| Gone With the Wind - The Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta |
| Sunday, November 08 2009 |
  Story and Photos By David Peters I had just closed my eyes, and there I was, running down the road chased by a giant careening balloon one hundred-feet tall, flames coming out its backside, a big wicker basket underneath scooping up people and cars, anything in its way. The harder I ran the slower I went. It was like running in sand and just as the balloon was about to overtake me, there was a terrible ringing sound. I groped for the phone, the voice on the other end wished me a good morning and with recorded politeness reminded me it was 4 a.m. ― time to WAKE UP! “Mass Happiness,” was the official title of the 2009 Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque New Mexico. Mass Happiness was the reason I was here. Celebrating its 38th year, the nine-day Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta generates as much hot air as a day of Congressional hearings in Washington D.C.  October in Albuquerque provides optimum weather for hot-air balloon flying. The calm crisp morning air attracts balloonists from all over the globe. There were some 550 balloons participating in this year’s event with some 650 pilots and crew — and an estimated 800,000 spectators. Mass Happiness sounds corny until you see it on the faces of the crowd around you, mouths agape, eyes wide as these amazing airships float majestically by. Propelled by a whisper of a breeze no stronger than the breath it takes to scatter a dandelion puff, they pass in total silence, but for the periodic roar of a propane burner.  Seeing 500 balloons aloft in the early New Mexico sky is, in fact, mind-boggling. It does invoke a giddy sensation of mass happiness. One wonders what the Montgolfier brothers, Joseph and Etienne would have said 226 years after they sent the first smoke-filled balloon up into sky over Versailles before a crowd of 40,000 curious spectators that included the King and Queen of France. Its passengers were a duck, a rooster and a lamb (one can only imagine the lavatory service on that flight).If you have never flown in a hot air balloon before, damn the torpedoes and full speed ahead. Forget all those stories about broken bones, hideous burns, power lines, and propane tanks exploding. Ballooning is far safer than uh ... say … base-jumping naked, or even driving while texting. It is unlike any other type of flying you have (or haven’t) experienced. Unlike fixed or rotor-wing flying, the balloon is pretty much an up or down proposition. It’s a test of the balloonist’s skill – how he can maneuver once the ropes are free and the wind is in control. A good balloon driver reads the air temperature layers as the balloon ascends or descends. In those varying layers the wind moves in different directions enabling a pilot to actually reverse course and fly back along the same track, landing near where the balloon first took off. Now throw all that out because this is what really happens: First, you have to find a suitable place to launch the balloon – not so easy in the middle of a city – even one with a rural demeanor such as Albuquerque. Once a suitable site is found, the wicker basket and the other balloon components are unloaded from the truck, and the bag or envelope is rolled out. The actual erection takes place quickly. Air is blown into the open end of the bag and fills the envelope, the propane burner is lit, hot air is added to the mix and the balloon begins to rise. Our pilot Ken Tadolini briefed us, everybody climbed into the basket and away we went. The objective with competition balloon flying is to steer your balloon over the target area, then get low enough and slow enough to grab a key taped to the top of a 20-foot pole. That works really well when the wind is calm. By the time we got our balloon in the air, the wind was up. We overshot the balloon field by a mile and several thousand feet of altitude. Forget about the key, now the mission became to find a place to land.  We were floating over the city of Albuquerque, going down, going up, going down again, trying to get the balloon into a park or parking lot, always watching for light poles and power lines, the nemesis of low-altitude flying. We drifted over the Interstate, a new twist on traffic watch. The wind was blowing at about 15 m.p.h. and taking us right for Albuquerque’s international airport. The pilot radioed the control tower to let them know we were entering their airspace and looking for a place to land. ATC advised us to maintain an altitude that kept us clear of landing and departing jets. The problem was that we needed to land and were running out of options. We were searching for power lines as we descended towards a schoolyard hoping that the capricious breeze didn’t blow us into a building, power line, or tree. The pilot shouted out that we are going in as the balloon shot the gap between two telephone poles. “Everyone hold on!”  