|
 On
Friday Mindy and Andrew helped crew the balloon and Mindy was
scheduled to fly at the evening event. On Saturday their son Robert
joined them and the trio crewed the balloon for the morning and
evening events.
Mindy was scheduled to go up with Carlton on the Friday evening
flight, but fate got in the way, and the plan was moved to Saturday
evening. On Saturday evening, again the lift-off did not happen. For
some this would have been a huge disappointment, but for the
Brownings what they took away from the weekend was a new friendship,
a heightened interest in ballooning all around, and a promise from
Dean that they would try again next year. The Brownings already have
the event on their schedule for next year, and are looking forward
to reuniting with their new friend at the 2025 Balloons Over 66
Weekend.
But, in the meantime, the trio know a lot more about ballooning than
they did last Thursday. They found Dean Carlton to be the best guy
to not fly with, as he made the event fun, entertaining, and
educational.
On Friday evening, 34 balloons gathered at the open
field on the east side of the Open Arms Church for the first flight
of the weekend. This was to be the Hare & Hound Race and pilots were
looking forward to seeking out the Hare and dropping a bean bag in
an attempt to hit the target the hare laid out. Those balloonists
were the Hounds hunting the rabbit.
The evening began at the Comfort Inn motel with the pilots meeting,
and volunteer crew members waiting outside to be assigned to their
pilots. When they came out, everyone was split up into groups and
headed out to Open Arms.
When they arrived, Carlton shared that he was using a borrowed van
from his sister who is also a pilot. At the 11th hour, Carlton’s van
developed a mechanical issue and could not be driven. He quickly
emptied the sister’s balloon of its equipment and transferred his
own into it.
At the church, the crew learned about putting
together the basket which arrives on the scene in parts. The basket
is dragged out, then the burner assembly. To the burner assembly the
“legs” are added so that the burner will stand a few feet above the
basket and the balloon.
Once the legs are on, the entire assembly is lifted and mounted onto
the basket. There are plenty of cables, gas lines, and other stuff
that has to be dealt with to get the burner assembly in place.
Then vinyl “sleeves” are zipped onto the legs of the
burner assembly. These provide a cushion around the poles and also
help conceal some of those line.
Once those are all taken care of, it is time for the balloon or
“envelope.” It was here that Friday evening got a little more
complicated. Carlton asked for his helper to grab the bag with the
envelope out of the van. The helper took off but returned in just a
second and said he couldn’t see the bag. Carlton checked and
confirmed, the envelope was not in the van and neither was the fan
that would be needed to start the cold air portion of the inflation
process.
Though frustrating, the good part of the story is that Carlton is an
Illinois pilot from the Danville area. He said he would drive back
home get the rest of his gear and be back for the morning lift off.
On Saturday morning, Carlton was back in the field at Open Arms,
this time with his envelope and fan. The first part of the process
was rinse and repeat for the Brownings as they had gone through all
the steps of getting the basket and burners ready for inflation. For
Robert it was new, but he took to it very quickly. Soon the group
was ready for the actual inflation.
They went through the process of unbagging the
envelope and getting it laid out in a rope-like trail away from the
basket. The fans were turned on and two people manned the pull cord
for the top air release on the balloon while two stood at the
opening of the balloon holding the mouth wide open to receive the
cold air that would be blown in by the high-powered fan.
With the balloon about one-third inflated with cold air, it was time
for the burners to be deployed to fill the balloon with the hot air
needed to rise. This takes some time, but when the balloon slowly
begins attempting to stand, it is well worth the wait.
Once the balloon is fully inflated, keeping it on the
ground takes sheer muscle. Often times, spectators will note that as
the balloons stand up, there is a crowd of people who gather around
the edges of the basket while others get inside. Some might think
that this is some kind of unique “groupie” ritual like fans swooping
around a famous rock star. But the fact is, it takes every one of
those people to hold the balloon down and keep it from taking to the
skies prematurely.
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On Saturday morning, Carlton and his chosen Saturday
morning guests entered the basket while the Brownings and others
helped hold the balloon to the ground.
