from the earth.  We saw them on the ground, glowing, but they never went up.  The balloons were delayed due to weather - ominous clouds surrounded the area.  By 7:30 or so, it was light and the first balloons started to rise.  I took a few shots and the pilots were lucky that it didn't rain.  The morning was still so they rose slowly and just drifted around.  I'm sure if it had started to rain, they would have landed and packed up before it got too wet.  Rain is not good for the balloons.

 

This little grouping shows a special shaped balloon - a fish bowl!  How cute!

 

 

 

This one is a little dog sitting among the other balloons, including a blue chicken who wouldn't turn around.

 

 

Not sure who this is - but the shaped balloons are cute!

 

 

Time is not moving fast today!

 

 

Tropical birds!

 

 

Whale!

 

 

Just another group with more to come in another few days.

 

 

 

 

Hot Air Balloons in Cortez, Colorado

I found out there would be a Hot Air Balloon Fest in a nearby town this weekend, so I called for information. I have been to a couple small balloon launches and it was fun watching the setup. The woman who answered the information phone told me where it was and then asked me if I wanted to be on a crew. I told her that sounded like fun and that I would like to do it.

When I arrived at the park launch site, at 6 AM (when I'm usually still sleeping), it was overcast and at the pilot briefing, there was a discussion if they should even launch because rain was predicted. The general consensus was that if the individual pilots felt it was safe, it was their decision.

I was set up as crew with a couple other people and trudged across the soggy lawn to the small trailer containing the balloon we were to set up. The first thing out of the trailer was the wicker basket, about 4' tall and maybe about 4' x 3'. It has a sturdy wooden floor, and it was easy to tip out of the trailer, but heavy to move away from the trailer. It had two large propane tanks in it also. The next thing to come out was a huge canvas bag containing the balloon itself, which they call an "envelope". It was heavy to move also, but as we started unloading it and moved the bag down the field, it got lighter. 

 

Luckily, one of the guys crewing was a balloon pilot also, so he knew how to set things up. The other two of us were given jobs as needed. While the two pilots set up the basket, the other novice and I were given the task of spreading out the balloon, which was laying on the ground. By then, the basket was laying down and the burner connected to 2 large propane tanks in the basket. There was a large fan powered by a Honda generator and while we held up the bottom part of the balloon (with a flexible hoop inside it), so that the fan could pump air into the balloon to inflate it. This took quite a while and my arms were getting tired, but it was fascinating to watch it inflate. There was so much material lying on the ground that we could look inside and see how much was left to inflate. 

When we finally got it all inflated, it was still lying on the ground, but when the burners were turned on and shot warm air into the balloon, it started to slowly rise. The pilot wanted to move further into the field to a less crowded spot, so he turned on the burners so the basket lifted off the ground slightly while the crew maneuvered it to where he wanted it.

Since he didn't have any paying customers, he said he was only going to do a couple take offs and landings and asked the first crew member if she and her 5 year old son wanted a ride. She wanted to go, but the son was scared so they declined. He turned to me and asked if I wanted a ride - I hopped into the basket (not as easy as it looks) as fast as I could.

 

I've been wanting to go on a balloon ride, but they're really pricey out here. I was so glad that I had this chance for a short trip. The only photos I had a chance to take were during the trip, since I was working during the assembly. It was a bit of a strange feeling to be floating along in the open air with just the sound of the burners once in a while when he needed a lift.

 

Halfway through the trip, he told me he was going to land and give the other pilot a ride. He brought it down in an open field, with just a few bumps. The other passenger got in and then I got out and headed over to the chase vehicle. We then followed the balloon to another open field where it seemed like most of them were landing. The second landing was a bit more bumpy, and when he finally set down he must have hit a soft spot because the basket tipped almost halfway over. I'm glad I had the first landing!



Then, of course, we had to pack it all up and stow it in the trailer. It was hard work for such a short trip, but I can see why these people fly balloons. I could get used to floating through the sky with very little noise. I guess I'll have to check to see where these balloon festivals are being held.

 

 

 

 

Hot Air Balloon Flights in Red Rock, New Mexico



 

 

Weekends are for balloon launching for tourists at the Red Rock Park in Gallup, New Mexico.  I checked with the balloon launching people the day before to be sure what time they’d be taking off, I didn’t want to miss the fun.  They told me they’d be there at 7 AM and launching at 7:30, at sunrise.  I got up at 6 AM to be sure I was awake enough and had breakfast before I left.  It’s still dark out there at 6 AM, and cold in the high desert. 

 

I got up and out at 7 AM so that I could see them set up the balloons.  They probably started preparing about a half hour after that.  There were four balloons going up and most of them laid out a giant tarp so they could spread out the balloon.  Since the propane flame throwers (for lack of a more specialized term) are mounted on the basket, the basket was laid down and people held up the edges of the balloon so that the hot air could be blown into the balloon’s interior with a fan.  When the balloon was full of hot air, it started to rise up from the tarp and the basket was placed in the upright position. 





Shortly after that, the pilot got in and made his last-minute checks and got his passengers in.  When everything was situated, he told the ground crew to detach the tether to the balloon.  With a few more quick blasts of more hot air, the balloon began to slowly rise.  As they gained altitude, the pilot kept adding more hot air as they drifted up and over the nearby hill.

 

                            

 

There were four balloons launched that day, one after another, just drifting away on the air currents.  The previous day, I had hiked a trail in the direction they were headed and I know that the scenery they would be seeing was spectacular. 

                            

 

The flights last anywhere from an hour to an hour and a half.  When they land, they notify their ground crew where they are so they can be met with the truck and the passengers get ferried back to the starting point.  Looks like a fun time, but way over my budget.  I had checked the prices when I was in Florida and it’s about half the cost there.  Still, it was a fun morning watching the liftoff. 



 

 

This is inside the balloon as it was being inflated.