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