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Article #113: Hot Air Balloons

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The Hot Air Balloon I went up in was a on the gondola, which in turn is
rainbow of colors, one of three owned and suspended under the open balloon. It
operated by a local ballooning company. takes a lot of practice to get the feel
For $125.00, a ride of at least forty for achieving that near exact balancing
minutes duration is promised and we were act between ascent and descent.
aloft for just under an hour. It's The growing popularity of ballooning is
certainly serene when floating along reflected by the number of meets, the
through the air, but it is deafening when largest (certainly the oldest) of these
the pilot turns on the burners! A probably being in Albuquerque, NM, where
sharpening breeze blew our balloon the meet has been in operation for
further adrift that expected and we thirty-four years. In 2005 there were
landed in a pasture amidst an interested over 600 balloons participating, most
herd of Hereford steers. The chase from the western United States, but also
vehicle soon arrived, the pilot popped a few hardy souls who shipped their
open a celebratory bottle of champagne balloons in from Australia, the UK and
(as promised in their literature), and I elsewhere around the world. Officially
inquired about booking another flight! termed the Albuquerque International
Hot Air Ballooning is very popular Balloon Fiesta, this year (2006) it will
nowadays, with clubs and ballooning be running from October 6 -15, with over
companies offering rides and even 700 balloons expected.
instruction for wannabe pilots. However, Another interesting aspect of hot air
the pastime is not new on the scene, in ballooning is the advertising facet.
fact the very first hot air balloon rose Clever designers and fabricators have
from the ground in 1783. In France, the come up with balloons that look like most
Montgolfier brothers were the early anything that one can imagine. Last year
developers, sending up tethered balloons at a local meet, I saw such oddities as
with no passengers, then experimenting Barney the Dinosaur, the Planters Peanuts
with first geese and then a dog, and man, a Shell Gas Pump, a soft ice cream
finally mustering the courage for two men cone and Senator Foghorn the Leghorn from
to try it. The next step was an cartoons, just to name a few. Some of
untethered balloon, which stayed up for the larger ones, like Barney, seemed
23 minutes flying over Paris, landing in quite unwieldy both to inflate and to
a park in the Bois du Boulogne. They had fly. Balloonists sell advertising or
little control over their balloon, a enlist sponsors to underwrite their
condition that exists to a great extent ballooning activities and it seems to
to the present day; basically the pilot work out fairly well for all concerned.
still goes where the breeze blows him. Most balloonists I've talked to have a
If you actually need to get somewhere, a well-developed sense of humor, a
hot air balloon is a fairly impractical necessary asset when dealing with the
vehicle. You can't really steer it other vagaries of the prevailing winds. Our
than rising or descending to find pilot told us this story; mostly I think
crosscurrents in the wind, and it only to divert our attention while passing
travels as fast as the wind blows. Hot over an open stretch of water.
air balloons are based on a very basic A man is flying in a hot air balloon and
scientific principle: warmer air rises in realizes he is lost. He reduces height
cooler air because the hot air is and spots a man down below. He lowers
lighter. A cubic foot of air weighs the balloon further and shouts: "Excuse
roughly 28 grams (about an ounce). If me, can you tell me where I am?" The man
you heat that air by 100 degrees F, it below says: "yes you're in a hot air
weighs about 7 grams less. Therefore, balloon, hovering 30 feet above this
each cubic foot of air contained in a hot field." "You must work in Information
air balloon can lift about 7 grams. Technology" says the balloonist. "I do"
That's not much, and this is why hot air replies the man. "How did you know?"
balloons are so huge -- to lift 1, 000 "Well" says the balloonist, "everything
pounds, you need about 65, 000 cubic feet you have told me is technically correct,
of hot air! but it's no use to anyone." The man below
Inside the balloon's envelope there is a says, "You must work in Management". "I
constant variation between the pressure do" replies the balloonist, "but how did
of the hot air against the top of the you know?" "Well", says the man, "you
envelope versus the pull of gravity. The don't know where you are, or where you're
pilot's objective is to maintain going, but you expect me to be able to
equilibrium between the two forces help. You're in the same position you
through the judicious use of the were before we met, but now it's my
propane-fueled burners, which are mounted fault.






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