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 This
particular launch, being a hare and hounds target competition, meant
that one balloon was inflated and launched first, followed by all of
the others. This first balloon, known as the hare, is chased by the
other balloons, called hounds. The goal of the hounds is to seek out
the hare, and throw a bean bag from the air to the target on the
ground, close to the hare.
Hundreds of spectators gathered to watch, covering the grounds of
the old Lincoln Christian University campus. The hare this
particular evening was Seth Goodman’s Honest Abe balloon. Once
Goodman’s balloon was airborne, it began traveling northwest.
Several minutes after the hare took off, all the hounds began to
lift off as well. The spectators would applaud each time a balloon
took off. After a while, the balloons began to take off more and
more frequently, making it impossible to applaud each one.
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The sight of so many balloons taking off at once and
filling the early evening sky was a beautiful one. Many in
attendance were taking photographs with everything from cell phone
cameras to professional photography cameras. As each balloon lifted
off the ground, the flight teams would enter their vehicles and
slowly make their way to the road, chasing their balloon. By the
time most of the balloons had left the ground, many of the
spectators were leaving as well.
[Matt Boutcher] |
