***America One and Patriot Debut at Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta (ABNER'S BALLOONS!!!)***

US FLAG BALLOON ^ | 10/15/03 | Diotima

[diotima]

The Albuquerque International Ballon Fiesta was held October 4-12, 2003. The star attractions of the event, in my humble opinion, were the America One and Patriot special shape balloons, owned by freeperess Abner and her husband (and America One pilot) Victim of Circumstance.

Bob J and I flew to Albuquerque on Wednesday to attend the festival.

On Thursday morning we gleefully woke up at 3:30am (that is 2:30am Los Angeles time) to attend the mass assension of the special shape balloons. We drove to the field with abner, VOC, and their very dedicated crew (including FR's own Taxman, Crew Chief of Patriot.) Unfortunately, the wind was not working in our favor and the balloons did not fly. It takes at least an hour to prepare the balloons for inflation. The crew was amazing! Later that night, we returned for The Glow, which is where the balloons are lit up on the ground. It was an amazing site. I believe there was about 80 special shape balloons at the event.

The next morning, same time, we woke up and headed down to the field for the special shape assension. I wanted to fly in the balloon if the weather permitted. (Aside: I don't know why I wanted to fly in the balloon as I hate flying in planes...go figure.) As luck would have it, there was no wind and we got ready to roll! I flew in America One with Victim of Circumstance at the healm. We were up in the air for over an hour and a half! (What was going through my head: WOW this is amazing! I hope my hair doesn't catch on fire.)

The balloon landed softly off the field and people came out their houses to see the balloon and take pictures. The chase crew arrived with in a minute of our landing and packed up the balloon. Later that night we returned to the field for the evening glow.

We had such a fabulous time and I had a terrific experience. When the balloon season starts up again next year, I urge people to go and see abner and VOC's balloon as it showcases at events around the country. Looking at pictures does not do the balloons justice!!!

Many, many pictures can be found at
www.usflagballoon.com and
Dio's Pictures

[Mr. Mojo]

Thanks for the ping.

Sounds fun .....I can hardly wait for next year :)

[Sunshine Sister]

We have a Firefly 7. Six handles, six people. I'm thinking with balloons like what you have, you must be looking at some huge insurance bills, annual bills and pop and the like for crew members etc and some major league big places to land! The thought boggles my mind!

[abner]

Oh my! Someone who knows! LOL!

Someone once said, "Do what you love and the money will follow."

We are still waiting.... . . . .

But, we are still doing what we love.

Someone at Albuquerque said we were just in this for the money. I can tell you that is just not the case. We are in this for the country and for promoting the sport. I'm trying to figure out where the money is, cause it isn't coming our way. LOL!

[Sunshine Sister]

Money in ballooning.........where? There is no money in ballooning except what you throw at your equipment. We fly for the love of the sport too.

Before they got grass at Albuquerque we would go only to spectate. Our balloon is pink, yellow and blue so it would get way to dirty. We would have to win the lottery to afford to get our truck that far away from home because it uses so much gas! Life is so hard isn't it?

[NRA2BFree]

I was in Albuquerque the first four days of the event. I haven*t missed a year since they began. I think It*s the most beautiful event in the world. :)

There*s one coming up in December in Gallup, NM. There*s really gorgeous scenery flying over the famous Red Rocks east of Gallup.

That*s where I got hurt. We got caught by ground winds when we came down, landed hard, got picked up by the wind, hit hard again and drug for a block before our chase crew could catch us. I got 3 cracked ribs, had two spinal surgeries and knee surgery as a result. Of course, ALL the men landed on me. LOL! All 115 pounds of me! :) The pilot walked up my back to keep from falling out of the balloon. LOL! I won*t fly again but I have been in chase crews since. It was my "virgin flight." Naturally. lol

Here*s the link to the Red Rock Balloon Rally!

Red Rock Balloon Rally

[Jen]

WOW bump!

