Brandon and Tyler fly

We had to wait for the wind gusts to die some last night, but eventually a pole grab was called at the field. Balloons went out into the country side east of the balloon field to find a launch location that would allow the winds to steer them back into the field. Brandon flew with Mark and made it to the field just as the targets were closing. Tyler flew with Max and landed just north of the field in property that was previously owned by Fay King.

This morning a five part task was called. 33 pilots scored on the first target (a maximum distance double drop), but no one was able to make it to any of the other targets. Attached are a picture or two from the launch site.

Playing in the Pasture

Sitting down on the job...


Last night they divided the competitors, half flew into the field and half flew off. Had a squirrelly inflation with the gusty conditions. Landed in a pasture and had to go through three locked gates to fetch the balloon.

This morning we had a three part task to fly. Took off to the southeast of the field (in Milo) and flew in. First target was on a dike, second target was on the field, and the third was off to the northwest. We opted to land at the field since there are limited amounts of landing opportunities after the third target before the Des Moines airport.

Another hazy morning

Had another hazy flight this morning. Matt Fenster called a 4 part task: a fly in task, maximum distance double drop, fly on task and a multiple judge declared goal. There was a decent left on the surface, but it mixed out with time making the last few targets much more difficult.

Went to the hall of fame after the flight to see both Malcom Forbes and Deke Sonnichsen get inducted into the ballooning hall of fame.

Looks good for a flight this evening with winds out of the east. More to come...

And their off!!

Easterly winds throughout the afternoon were gusty but dropped off nicely for the flight. Had a few virga showers around 10 thousand feet, but did not have any lasting affects on the flight.

Had a hare and hound from the field, with three hare balloons (Todd Isley, Jeremy Rubin, John Jensen). Ready for competition in the morning.

Hazy Morning

Although hazy, had a good flight this morning. Attached are a few photos. Mass ascension scheduled for tonight with competition officially beginning tomorrow morning.

Classic 2007 begins!

Made it down to Des Moines early this afternoon for the next balloon event. Weather was looking fairly marginal all the way out, with strong northeast winds along the way. However, when I got here winds were much lighter than I expected. There were some tall cumulus clouds in the area, but none of them were tall enough or efficient enough to produce precip and we were able to fly. Had a night glow after the flight as well, but I didn't get very many good photos. Will have to do better job on photography as the week goes along.

Indianola Event

In two days from now, I will be headed to Iowa for the National Balloon Classic. The weather for the event looks fairly favorable, so I am expecting lots of flying. If there is wireless internet available, I will try to post pictures on the blog...stay tuned.

Tag, you're it!

It is inevitable, I was bound to be tagged sooner or later and thanks to the Stroozwanger's it happened sooner as opposed to later. What is tagged you ask? It is a game where I need to supply eight random fact about myself. Here are the official rules:
-Players write a post with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
-At the end of that post, they "tag" eight (or in my case one since I don't know that many people that haven't been tagged already) bloggers to write similar posts, including the rules.
-The players then leave a comment to tell the "tag-gees". (besides, this will give Jenni a reason to create a new entry)

So here it goes:

1. Ballooning: Last August I took the plunge and bought a hot air balloon. I named it "High Hopes" after the last song Pink Floyd wrote. I am still working on my pilot's license, but hopefully will be well on my way this fall.

2. Concerts: Speaking of Pink Floyd, I just saw Roger Waters in concert a few weeks ago and was the best concert I had ever seen. My first professional concert was Billy Joel, way back on March 31, 1994.

3. Band: Speaking of music, back when I was a lad I was a band geek. My primary instrument was the trumpet, but I also played the flugel horn, the tuba, and rhythm section instruments throughout my short career.

4. Running: I love to run in my spare time and at one point seriously considered running a marathon. I have not dashed those hopes completely, but I will need to find more spare time than I have now to train if I ever get serious about it. For now, I will stick to the 5 and 10Ks.

5. Geography: I spend quite a bit of my spare time traveling. I have been in 27 of the 50 states and hope to hit all 50 down the road.

6. Balloon events: Way back in 1982, I attended my first balloon event in Indianola, IA at the ripe old age of three. Every year since then I have been back for at least part of the balloon event there with the exception of one year. Can anyone guess? 2003, shortly after I began my career with the National Weather Service.

7. Tornadoes: Back when I was in school, I was privileged to have the opportunity to storm chase with some well experienced chasers. Between the years of 2000 and 2003, I saw ten tornadoes. The strongest was an F3 on my first chase. This storm produced at least six tornadoes near Waterloo IA on May 11, 2000.

8. Grandparents: I proudly wear a ring on my right hand to remind me of my grandparents. The ring was originally my grandfather's which he was wearing when he passed away in an automobile accident in 1989. My grandmother gave me the ring when I graduated from college many years later. My grandparents were a huge influence on me as I grew up (I even lived with them for a while), and I would like to think I carry some of the wisdom they shared with me.

