|
 This
year, Logan County along with much of Illinois has been plagued with
intense heat. The temperatures and humidity were so high that on
many days the heat indices or “feel like” temperature climbed into
the triple digits exceeding 110 degrees.
As local pilot and weekend founder Seth Goodman explained in a
social media post, the air inside a balloon must be at least 100 to
150 degrees higher than the outside temperature. This is hard to
accomplish when the outside temperature is nearing the century mark.
Plus it is hard on the pilots and the passengers in the basket to
experience the blow back of the excessive heat going into the
envelope of the balloon so it may lift off.
Therefore, it was decided that the media night would become a media
morning, to be held in the we hours of the day on Friday.
To the surprise of some, several pilots and volunteers arrived at
the Comfort Inn and Suites on Friday morning at 5:45 a.m., before
the sun was up, anxious to fly and volunteer for crewing those
balloons that would take to the sky as it turned from deep blue to
purple to gold, orange, and finally a hazy light blue with only
light clouds to add interest to the skyline.
This year, Lincoln Daily News was blessed to have
three people in baskets for the morning event. The first was LDN
stringer Heather Gaule who was joined by her daughter Ashten, who
had never been in a balloon.
The other two were John and Karen Castelein. John had
never been in a balloon either, and when offered the opportunity
wasted no time in saying yes he would love to go and would be
willing to write about his experience. John’s wife Karen, formerly
known as Karen Hargis of Lincoln Daily News, had been in a balloon
only once in her life and it was long before she worked for LDN. So
while she had a clue, for her it was also somewhat of a fresh new
experience. LDN was quite pleased when they learned that the pilots
of Tentai the Sequel, Jerry and Mary Ann Garcia of Albuquerque New
Mexico had called dibs on the LDN crew, saying that for many years
they have flown stringers representing Lincoln Daily News.
On the ground, Richard and Nila Smith would be part of the chase
team, working to keep up with the balloon once it launched.
After a short meeting in the parking lot of the motel, everyone
dispersed to their various vehicles and headed out to the Lincoln
Futbol Club Soccer Fields for the morning launch.
Before heading out, the pilots posed for a group
picture and then the Garcia’s with their crew member Ben Pankey and
the Casteleins posed for a picture, then it was off to the field and
the “up up and away” of the day.
During the inflation, Karen, John, and Smith were all taking
pictures of the inflation as Gaule worked the field as well,
preparing for her flight with her daughter and pilot Seth Goodman.
Being a part of this kind of action for the first time ever, the
Casteleins and Smiths all came to appreciate the effort it takes to
get a balloon in the air, and even more so, the effort it takes to
get it back on the ground and safely packed up for the road again.
The Garcia’s divide their responsibilities well as
Mary Ann noted, “On the ground I’m the boss, in the air he is.” When
the balloon was safely launched and flying into the sunrise, Mary
Ann and Ben finished loading up the truck and then the chase was on.
With the Smiths following behind, Garcia headed toward town. At
Fifth Street, she pulled off and said that she had lost the balloon
and had no radio contact. Smith had a cellphone and called Karen
Castelein to get a report of where they were, and the chase team was
off again.
Winding through town toward the Lincoln Park District, when they
arrived, they discovered that the balloon had taken a turn and was
now headed toward Rt. 121 and beyond. Back on the chase, the
vehicles sighted the balloon and passed it by, then a quick turn
around in the middle of the highway and they were back on track.
Through the country, down field roads and one lane black tops, the
chasers kept an eye for the balloon and found it about inline with
Beason, but out in the middle of the country, surrounded by corn and
soybean fields. From the air pilot Garcia could see what those on
the ground could not, a nice grass waterway that would lead back to
a hard road where the chase vehicles could reach them.
He set the basket down softly in the tall grass and kept the
envelope inflated until the chasers found the right spot and drove
right to the pilot and his passengers.
Then it was time to deflate the balloon, milk the air out of it and
pack it back into its bag for transport. As the crew including the
Casteliens worked, Smith took pictures, then stopped to help for a
while as well.
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As everyone was performing their duties, there came a
shout from across the way. “Welcome Balloonists to the land of corn
and soybeans!” Looking around the crew saw a man on the other side
of the drainage ditch, waving and smiling.
After a moment or two of chit chat, Dave Gleason,
waded through water above his knees to come to the other side of the
ditch and help get the balloon packed up.
He talked about how he loved the balloons, had crewed once or twice
for a balloon piloted by Jim House. He also had knowledge of the
Balloon Over 66 Weekend via his daughter Morgan Gleason, the former
Executive Director of the Logan County Tourism Bureau.
The day was growing warm, and the heavy work was taxing, but in the
end all the jobs were done, the balloon and the basket were safely
reloaded into the back of the chase vehicle.
Before heading back to town Jerry shared a story
about the invention of the hot air balloon. He explained how that
two French men watching smoke rise from chimneys in the late 1700s
surmised that if one could capture that heat it could be used to
fly.
The two put their theory to the test, building a
balloon and determining that they would fill it with smoke, black
smoke. The balloon did lift, and it flew much to their satisfaction.
However, when it came out of the sky in a field with peasant
workers, those workers thought it to be some sort of demon and
attacked the unmanned balloon with pitch forks, tearing it to
shreds. The two inventors continued on their quest, and for the next
flight, made the balloon with silk and launched it with three small
farm animals on board. Again the balloons flew and again the
peasants destroyed it thinking it to be something evil. However, the
test in the mind of the two French inventors had been successful,
and as thus, the successful flight was toasted with champagne.
Garcia said that is why to this day, the first flight is typically
celebrated with a champagne toast.
Now on this day, there was no champagne on hand, but
as the temperatures were rising, and the work had been hard, the
bottles of ice-cold water handed out instead were by far the most
desirable beverage.
With the toast completed, it was time to find the hard road again
and head back to the motel before setting off to enjoy the rest of
the day.
It is with great gratitude that Lincoln Daily News thanks the
Garcia’s and their beautiful balloon Tentai the Sequel for a
memorable adventure.
Thanks also to Seth Goodman for taking great care of
Heather and Ashten and providing them also with a memory for their
scrap book and the pages of Lincoln Daily News.
[Nila Smith with photos by Smith, Castelein and Gaule] |
