The 45th Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta (AIBF) opened on Saturday. This annual event starts on the first Saturday in October and runs for nine days – the final lift-off is on the second Sunday of the month.

My plan was to meet up with the rest of the crew at the entrance to the Balloon Fiesta Park and ride in with them. The entrance to the park is only about a quarter of a mile from our coach on the north side of Alameda Boulevard. My alarm sounded at 5am. I thought this would give me time for cup of coffee and light breakfast before I headed out. As soon as I rolled out of bed my phone rang. It was our crew chief, Yonnie, advising me they were 15 minutes away.

I quickly dressed and brushed my teeth and went out the door. Luckily the gate at the northwest corner of the RV area was open, so I had a short walk to the Balloon Fiesta Park entrance. I stood by the entrance in the dark looking for our pilot Brad Rice in his Infinity SUV with the balloon trailer. An Audi Q7 stopped and I heard someone calling my name. I jogged over and got in, wondering who’s car it was. It was another crew member, Jeff, and his wife Katie. Aaron was also with them. We drove in and parked in the south lot.

Brad drove in behind us. Brad got us into the Intel hospitality tent where they were dishing up breakfast burritos and coffee. Yum! I was thinking I missed out on my breakfast, but a big egg, hash brown and sausage burrito with cheese filled me.

The next order of business was the mandatory daily pilot’s briefing. This takes place at 6:15am on the west side of the launch field. Five hundred and fifty pilots and balloons were registered for the event – many more applied but 550 is the limit. Each morning several pilots have their number called at random and they must report to the FAA officials to ensure they attended the meeting. It wouldn’t be practical to have a roll call with 550 pilots.

The dawn patrol goes up before sunrise. These are specially licensed balloons with running lights that can lift off in the dark. They give the rest of the pilots a good visual clue of what the winds aloft are doing.

After the briefing it was time to get to work. We had plenty of manpower – our pilot is a local Albuquerque resident and many of his friends come out to help on the weekend. The core crew group is Yonnie, Aaron, Darren and me. Alex comes out when he can and also Jeff. During the weekdays, we lose a few of the guys due to work commitments, but there’s always someone to fill in. We set up the basket and laid out the envelope after sunrise.

We’re in row “H”, so we have to wait while balloons south of us launch before we can be released to launch. We try to coordinate our set-up to be ready with time to spare, but not too early as it wastes fuel to sit on the ground with the balloon inflated. With all the manpower we had Saturday morning, we set up a little too quickly. We start the inflation process by blowing air into the envelope with a large gasoline engine-powered fan. This is called cold inflating. With our quick set-up, we ended up with a long cold inflation period. Darren and I man each side of the throat of the balloon – the opening at the bottom of the envelope. We hold it open so air can blow in and we stabilize it so the envelope remains oriented properly. This can be difficult at times because the sponsor banner, which is on top of the prone envelope is heavy and wants to roll to one side or the other and any wind component will also roll the balloon. We were wrestling with the lines at the throat for a long time before Brad hit the burners and the hot air stood the envelope and basket up.

Brad’s wife Jessica went up along with another passenger, Bryan. Although they own the balloon, Jessica hadn’t been up in it for several years.

Officials at the launch site called Zebras – they dress like a football referee in striped outfits – give the go ahead to launch. Brad hits the burners and lifts the basket about a foot off the ground. We walk it away from the crowd and vehicles and he gives the “hands off” command and heats the balloon to lift off.

After the launch, we gather up gear and head out to give chase.

Sometimes it’s hard to pick out the balloon among the hundreds in the sky. It’s good for one or more of the chase crew to keep eyes on it – once you lose sight of it it can be a little scary.

Brad made a tricky landing southwest of the park in a small clearing – he had to avoid trees and a wall around the clearing. Jessica and Bryan jumped out and Brad went back up in the balloon with another passenger for a short hop and landed again in another small clearing with a few other balloons in it. The ground wind had picked up considerably, but it was a successful landing.

While we were breaking the balloon down, we heard a loud pop – like a gunshot. It was followed by a hissing sound, making us think a tire had blown. A quick walk around the Infinity SUV and trailer showed the tires to be good, but the rear of the SUV was sagging. An airbag for the air-ride suspension had blown! First day of the Fiesta and the chase truck was out of commission. Yonnie’s Suburban was pressed into service to tow the trailer and carry the chase crew. After we packed up the balloon, we returned to the Balloon Fiesta Park for the tailgate party. We had plenty of food and cracked open beers before noon!

Donna and I came home around noon. I took a short nap. We had to go back to the park and set up again in the late afternoon for the evening glow event. The glow is a static display – we inflate the balloon just before sunset. The crew weights the balloon to keep it down by leaning our arms on the basket. After dark, the pilots hit the burners to light up the balloons in unison and they glow in the dark. It’s a popular spectator event and the Balloon Fiesta Park is filled with thousands of people.

 

We packed the balloon around 8pm – it was a long day. I came home and relaxed with a scotch on the rocks before sleeping like a rock. At 5am Sunday, the alarm went off and I was up and at it again.

This time after meeting my ride at the entrance, we went to the pilot’s pavillion for breakfast. It was genuine New Mexico fare – green chile chicken stew before 6am! We had another day of beautiful weather and our preparations were just like the day before – including another long cold inflation period. I’m getting a real workout. Brad took a couple of representatives from his sponsor – Cottonwood Mall – up. They had a great flight and landed the balloon in a small park south of the launch site.

I spent the afternoon watching NFL games and snoozing on the couch. Rain moved in Sunday night – I woke to the sound of raindrops on the roof. By the time my alarm sounded at 4:45am it had stopped. Brad picked me up at the entrance and went to the pilot’s pavillion for breakfast. This time it was green chile beef stew.

The front that pushed the rain in was causing strong winds aloft. Although it seemed fine at ground level, the wind speed picked by 400 feet above ground level and grew stronger as you went up. The flights for the day were scrubbed. No balloon flight meant I was back at the coach by 7am and I had a chance to write this post.

The weather guessers say we’ll have cooler weather as the cold front comes through. We should stay dry for the next few days with highs in the 70s. With any luck we’ll have balloons in the sky tomorrow morning.