#mini balloon

The morning started out well, aside from a slight traffic related delay. Got balloons up and launched, after the flyover and anthem.

But then the wind picked up and put an end to most of the flying stuff. We did all stick around and watched the annular eclipse, which was pretty cool. It stayed lighter than I had expected but got cooler than I would've thought.

After that, we went to the award ceremony/lunch to watch some of our pilot friends win things, but not as many of them or winning as much as they would've liked.

As part of the awards, they inducted Steve Stucker to the Balloon Fiesta hall of fame, so he was around. I dressed up in a yellow suit coat and pink vest to match our balloon a bit, and after getting his reward, he wanted to get a picture with us. I don't have it, though, it's on his phone. And, yes, I know anyone not local won't understand the significance of that at all. But here's an old photo of him from online that will maybe give a bit of a hint. He recently retired as a local TV news weatherman and was a pretty well known Balloon Fiesta personality.

And here's my outfit, usually without the eclipse glasses.

After a windy day yesterday that allowed for some welcome rest, we were back at it this morning despite colder temperatures.

First, we got confirmation that we had enough balloons up Wednesday to set a new world record, which is super awesome. Then we did our briefing and waited in the parking lot as the winds were rather calm and kept the larger balloons from clearing the field as quickly as they often do.

But after a delay of half an hour or so, it was our turn, and we made the most of it. Had a great flight for about an hour with good wind the whole time and plenty of excited kids and adults checking out our little balloons and asking for cards and info.

Had a slight issue with a propane leak when I had to switch the tanks halfway through the flight but caught it fast and just switched to another spare tank quickly. Nothing was damaged or anything. I'll check later, but my first look at the tank looks like it is fine, and I'm guessing I just hadn't attached it all the way even though I thought I had.

We glowed.

It was pretty awesome despite some early confusion over our assigned spots on the field and where the concert was set up and some of the larger balloons. We got it worked out good enough in the end and personally we wound up on the east end of the row of balloons, which is the side closest to the vendor tents and usually most of the people and it was crowded as you'd expect.

It was fun to fly the balloon a bit among all the other balloons, big and small. It is also fun to see all the people excited and happy to see the balloons, especially the ones happy about our unicorns. 🦄

Too windy for any flying on the last scheduled day of Fiesta. That's always a shame, but not as bad after a great overall week like we had this year.

Been working on a cool thing for a little while. Talking to different people in the activity and trying to get things set up and figured out. We made progress piece by piece and there was a bit of frustration and things not going how we'd hoped, but yesterday we got word that the final piece was completed and had a test flight and is on the way to us soon!

And, I must say personally, I'm pretty happy how close the real thing is to my photoshopped version below.

Handed out candy and learned what our balloon does when the batteries get too low, after some concern and worry about what might be causing her to act up how she was.

After a challenging but ultimately successful glow last night, we had a tough morning.

Was more windy than preferred, but in an inconsistent gusty fashion. We thought it had calmed down and got the balloon up but then faced more gusts, one of which pushed the fabric closer to the flame than desired, and our balloon encountered some minor melting.

It's a common thing (they say the two types of pilots are ones who've done it and ones who will), but still annoying and disappointing. The damage isn't bad enough to not fly, and it's repairable with some fabric and a sewing machine.