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From the very first year, Lincoln
Daily News has been a huge proponent of the Balloons Over 66
weekend. It is a very exciting weekend for staff and stringers and
we do our very best to cover as many of the events as we have the
manpower to do so.
One of the important events of the weekend that is always covered is
the early Saturday morning fly-in. Each balloon event is unique in
its own way. What is unique about covering the fly-in from the
viewer perspective is the atmosphere and the feeling of calm
followed by excitement.
The calm comes at the beginning. Even in the hottest of years, the
Saturday morning fly-in is the coolest event of the weekend. The air
at 6:30 a.m. is cool if not a wee bit chilly. There is sometimes a
misty fog hanging in the air that adds to this calming quiet that
envelopes the landing site. The grass is always a little wet and
arriving at the landing location with a hot cup of coffee is like
sitting happily on the patio at dawn inhaling the steam, sipping the
brew, and feeling a gently breeze caressing the face and stirring
the hair.
As the clock ticks toward 7 a.m., anticipation builds as our eyes
scan the skies waiting for the first glimpse of the first hot air
balloon to approach. When that moment comes, then it is excitement,
as we watch these giant orbs of silk-like material float gracefully
across the sky, the pilot and his passengers anxiously hoping that
when they drop their bean bag on the target, it will indeed not only
hit the target but be the one that lands closest to its center.
After that first balloon, business picks up as one by one,
beautiful, brightly colored balloons crest the horizon and start
their approach to the target.
Over the course of about 30 minutes
everyone on the ground waits and watches, sometimes holding our
breath in anticipation, until we see the bag exit the basket and
land near the target.
When it is over we pack up and leave with mixed emotions. The first
emotion, complete satisfaction that we were able to witness the
event and enjoy that hour of peace and excitement. The second
emotion, a slight sadness that it is over, because to us at least,
it was the perfect time of day, and the perfect way to start the
day, and we wish that we could carry that feeling with us for the
rest of the day.
Having done this every year, literally since the Balloons Over 66
weekend has existed, those memories are embedded in our brains, and
we can call them up anytime we need or want them.
This year, LDN chose to look at the fly-in from the flip side of the
coin, the view of the pilot and his or her passengers for the
fly-in. Looking at it from this viewpoint, the fly-in is almost
completely different, beginning with starting the day at 5:45 a.m.
instead of 6:30 a.m.
On Saturday morning, pilots who were going to do the fly-in were to
meet for the pilots meeting at the Comfort Inn and Suites on
Lincoln’s far west side. They were to be joined by their crew
members and as everyone, some of us still a little sleepy eyed,
gathered we heard from event organizer Seth Goodman and his helpers
about the weather conditions, particularly the direction of the
wind.
To reach the landing site, the pilots need to know the wind
direction and they need suggestions from Goodman on the best
location to go for inflation and lift off, in order to get the
balloon to the landing site. Remember, there are no steering wheels
on a hot air balloon. There may be a few things a pilot can do to
maneuver a balloon, but for the most part it is literally going to
go where the wind takes it.
Saturday morning, Goodman told the pilots that the wind was coming
from the southwest, which meant the pilots would need to be south of
and west of Open Arms Church for their inflation and launch. He
offered suggestions such as in the vicinity of the Elks Golf Club.
When the meeting was concluded, the pilots and crews headed out to
find a good launch spot, many of them heading directly into the area
Goodman had suggested.
Now, Dean Carlton is from Danville, a farm boy born and raised in
that area, who has enjoyed a successful career in computer sciences
working I.T. But, he might just as well be from the “show me” state
of Missouri, because his plan of action included going directly to
Open Arms Church and seeing for himself “how the wind blows there.”
For some of the spectators already at Open Arms it was a little
confusing, as Wagz and a few other like-minded pilots pulled in,
found the target, jumped out of their vans and started conducting
their own observations. They then loaded back up and headed out. On
the way out, one such spectators flagged down LDN and asked if the
event was canceled. LDN was happy to share what we knew, and told
the fellow to spread the words, the balloons would be flying in
soon!
Carolton took LDN and the crew on a rather interesting tour of
Lincoln. He left Open Arms and headed to Illinois Rt. 121 here he
turned to go toward Mt. Pulaski. Knowing the area as we do, LDN
guessed we were heading to Chester-East Lincoln School – wrong. We
turned onto Pulaski and headed toward downtown. Again we know these
streets, we’re going to wind around and go to the high school –
wrong again. Maybe Oddfellows? Nope. We headed to South Kickapoo.
Okay, maybe somewhere down around the waste treatment plant but no,
not there either. Under the viaduct and a sharp left. Where on earth
are we going? Maybe the city’s landscape waste facility? Sorry, but
wrong yet again. Back up Business 55 and to Fifth Street for another
left turn. After all that, we’re headed to the Elks!! And for the
final time, we guess wrong.
Carlton turned his van into the parking lot at Park Meadows Church,
and alas he had found the spot where he wanted to inflate.
When we see the balloons flying in
on Saturday morning they are fully constructed and beautiful. Unless
we have been to the Friday night launch, we do not fully understand
how that happens. Being a part of the team, we get the full
experience and know that a hot air balloon is “built” from the
ground up at every launch. The bits and pieces from the basket to
the burners the legs, the lines, and, of course, the balloon called
the envelope are laid out on the ground, and crew begin the work.
