4:53 pm PT, Friday, Jun 4, 2004
Ballooning Over The Wild Rogue River
Grants Pass, Oregon - Before the morning haze had a chance to lift,
the first launch of the 8th Annual Wild Rogue Balloon Festival was
taking place. The RE/MAX Balloon, piloted by Darren Kling of Welcher,
Ore. was the first to lift off from Paradise Elementary School in Grants
Pass.
What an incredible site--nine brightly colored balloons, each about
150 cubic feet, all in the air by 7:05 a.m.
"17 Balloon Pilots and their crews will be participating in this
year's event, coming from Arizona, California, Washington and
Oregon," said Bill Woodhead, Wild Rogue Balloon Meister and
Owner/Pilot of the WWJD (Walk With Jesus Daily) Balloon.
Nine Balloons, Pilots, Crew and the local media gathered behind
Paradise school at 6:00 a.m. on June 4, to partake in the first day of
the three day Balloon Festival. The Festival is being held at the All
Sports Park with the exception of the balloon launching which takes
place at 7:00 a.m. every morning from Paradise Elementary School.
The infamous "Night Glow" is scheduled to take place just
before dusk. The afternoon events will start at 5:30 p.m. with kids kite
making. Kite making has two purposes--first, it gives the kids something
to do while the adults are listening to live music and second, it gives
the pilots an idea of the wind conditions before take off at
dusk--between 8 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.
"Hot Air Ballooning is the closest you'll ever come to heaven
without actually being there," said Shelly Wakefield, Crew Member
and wife of "Cheers" Owner/Pilot David Wakefield of
Sacramento, Calif.
Contrary to popular belief, the beginning of human flight was not the
Wright brother's first flight. The true beginnings of human flight with
lighter-than-air craft was documented in Paris, France in early 1903 and
provides compelling information of how powered flight came to be. It was
later that year, December 17, the Wright Brothers made their historic
flight.
"Early French balloonists carried fine champagne as a gift to
local citizens who thought the huge, smoking objects descending from the
sky must surely be demons and set out after them with pitchforks and
other implements of destruction," said David Wakefield. "As a
result, ballooning became known as the "Champagne Sport" and
eventually led to the naming of my balloon-- "Cheers Over
California".
Sunrise Surprise was exactly that--a surprise--according to pilot
Russ Reichert. Reichert claims he bought his balloon site unseen in 1991
off the internet. The balloon arrived from Connecticut at a shipping
cost of $300.
Five of the 17 balloonists participating this year are from Southern
Oregon--Diamond Rogue, piloted by Tom Fisher of Medford and sponsored by
Evergreen Federal Bank; Fire Dancer, piloted by Rex Johnson of Central
Point and sponsored by Dutch Brothers, Sunrise Surprise, piloted by Russ
Reichert of Grants Pass and sponsored by Home Valley Bank, WWJD, piloted
by Bill Woodhead of Grants Pass and sponsored by Key Man and Jack Luce;
and Sheep Thrills, piloted by Larry Sprague of Central Point.
"Pilot certification takes about a year and about 20
flights," said Wakefield. "I got my private license in 1999
and my commercial license a year later. There's a lot more to flying
these balloons than people realize."
Balloons are aircraft, regulated under the same Federal Aviation
Regulations as every other category. Balloons are aerostats, that is,
static within the air. Once a balloon is buoyant, it moves with the air
mass in which it floats, no faster, no slower, no different direction.
The pilot has altitudinal control, and can alter the balloon's course by
finding an air mass going in a slightly different direction.
"We have no idea where we're going to land, how long we'll be in
the air or how fast we're going to go--everything depends on the
weather," said Wakefield. "Immediately when we're up in the
air I begin looking for a place to land and watching for the direction
of the wind by looking for smoke stacks and flags blowing the
wind."
A balloon has an envelope, basket and sometimes a burner and fuel
system. The envelope is the fabric part of the balloon, the bag that
holds the lifting gas. The basket (traditionally wicker) is the
passenger compartment. In a hot air balloon, a burner hangs between the
envelope and the basket. It burns liquefied propone gas (lpg) to make an
intensely hot and long flame, capable of heating a large volume of air
very quickly.
When preparing for take off it's critical the ambient temperature be
100 degrees below the temperature inside the top of the balloon. At 7:00
a.m. the outside temperature was 66 degrees. Cheers Over California took
off when the temperature inside the balloon reached over 170 degrees.
From take off at 7:05 a.m. to a safe landing behind Master Cabinets
at 7:45 a.m. Cheers Over California pilot and passengers drifted
peacefully and effortlessly, experiencing little or no sensation of
movement or height. Overlooking the magnificent Rogue River and watching
from above, as the rest of the community of Grants Pass slowly awakened
to another beautiful day in paradise.
Now that your awake don't miss the action at the All Sports Park. For
more information visit www.wrbf.org
Contact info: Patricia Cruz may be reached at pat@southernoregonnews.com.
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