KRQE.com Balloon Fiesta Blog

It was a clear, sunny and fairly calm morning for the Fiesta's last day. It seems the weather pattern that was supposed to ruin this weekend's launches only disrupted the box a little, sending balloons into Corrales and Sandia Pueblo, but caused no other problems.

 

We didn't fly with the mobile cam today. Instead we focused on the great views we shared with a packed field of balloon watchers.

 

We hope this has been a great experience for KRQE.com users. It's been a lot of fun for us, but that's really not the point (well not the whole point).

 

We've received e-mail from around the world this Fiesta, but we'd like to hear from you. Tell us what you liked and what you didn't. What else would like you like to see at next year's Fiesta, and what other events during the year should we cover in the same fashion?

 

You can e-mail us at webdesk@krqe.com, or enter a comment below. We will be checking in regularly.

 

Thank you for watching. Again, we hope this was the next best thing to being out on the field.

Source: KRQE News 13 | By: Ryan Wallace 

So as Ryan mentioned in his last post, the balloon ended up at an alfalfa field in Corrales. For the flight, since Ryan was all snug up in the sky, I joined the chase crew to find the Racer.

And that brings probably the biggest challenge in being on a chase crew: finding the balloon.

But first, we needed to get out of Balloon Fiesta Park - a challenge when you consider the crowds. It was packed with people, especially since we were in launch site G1, right next to the park's Main Street. It took a couple of members of the crew to help guide the van to the exit on Roy Road.

Then we tried to find the Racer among the mass of balloons flying northwest of the field. Just spotting it is a challenge, but it's really quite useful to be able to predict where it's going, especially in relation to the Rio Grande.

(There are very few river crossings near Balloon Fiesta Park, so being able to know which side of the river the balloon would land on allowed us to get close enough so we can clear the balloon out of the field quickly, helping other pilots land.)

Of course, we also kept in contact with Carl via two-way radio, so we were able to ask him where he planned on landing, as well as get some direction about how to get there. The map provided by fiesta officials helped a great deal too.

When it landed and we finally got to the alfalfa field, we stopped to ask permission from the landowner. He was very nice about the whole thing, letting us drive on his driveway all the way to the balloon. His one simple and reasonable request: Don't drive on the alfalfa.

From there, it was just a matter of maneuvering the balloon to the driveway and neatly packing the envelope into the bag. It was a nice workout, but it wasn't hard at all.

While Carl's crew heads back home, Carl said he'll stick around until after tomorrow's mass ascension, if it happens. The winds might be a problem, so we'll keep an eye on it.

And, if you're curious, we are planning to leave our Balloon Fiesta coverage online after everything wraps up. And, we'll be adding to it through the week with some of the video we were never able to get to posting.

Source: KRQE News 13 | By: Todd Dukart

A big crowd at fiesta, and a great flight as usual. Special thanks to Carl Young and his crew Jan, Mike, Ron, Claudia, Lisa, and Cathy. We flew northwest over the Bosque and Sandia Pueblo land where we caught a thin lower layer that carried us south over the Rio Grande for some time. Balloons around us were in close proximity and dipped into the river like children playing in a mud puddle. Despite doom and gloom forecasts that were probably overblown by us media types, the wind was very calm in the air and only has picked-up on the field since 9 am.

In fact the wind was so calm at our landing site that Cal and I just sat in the inflated balloon, on the ground as we waited for the chase crew. The chase crew had to navigate the small farm roads and thin tractor paths to reach us.

The farmer whose land we shared with 5 or 6 other balloons was very accommodating. He only asked that we stay on the road and not drive on the field, a request that another balloon's crew didn't heed--I wish I got their number, it's that kind of stuff that leads land owners to stop accommodating the balloons. So Carl and I spent 15 minutes regathering one row of alfalfa was driven over. Carl is a farmer back in Iowa and was very mindful of the guy's crop.

Well, we're back at Fiesta field. We'll be back out tomorrow.

Source: KRQE News 13 | By: Ryan Wallace

As I write, Ryan is up in the air in the same balloon I was in yesterday, Racer 105. If you're looking for it, it's the red balloon with a checkerboard and the New Mexico Department of Tourism banner.

I'll stay on the ground today, where a nice crowd has gathered to watch the first wave lift off. Few special shapes are in the air right now, probably since they have a harder time in wind than regular round balloons. But they are inflating and you should see some in the air today.

Source: KRQE News 13 | By: Todd Dukart

Crowds have arrived at Balloon Fiesta Park this morning, the second to last day of this year's Fiesta. But pilots aren't expecting too much this morning.

Winds right now are very light, coming from the northeast, but they're expected to pick up as the sun rises. The National Weather Service is predicting 5 to 10 mile an hour winds with gusts up to 30, which could definitely keep balloons on the ground.

And winds aren't expected to be much better tomorrow, with winds between 5 and 15 miles an hour coming out of the west.

Kevin Knapp, pilot of the Mayflower Transit balloon, told us that he's expecting the first wave to have a short flight, and doesn't think the second wave will get off the ground today.

Still, today's not a total bust. The Dawn Patrol is giving the crowds a nice morning glow as they lift off. We'll see what it's like later today.

Also today, we decided to check out what traffic would be like. Normally, we get in early enough (5 a.m. or so) that the path to our parking spot is pretty light. But it's quite a different story at 5:30. Traffic on Alameda was backed up pretty good, but it flowed about as well as possible when you have thousands of people converging on the same spot at the same time.

We'll keep you updated with today's conditions.

Source: KRQE News 13 | By: Todd Dukart

Today was a beautiful morning to fly. We had a perfect Albuquerque Box going, the temperature was just right and the winds stayed nice and low.

Paulette and I split up today. Paulette took off in the Mayflower balloon along with a couple of Mayflower executives. They caught a nice wind and landed a couple hours later in Rio Rancho.

Meanwhile, I was in a balloon called 105 Racer, which flew the Department of Tourism's banner. The pilot, Carl Young of Carlisle, Iowa, had been flying balloons for more than 20 years, he told me, and has been in countless Balloon Fiestas with a variety of different balloons.

Also in the balloon with us was Toby of the Tourism Department. This was his first balloon ride. He has been putting in some long hours to help with the fiesta, and is planning to bring some big VIPs to tonight's Special Shape Glowdeo.

The three of us took off from a field just north of Balloon Fiesta Park, along with many other standard shape balloons. From there, Carl maneuvered us over the field and dropped down to about 10 or 20 feet above the grass so he could drop a baggie on a target in one of the fiesta's flying competitions.

Afterwards, he went back up and flew back north, a great demonstration of the Albuquerque Box, where the wind blows in different directions at different altitudes. Using the box, we were able to fly over Balloon Fiesta Park several times.

Things are wrapping up here for today. We'll be back this weekend for the final Balloon Fiesta events, so stick around with KRQE.com and KASA.com.

Source: KRQE News 13 | By: Todd Dukart