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Arizona Balloon Festival

This was the first year for the Arizona Balloon Festival. I arrived at 5:20, before the 5:30 AM opening gate time, in order to be ready to shoot the 6:00 "dawn patrol" lift off. Upon reaching the launching field, I realized that the dawn patrol would be late at best. There were only a few balloons on the field, and the crews were inside the chase vehicles, avoiding the 50-degree temperatures outside.

It was not until nearly 7:00 AM that all the balloonists had arrived, and after the pilot's meeting, it was 7:30 AM when they began preparing for launch. The baskets were unloaded, the propane tanks installed, the gas burners attached and tested. The balloon itself was then unrolled and spread out across the ground. A large fan was placed at the mouth of the balloon and while two people held it open, air was blown into the balloon to begin inflation. There were tethers at the top of the balloons, stretched tight by a crewmember as the balloon began filling. Only when the balloon was nearly inflated, were the gas burners fired to heat the air enough to bring it upright.

The pilots continued with short bursts of the burners to continue heating the air while a couple of crewmembers held it down with ropes. When slight positive buoyancy was achieved, the ground crew walked the balloon to a clear area and the pilot fired the burners and the balloon lifted into the air. By 8:15 AM all the 50 or so balloons had been launched, the chase crews were beginning to leave after them, and I was on my way home at 8:30 AM.

Despite the lack of organization, it was great fun. The public was allowed on the field to walk among the balloons and observe the preparations. If you have ever looked up and been entranced by a balloon floating above you, you should be there for the next balloon launch near you. The kid inside of you will love it!
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comment | share
Guest 16-Jul-2008 09:31
Great photos! Thanks for sharing. Greetings from South Africa. Dirk (louwcc@ananzi.co.za)
Guest 16-Jul-2007 10:28
Hi Bob, great pictures and thanks for your article!

Nils from Germany
http://fotogalerie.ballonservice.de
martin maxwell 09-Dec-2004 21:33
Hi!

I was one of the pilots at the Arizona Balloon Festival. I fly the Arizona Wing Civil Air Patrol balloon. You might have seen a bunch of cadets and a few adults walking around in BDU's. That was us. We are affiliated with the Air Force. I also posted a few pics from our trip to the Gallup Red Rocks balloon Rally this past weekend in Gallup NM. We crewed on the blue monster balloon you shot, called AZUL.

Martin
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