Takin' the Blog for a Walk
Join Waukesha resident Brien Lee and his blog, Sir Fido, as they explore the city and report on the interesting things they find.
Email Brien at howlinblog@yahoo.com.
Hare and Hound
The Hartford Balloon Rally was this weekend. The pilots had two good flights and a glow Saturday. The evening flight was notable because it's the first time I'd crewed for a "hare" balloon.
Competitive balloon flights usually center around one or more targets at which streamers attached to bean bags are thrown. Early Saturday, pilots had to hit two targets, launching at least two miles distant from the home field. There was a lot of driving around, backtracking, checking maps, trying to find a decent launch field. A lot of science and weather knowledge goes into the competition, but with so much of the Hartford countryside planted, just finding a place to inflate is a challenge.
I crewed for RE/MAX, the largest balloon in the Hartford rally at 105,000 cubic feet, for the evening flight. Because RE/MAX was the most visible balloon, I would be chasing the balloon all 15 or so other balloons would be chasing. The evening rally challenge was for one balloon, the hare, to launch first and all others, the hounds, to follow. Ideally the hare balloon lands and places a large target for the others to hit or get close to.
On occasion, hounds overtake the hare before it has a chance to place the target. Last night's difficulty was just finding a place to land with the target and, when finally it did, getting back to them in the field far from the road.
Today's difficulty was the wind, as in too much of it. While the cold front is welcome news to most of us, to balloon rallyists it meant the morning flight was scrubbed.
take a look at this photo slideshow from GMTODAY.com
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