Up, Up and Away in ...

New Mexico isn't the only place that has hot air balloons. In fact, you could have headed across the Mississippi from us  to one of the scheduled launches in Caledonia, Minnesota this past Sunday. Although there were beautiful blue skies, sadly, it was just way too windy.

Competition might involve a lead balloon landing and others attempting to land as close as possible to the basket/ dropping an  item at the basket. Sunday's gathering wasn't a race/competition but just for fun.

Since one can't steer a balloon but rather maneuver it, a pilot must know and understand wind velocities in addition to a lot of training and fly hours before taking a pilot's exam. Being a crew member initially is part of that training. The ground crew is responsible for following the balloon to be there for the balloon's landing.

But to not disappoint those present one hot air balloon was set up to show folks how the how the balloon is filled at the morning launch time. You can see how the wind is pushing in one side of the balloon.

Despite better wind conditions even at the 4:30 launch time, the ballooning was also cancelled. As we learned there are different velocities at different heights and even if a take off might have been possible, the landing would have been too dangerous.

Sharing a passion for hot air ballooning

A crew member from Nifty Gadget Ballooning filled us in on all this and how she became a balloonist when she was eyed at one such event to fly as a passenger for 'extra' weight.  She was hooked after that initial flight some 11 years ago. The pilot of that flight introduced her to another pilot buddy who is now her husband, a 30 year veteran pilot. 

Yep, both crews and spectators were disappointed Sunday as many had driven across the state to participate but realize how important safety is. 

We'll just have to wait for another time to see the beauty of those hot air balloons up in the sky and who knows may be even asked to ride in one for 'extra' weight... No insult taken. 

Here's a youtube clip :Would you like to ride in my beautiful balloon?