Who am I tagging?
Jenni

Final Competition Flight

On Sunday morning we had a final competitive flight. The pibal released by the officials had a predominantly southerly direction, while my forecast had more of a westerly component. We drove south of where the three targets were (hesitation waltz, a judge declared goal, and a hesitation waltz) and lost the pibal in a localized stratus deck at ~1500 feet. The wind direction off the pibal we launched was more out of the west than the south, so we relocated and launched a second pibal. This time, Ashley (one of the crew members) was able to follow the pibal to 5000+ feet. We got the balloon launched with a few minutes to go in the launch period and made our way to the first target. Al had a 14 meter drop on the first target, and made our way to the second target which was a gravity drop. Al had a 0.5 meter gravity drop and won the task. One of our team members Andy Baird had a1 meter drop and finished second. Congrats to Al and Andy!!
Our team also did well on the third target.
Final Results are:
1 Joe Heartsill
2 Johnny Petrehn
3 Nick Donner
4 Paul Petrehn
5 Owen Keown
6 Phil Glebe
7 Andy Baird
8 Kinnie Gibson
9 Jeremy Rubin (rookie of the year)
10 Steve Lombardi
11 Steve Jones
12 Al Nels
13 Joe Zvada
14 Jeff Bennett
15 Chase Donner
18 Todd Isley
20 Cory Bloom
24 Brad Craig
31 John Jensen
33 Christine Bertsch
41 Jim Thompson

Congrats to all!!

Low clouds lead to tourist traps

This is where the compound used to be...



Had low clouds the last two days so have not been able to fly. Instead we have hit up some of the tourist traps including the Texas Ranger Museum, the Branch Dividian Compound, a local movie theatre (to see I now pronounce you Chuck and Larry), and a local bowling alley. Today the rain was not as concentrated on the immediate Waco area, so we went creek walking on the south side of Waco. Fortunately, there were no snakes!!!

Busy Morning

We put the new map to work this morning with a four par task: pilot declared goal, maximum double drop, fly on task, and a three dimensional shape (like a wedding cake). We had to pick out own launch spot (south of the common launch point we have used the last few days). We are currently in 20th place with other members of our team sitting in the top 10. Had a fairly good morning this morning in the flight, so we are hoping to move up in the standing some.

Paul "Hollywood" Petrehn had a camera crew following him around on his flight this morning. He won the three dimensional shape, and did very well on the other targets as well. Way to go Paul!!

After the flight, went over to the Dr Pepper museum before attending a seminar on the future of competition. The Dr Pepper museum was small, but contained some interesting artifacts. The meeting was very informative, with a debate on the role of GPS loggers in competition.

The low clouds look to make a return visit again tomorrow, so we will see if we get a flight off... :-\

Mobile Map/Pool Party

Yesterday evening we made a map that much more accessible...by putting it on the hood of the chase truck. Attached are a few pictures of the process of the installation.

Later that evening, we went to a party sponsored by Curves at the local water park. It was a private pool party, with lots of good BBQ (thanks Curves!!)

First morning of competition

When I woke up this morning, the ASOS was reporting clear but a quick look out the window was suggesting otherwise. When I went outside the hotel for a good look, it appeared that a scattered to broken layer was attempting to develop at around 500 feet. This layer continued to flare up and down throughout the next few hours, including during portions of the flight.

Had three tasks early this morning from a common launch point:a pilot declared goal, a fly on task, and an elbow. At the first task, we had to go out into a very muddy corn field to measure the 40m drop. We didn't catch back up to Al on the second drop, but found it later in a heavily forested area after Al was down. Finally, there wasn't a ton of steerage for the elbow but those that were willing to ascend rapidly at the right time seemed to do fairly well.

Went to the zoo yesterday and to a seminar on competition mistakes presented by last year's National's champion Pat Cannon.

Am planning on hitting up the Dr Pepper factory, the Texas Ranger museum and maybe the compound at some point later this week.

Deflated Expectations

Originally, this looked like a great day for flying with tons of steerage (hard right near the surface). A series of tasks were called including a pilot declared goal, a fly in task, and a fly on task. After launching a pibal, we noticed a low deck of stratus starting to develop. We continued on, keeping our eyes to the sky as the deck continued to thicken. We scouted out a launch spot, and began to cold inflate. Just as we began adding heat to the balloon, the task was called due to the fog that had developed across the area. Attached are a few pictures of the group with deflated expectations. Also included is a picture of a Texas critter that decided he wanted to go for a ride. Plans are to head to the zoo today, hoping for more flyable weather soon!

Watch out Texas Critters!!

To go along with the rough and rugged terrain out here, Al decided to equip his truck with one nice Texas sized grill guard. Attached are a few pictures of the truck with the gang.