Carlton did not fly on Saturday morning, though several balloons
did. Those balloons took part in target competition choosing a lift
off location away from Open Arms, flying in and dropping a bean bag
on a target.
Toward the end of the inflation Carlton invited
Andrew and Robert Browning to stand inside the basket with him and
his guest. On Saturday evening, it would be Mindy who had the chance
to stand in the basket during the inflation and glow.
When it comes time to deflate the balloon the process is almost as
complicated as putting it up. The burners are no longer used, and as
the air inside the balloon starts to cool, the envelope begins to
deflate, leaning dramatically, seeking the ground. A cord is pulled
that dislodges the plugged hole at the top of the balloon, and more
air is released. The balloon falls gracefully to the ground and then
the work begins.
As the balloon collapses, it doesn’t lose all its
air. Laying on the ground, there is now a process that must be
followed to make the balloon as small as possible. Each pilot has
their own method and tools for accomplishing this task. For Carlton
there is a large metal tool that can best be described as a
misshapen paperclip. The envelope is threaded into the center of the
tool at the basket end, then two people slowly walk from the basket
end to the top of the ballon pushing the air out ahead of them.
The task is not as easy as it sounds because that last gulp of air
is the one the balloon most desires to hang onto. The air builds up
in front of the tool like when you begin squishing air out of a
plastic bag starting at the open end instead of the boxed end.
Carltons crew pushed the air out once, then went back and did it a
second time, to make the envelope as small as possible. Then the bag
the ballon is stored it is taken to the top of the envelope and the
crew carefully starts layering the balloon into the bag. The bag
gets heavier and heavier as the envelope is stuffed inside and the
bag is moved toward the basket end. Finally though, the balloon is
all in and the bag is closed and ready to be stored away.
For the Carlton crew, the next steps is to get the
burner assembly taken apart and every piece put back into its proper
storage containers. Then the envelope, burner assembly, fan and
other equipment is loaded into the van using a lift at the back of
the vehicle.
The last piece of the puzzle is getting the basket ready for travel.
The back doors to the van are shut and the lift is brought back to
the ground. The basket is manhandled onto the lift by the crew, and
the lift is raised back up. A cover is placed on the basket to
protect it from weather, and the van is packed loaded and ready for
travel.
On Saturday evening, fate took over in the form of Mother Nature,
and once again Wagz did not make it to fly. There was a pilot’s
meeting at 5 p.m. where it was announced that wind speeds were at
that moment unsafe for flying.
The group spread out, transport vehicles were scattered around the
field at Open Arms, and it was announced that there would be another
pilot’s meeting at 6 p.m.
At 5 p.m. spectators were already gathered in masse at Open Arms
with more coming by the minute. Those who were there could easily
see and feel how windy it was on the ground and could definitely
understand the concerns of the pilots.
What becomes difficult is when the wind dies down,
and it is still determined that flight would be risky. At 6 p.m.
wind speeds on the ground were considerably less, but up in the sky
where the balloons would ultimately need to be in order to fly,
those speeds were still above the ideal 10 miles per hour.
The pilots were advised of the wind conditions and told they could
make their own decisions about lift off. Indeed a few of the
balloons did fly Saturday night, but not nearly all of them.
Carlton is a veteran pilot who has flown for many years. He said
that with what he knows and has experienced he would err on the side
of caution, choosing not to fly with guests on board. Mindy was
scheduled to be that guest, but said that in her opinion if a
veteran pilot says it would be better to stay on the ground, she
would take his word for it and gladly wait for some other time.
However, that didn’t stop the Brownings from having a
really good time with the Saturday evening glow. Mindy did get her
turn in the basket, and Andrew and Robert walked away at the end of
the night with a touch of the ballooning fever. While the three may
never pilot a balloon, they all three agreed that at any given time,
they will be on hand to the crew, especially when the pilot is Dean
Carlton.
As the three said their good-byes to Carlton, he told them that they
would try again next year, and that he was going to put them down as
his invited guest and crew for 2025 Balloons Over 66. The Brownings
already have the date marked on their calendar and are looking
forward to next year, when perhaps fate will play in their favor.
[Nila Smith] |