Cameras tucked into our bodies, we hit the ground for the first time hard, “We’re not down!” shouted the pilot as the balloon lurched back up into the air and then came down again harder still. “Still not down,” yelled the pilot. “Hold on!” as we hit the ground again the basket hesitated, dragged, and then sprung up into the air and slammed down a fourth time. The pilot opened the top of the envelope to collapse it as we were pushed along the ground sideways. We hit an 8-inch rise in terrain and the basket came to a sudden stop, then it lurched up and over the rise and the basket tipped over. The new perspective was 90 degrees from what it was a second before, the pilot and other passenger and everything else that wasn’t tied down were now on top of me as we slid along the grass, still being pulled along the ground by the semi-deflated bag. The pilot was yelling for bystanders to grab hold of the basket to try to stop our sideways trip. Fortunately, there were some balloon-savvy people on the scene who ran to our aid and jumped on the basket. Finally, at a full stop and surrounded by a crowd of onlookers, we extricated ourselves from the wicker basket. Hearts pounding, we surveyed the scene and congratulated each other for surviving the landing. Unfortunately, a balloon landing next to us wasn’t so lucky. It touched down, stuck the landing, and before enough hands could grab the basket to hold it down, a gust lifted the balloon up and onto a light pole where it was torn to shreds. You would think I’d swear to never do this again. Just ask me. Would I go up again? Absolutely! Albuquerque – more than just hot air It’s not the sleepy little truck stop on Route 66 your granddaddy knew when the army shipped him here for nuclear testing in the 1950s. Albuquerque accounts for almost half the population of the state of New Mexico (the point 8 of 1.8 million people) and the Wigwam Motel now competes with the Hilton. Located in a sprawling river valley on the Rio Grande, it sprung up where the historic old Route 66 the “Mother Road” heads east. With the Sandia Mountains as a backdrop, Albuquerque is home to the University of New Mexico, the National Atomic Museum, a Tyrannosaurus Rex, even a minor league baseball team called the Isotopes. It’s a diverse confluence of cultures, Spanish, Indian, Mexican and Anglo with a fair amount of red and green chilies to spice it up! A sophisticated contemporary art culture is evolving in Albuquerque, as witnessed by an exhibition of Cuban art on display at the Hispanic Cultural Center that would rival anything shown at MOMA or MOCA on either coast. The Hispanic Cultural Center, with its focus on the arts and humanities, is also world renowned for its genealogy research. For a taste of Zuni Pueblo culture, visit the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center and ask about Cabeza de Vaca Esteban. In addition, there are many fine galleries, shops and restaurants catering to a steady flow of visitors and locals.  Of course, there is a balloon museum, the Anderson-Abruzzo Albuquerque International Balloon Museum, since this city is the center of the ballooning universe with over 300 residents who are certified balloonists. The balloon museum with historical balloons and gondolas, interactive displays covering the history of ballooning from the early Montgolfier origins in Europe, to the modern day exploits of adventurers and world record setters. If you have time, visit the Explora Science Center, an amazing space that provides interactive experiences in science, technology and art. And if you eat out only once you have to go to Casa Vieja, an award-winning restaurant in a 300-year-old adobe in the small village of Corrales, on the outskirts of the city. Operated by Kate and Josh Gerwin, both highly touted foodies, the cuisine is described as “rustic fusion.” It combines the flavors of New Mexican, French and American cooking. Everything is fresh, home or locally grown including their meat and poultry. But before you eat, you must drink and they have the most incredible infused cocktails. Try the Corrales corncob cocktail or the cucumber jalapeno Margarita … awesome!  For more adventure catch the sunset from the top of Sandia Peak. To get there you take the world’s longest aerial tramway, the Sandia Peak Tram, a high wire act that takes you along 2.7 miles of cable strung between three towers on a climb that would make the alpine scenes in the Eiger Sanctions seem like cardboard surfing the dunes at Pismo Beach. At 10,378 feet, the view from the top is spectacular and you can see for miles in every direction. It can get very windy at times, so of course, when it was time for us to go down the mountain the wind was blowing at 35 m.p.h., right at the limit for safe operation. There was a moment of hesitation as the tram operators watched the anemometer (wind gage), checked that the liability insurance was still in effect, and declared, “All aboard.” This was an added thrill as the fully-loaded tram car rocked and swayed in the howling wind.  There was some praying, a few confessions, long untold secrets spilled out as some passengers attempted to make peace with their maker as the tramcar swung wildly above the rocks and certain death. As a bonus, the cable car operator slowed our car almost to a stop as the other tramcar, that was now coming up the mountain, would reach a tower so that car wouldn’t jump off the cable. That was reassuring! At that point, I think someone in our car soiled themselves. But like most adventures, it was soon over. We made it back alive and as the tramcar slid into the safety of the landing dock, everyone got off with a laugh and no one looked back … well, I did. We would love to hear your comments! Post them below! |
You need to own a special shaped balloon to go along with your Navion.
I don't think the balloon could carry enough hydraulic fluid to be authentic though!