Set the basket upright on the
ground, get out the burner and put the legs on it. Carry the burner
with its legs on to the basket and mount it. Secure all that, then
check to make sure the burner fires. Carlton sits on the lip of the
basket shifting his weight to assist the crew who then tips the
basket over on its side. Carlton lands on his feet standing between
the basket lip and the burner.
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Lines are attached to the
burner’s legged frame on one end and the envelope on the other.
And the big fan is drug out of the van and set into place to
start with a “cold” air inflation.
Crew members are assigned to hold
the mouth of the envelope open so the air from the fan will go where
it is needed. The fan does the work of unfolding the deflated
envelope while crew members help it along by pulling out the gathers
on the bottom side.
Then comes the burners.
Just for the record, that cool
morning air on Saturday left some of us shivering ever so slightly
as we donned jackets to warm us up while we watched the steam roll
off of our coffee. BUT, for those who are fortunate enough to be
with the crew the heat that comes from those burners not only fills
the balloon with hot air, that warmth kicks back and surrounds the
crew. Like a warm electric blanket on a cold winter night, it feels
glorious.
As the heat builds inside the
envelope, the balloon rises up off the ground of its own accord and
the crew gathers around the basket intent on not only getting it
upright, but then holding it down, because once inflated that
balloon is ready to fly whether the rest of us are or not!
A few more bursts from the burners
and Carlton and his passenger get in the basket and the crew allows
the basket to rise a few inches off the ground. They then, under the
direction of the pilot walk the balloon a short distance from the
inflation site. He then tells them all to let go, and we watch in
awe the ascension of that beautiful orb into the heavens.
Saturday morning the wind was
traveling at a pretty good clip. Because the balloon, having nothing
but wide open spaces while us who are earth bound have to contend
with roads, reaches Open Arms and has landed by the time we get
there.
So, what happened in the interim. Mindy Browning, from southern
Illinois and a sister to Nila Smith of Lincoln Daily News, was the
passenger, flying for the first time in her life in a hot air
balloon. She said it was spectacular. She loved seeing the world
from a loftier height and loved the sensation of floating.
Browning noted that she had heard many people say that in the air,
it is amazingly still and silent, and said it is true. That was hard
to imagine because, as many of us will attest, we often hear the
burners of a balloon before we actually see it. She said somehow,
the burners don’t sound all that loud in the basket, and the
peacefulness of the flight overrides whatever noise those burners
may make.
Browning said as the balloon approached Open Arms it was traveling
pretty fast. Carlton, erring on the side of caution, had her crouch
down in the basket and prepare for a hard landing (which didn’t
happen by the way). She said she didn’t see him toss his bean bag at
the target, but the balloon itself landed just mere feet from the
big red “X” and she felt confident that he had come very close.
A quick check with Seth Goodman after the fact, confirmed it. Dean
Carlton had hit the target and won the competition. We guess being a
“show me” kind of guy worked out pretty well for the pilot.
For the weekend, Dean and his wife Angie were accompanied by Dean’s
sister Donna aka DeeDee. DeeDee is also a pilot. Each year, pilots
have to go through a certification so they can keep their license.
This was DeeDee’s weekend. She had been the leader of the crew on
Friday night and had flown the balloon from Open Arms to the Dugan
Center and landed successfully.
The last step of the re-certification was for her to lead the
Saturday morning champagne toast and prayer that is to be given for
each new flyer, which was Browning.
DeeDee told the story of how that the balloons were first created
and flown in France and how that with no television news or social
media, the peasants of the country, most farmers, did not know what
the giant orbs were. Because the first balloons were filled with
smoke not just hot air, they would come over the horizon not only
noisily but with smoke pouring from the belly of the balloon. The
farmers, fearing it was some kind of evil, unearthly monster, be it
from the pits of Hades or a world beyond the sun, would attack the
balloon with their pitchforks, in essence killing the monster. The
first balloons were “manned” with farm animals that would run away
before the peasants got there, so it was an unmanned (and unanimaled)
tyrant in their eyes, and they celebrated when they successfully
killed it.
The first manned balloon was ridden by Francois Pilatrę de Rozier,
who was a member of the monarchy. It was he who came up with a
solution of carrying champagne on that first manned flight. When he
landed, he greeted the farmers with the exquisite alcohol and was
able to stop them from “killing” the balloon.
DeeDee told the story to Browning, then delivered the toast. This is
done in a unique way. Browning was to get down on her knees with the
cup of champagne sitting in the grass in front of her. There is an
official prayer that is delivered.
Paraphrased, the payer says that God had seen the balloon and its
passenger and had lovingly and laughingly lifted it up and carried
it through the sky before gently setting it down in a new location,
leaving the pilot safe and sound to fly another day.
After the prayer, browning was told that she was to stay on her
knees, bend over the cup, pick it up with her teeth, tilt it and
drink it. When she bent down, her head was christened with water,
then she got the cup, tipped it up, and successfully drank the
champagne.
Browning said it was the experience of a lifetime. In her late 50s,
she is checking items off of her bucket list, and this was a big
one.
It was a big one for Lincoln Daily News as well. Witnessing, and
even helping out once in a while, the building of a balloon and the
process of lifting off and floating across the skies, brought a new
awareness and understanding of what it takes to be as DeeDee so
laughingly calls it an “AustroNUT.”
Oh that everyone could enjoy that kind of crazy!
[Nila Smith]
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