I awoke early and decided to go for it. The air was warm and still when I arrived at Vance Brand about 6 am. The first launch was picture perfect. I lined up on the dirt track and launched right down the runway. There was a good strong breeze from the South West above 50 feet. As I was setting up to land I noticed a couple of balloons to the south. So I landed .... gassed ... and set up to reach launch.
This one was a little different. I didn't damp the wing quick enough during the inflation and it folded up in a frontal. I watched it in the mirror as it collapsed and fell behind. I contemplated aborting the take off but I had plenty of room ahead and decided to see if I could save it. I throttled down and rolled along for quite a long distance with half the wing but eventually it inflated and I powered back up. I was rolling over the grass and waiting for my speed to back up until I came adjacent to the swoop pond. Eventually I got off and went to chase the balloons. There were 5 in the air with one playing very close to the ground. Since he was the closest I headed that way and we danced together for a few minutes before I turned back toward the LZ. I aborted the first landing attempt because the wing was oscillating. I think it was the result of a hard turn as I descended through the temperature inversion. Anyway it wasn't settling down and rather than come in swinging I went around again and landed without trouble.
The balloon was landing east of the field so after packing my gear I drove over and said hello. There was an FAA inspector who showed up shortly after I to do a "ramp inspection". The captain was an elderly gent who seemed a bit forgetful and I didn't like the idea of the FAA guy quizzing him. Or me! I said a quick good by and was on my way back to the house.
This one was a little different. I didn't damp the wing quick enough during the inflation and it folded up in a frontal. I watched it in the mirror as it collapsed and fell behind. I contemplated aborting the take off but I had plenty of room ahead and decided to see if I could save it. I throttled down and rolled along for quite a long distance with half the wing but eventually it inflated and I powered back up. I was rolling over the grass and waiting for my speed to back up until I came adjacent to the swoop pond. Eventually I got off and went to chase the balloons. There were 5 in the air with one playing very close to the ground. Since he was the closest I headed that way and we danced together for a few minutes before I turned back toward the LZ. I aborted the first landing attempt because the wing was oscillating. I think it was the result of a hard turn as I descended through the temperature inversion. Anyway it wasn't settling down and rather than come in swinging I went around again and landed without trouble.
The balloon was landing east of the field so after packing my gear I drove over and said hello. There was an FAA inspector who showed up shortly after I to do a "ramp inspection". The captain was an elderly gent who seemed a bit forgetful and I didn't like the idea of the FAA guy quizzing him. Or me! I said a quick good by and was on my way back to the house.
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