April 1, 2000 - Maiden Flight

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April 1, 2000 - Maiden Flight

It flies!
[Click on thumbnails to see full size pictures]

This morning is the maiden "shake-down" flight of the new (to us) balloon. It's a 1988 Cameron V-77 with a MkIV single burner. It's pictured just after inflation this morning, in a small field at the back of a local store where we have permission to launch. The kids want to call the balloon either "Sunstripes" or "Big Green" (go figure).

We've rigged the balloon and cold-inflated it with the fan. It's taken a bit longer than usual since this is the crew's first time inflating the balloon for actual flight, although we did inflate it and tether it a few weeks ago. It's just about time to hot-inflate the balloon. Santo, my instructor, wants me to inflate the balloon today, another first. That's him at my left at the mouth, keeping a close eye on things.

Hot inflation. There has to be a first time for everything, and this is mine. A curious mixture of excitement and fear (of burning the fabric, that is!).

The balloon is now standing up, fully inflated. Here we're looking vertically upward inside the balloon at the parachute vent.

Another shot inside the balloon on the ground, this time with the burner going. In the foreground you can see 4 of the 8 Kevlar cables that connect the envelope of this 8-gore balloon to the burner frame. In the upper right part of the picture, you can see one of the two turning vents (there are two on this balloon - one for clockwise and one for counter-clockwise rotation).

"I can't come back - I don't know how it works!" We're off. Santo waves goodbye to the crew, who will have a very relaxed morning, as there was relatively little chasing and a lot of sitting and waiting for us to go somewhere! We covered about 1.5 miles in 40 minutes, taking advantage of the light surface wind conditions to do some practice landings in some large fields literally across the road from the launch site.

A "crews eye view" from the chase vehicle shortly after takeoff. It's quite clear we have only just crossed the road.

Since the winds are so light, and we now have a good handle on the layers available to us, we have chosen a field a mile ahead for landing, and we're navigating there. The crew watches our initial approach over the local K-Mart while pulled over on Route 10.

We radio the crew to tell them of our choice of landing site, and direct them to a dirt road at the downwind end of the field. Here we come - right on target! Macarena is standing on the field, ready to put weight on when we land.

Previous flight Next flight Back to the main ballooning page

April 1, 2000 - Maiden Flight It flies! [Click on thumbnails to see full size pictures]
	This morning is the maiden "shake-down" flight of the new (to us) balloon. It's a 1988 Cameron V-77 with a MkIV single burner. It's pictured just after inflation this morning, in a small field at the back of a local store where we have permission to launch. The kids want to call the balloon either "Sunstripes" or "Big Green" (go figure).
	We've rigged the balloon and cold-inflated it with the fan. It's taken a bit longer than usual since this is the crew's first time inflating the balloon for actual flight, although we did inflate it and tether it a few weeks ago. It's just about time to hot-inflate the balloon. Santo, my instructor, wants me to inflate the balloon today, another first. That's him at my left at the mouth, keeping a close eye on things.
	Hot inflation. There has to be a first time for everything, and this is mine. A curious mixture of excitement and fear (of burning the fabric, that is!).
	The balloon is now standing up, fully inflated. Here we're looking vertically upward inside the balloon at the parachute vent.
	Another shot inside the balloon on the ground, this time with the burner going. In the foreground you can see 4 of the 8 Kevlar cables that connect the envelope of this 8-gore balloon to the burner frame. In the upper right part of the picture, you can see one of the two turning vents (there are two on this balloon - one for clockwise and one for counter-clockwise rotation).
	"I can't come back - I don't know how it works!" We're off. Santo waves goodbye to the crew, who will have a very relaxed morning, as there was relatively little chasing and a lot of sitting and waiting for us to go somewhere! We covered about 1.5 miles in 40 minutes, taking advantage of the light surface wind conditions to do some practice landings in some large fields literally across the road from the launch site.
	A "crews eye view" from the chase vehicle shortly after takeoff. It's quite clear we have only just crossed the road.
	Since the winds are so light, and we now have a good handle on the layers available to us, we have chosen a field a mile ahead for landing, and we're navigating there. The crew watches our initial approach over the local K-Mart while pulled over on Route 10.
	We radio the crew to tell them of our choice of landing site, and direct them to a dirt road at the downwind end of the field. Here we come - right on target! Macarena is standing on the field, ready to put weight on when we land.