[NRA2BFree]

Sounds fun .....I can hardly wait for next year :)

Me either! You will love it. :) It is so beautiful. I*ll go up again, if you do. lol :)

[abner]

VOC- please see SS's posts! LOL!

Our 1986 Chevy got 5.5 miles to the gallon both ways... To Abq and back to Philly... We can't afford a newer truck. All of our cash is in the balloons and fuel.

I understand. I have to say that the reaction of the crowds and the individuals that love the balloons makes it all worthwhile.

Do you have any pics of your balloon? I would love to see them.

[abner]

Wow! That is a bummer! Good thing Dio didn't hear about your experience before her first flight! If we go next year we will go for the whole 9 days. I think we missed out on a lot of fun.

We talked about going to fly Red Rock on Monday after Fiesta but were too busy wrapping things up before we left yesterday.

[diotima]

OOOO, good thing I didn't hear about that. I was not really worried about the flight because I KNEW that VOC was such a great pilot.

[Sunshine Sister]

Oh man, your maiden flight wasn't much fun was it? I'm sorry that you won't at least try one more time for a fun flight. After all, when you crew you don't always see hard landings do you? If you do then by all means stay the heck out!

[Sunshine Sister]

I'm not sure show old our Chevy is, but it's close to yours in age. We do get better mileage than you do. A whopping 8 MPG.

I have pictures, but I'd have to send one to you. I have no idea how to post pictures here.

[abner]

The only landing I have ever had that I would consider 'hard' would be the one I had on Saturday and that wasn't. We lightly bounced 3 times. SS is right, if you see too many 'hard' landings you don't fly with that person. LOL!

[abner]

Don't worry about it. We will just have to fly together sometime! Here is the link for my flight on Saturday morning! Yep, I flew at Albuquerque. Strictly a passenger.... October 11th flight

I think I just have October 12th left to post. We flew America One and it was the best day for photos. . . .

[HangFire]

I hope my hair doesn't catch on fire.
LOL

Sounds like a good time, wish we could have made it, maybe next year!

[NRA2BFree]

Wow! That is a bummer! Good thing Dio didn't hear about your experience before her first flight! If we go next year we will go for the whole 9 days. I think we missed out on a lot of fun.

We talked about going to fly Red Rock on Monday after Fiesta but were too busy wrapping things up before we left yesterday.

Yeah, it was not fun. The pilot was showing me how the winds blew different directions and speeds at different altitudes and didn't realize that the other balloons had landed. There were balloons and chase crews all over the ground so our chase crew couldn't get through the traffic to catch us.

The reason he was showing me wind currents is because he had to talk me into going up to begin with. He had told me how safe they were and wanted to show me. lol Yup, it was real safe. :) You should have seen the look on his face when we were all out of the balloon. He really felt bad. I got my "initiation" before I left though. I wanted to grab that bottle and drink it for the pain, instead of having it poured on my head. lol

You guys should try Red Rock Balloon Rally next year. It's really growing and a fun time for all. :)

[Sunshine Sister]

The first time I went to Albuquerque I got to fly with a pilot from Oklahoma who almost landed on Mr. Ed's grave! I never dreamed I would be asked to crew and then get a flight!

[NRA2BFree]

OOOO, good thing I didn't hear about that. I was not really worried about the flight because I KNEW that VOC was such a great pilot.

He had never had an accident before this one. Things like that just happen sometimes. I heard there were about 5 hard landings in Albuquerque this year too. I'm glad you were not one of them and that you had a good flight. :)

[hoosiermama]

Looks like SO much fun. While driving to town the other day, just as I hit the edge of town saw nine balloons lifting off...I was thrilled with just nine ordinary balloons....can't imagine the thrill of so many and so varied....

[abner]

Mr. Ed? Wow! He is famous...

We were surprised that we could fly whoever we wanted. It was pretty cool. We can't take paying passengers in America One or Patriot because they are considered experimental. Usually the events want us to take sponsors or other VIP's.