Up Up and Away

October 18, 2010

"Up Up and Away and my beautiful oh beautiful balloon...."

That's us, getting ready to go up!

Balloons over Albuquerque at sunrise!  What a high!  It was absolutely fantastic.

Captain Bentley from Private Balloon (http://www.privateballoonflights.com/)

was ever so gracious to take our reservation at the last minute. 

Balloon Fun Facts (as told by Private Balloon Flighs)

"It is now more than two hundred years since the first balloon took to the skies.  The Montgolgier brothers, two paper makers from the southern Frent twn of Annonay, were intrigued by the way smoke rise above a fire.  They decided to capture its lifting powers with small paper and cotton balloons and, while they were mistaken in their faith in the smoke itself (or Phlogiston as it was referred to at the time), they succeeded in creating the world's first hot-air balloon.

On June 5, 1783 they were ready to demonstrate their discovery to the townspeople of Annonay and a small unmanned ballon was inflated over a fire of straw and wool then released to fly high above the town square.

For their nex experiement they sent sheep, a duck and a rooster aloft for a flight of eight minutes to ensure that they came to no harm so high in te "atmosphere".  When theise pioneering creatures returned unscathed (except for a broken wing on one of the birds caused by the goat kicking out) they decided it was time for a man to take to the skies.

For such an experiment to take place required the permission of the king himself and Louis, concernd by the possible risk to one of his subjects, decreed that two convicts should make the ascent. (If they survived, they would be granted a royal pardon, and if they didn't...)  The Montgolgier brothers were dismayed by this proposal and after much discussion with the court officials persuaded the king to relent and on November 21, 1783 a brightly decorated balloon arose above an ecstatic Parisian crowd bearing aloft the first aeronauts - the first humans to fly Pilatre de rozier and the Marquis d'Arlandes. 

Heat for the balloon was generated by a straw fire carried in a brazier slung beneath its mouth and the two men were carried in a narrow gallery incircling it.  Howeve as the balloon was only made of paper and cotton, they spent much of thir time eithertending the flames or dabbing out the little fires from the smouldering embers with wet sponges fixed on to the end of long sticks.  However the Marquis d'Arlandes was unable to ignore the splendor of the panorama unfolding down below them, but de Rozier soom reminded him of their plight.  "If you look at the river in that fashion you will be likely to bathe in it soon!"  Yet despite the many hazards the balloon landed safely after a flight of thirty minutes. 

Don't worry Morgan, I'll protect you!

That's a pretty massive balloon Morgan!

We're not getting in there are we?  Will that hold all of us?

Captain James said that each burner puts out 12 million BTU's. 
There are two burners on this balloon!  Wow!  Not thats some hot heat!

120,000 cu feet of air fills the balloon....thats a lot of air!

"Up Up and Away....oh we sang that one already"
Getting ready for take off with our new friends "The Smiths"
No, not from the movie...but I heard it from an unconfirmed authority that
they are just as big of celebraties in the circles in which they move.

Is it the Ohio?  The Mississippi?
No....It's the mighty (or not so mighty)
Rio Grande!

Our sister balloon dancing over the Rio Grande

Drifting at Dawn

Morning at dawn, the air is crisp, the sun is still asleep

The Magic is about to begin

As the gondola ascends into the morning air,

The sun begins to rise over the horizon

What a magnificent sight

Floating above the ground, the basket kisses treetops

The Landscape opens up to a panoramic vision of the world

The colors of the ballon burst forth agains the backdrop of the deep blue sky

As we rise higher and higher into the atmospher

Below, the mighte Rio Grande snakes back and forth through the countryside

Like a child's ribbon blowing in the wind

Serenely suspended above the land, the balloon dances in harmony with the wind

As Mother Nature's forces uide us where she wills

Then th gently descent back to the earth

The ecstasy of the experience coming to an end

As the land moves gently up to meet the coccoon

That carried us so safely through the air

Champagne toast brings the enchantment of the experience to a close

Soaring into th heavens...pure childlike delight!

-Monica Bourke

October 20, 2010

"Whew, its over...so sad"

Irish Balloonist Prayer 

The winds have welcomed you with softness.

The sun has blessed you with his warm hands.

You have flown so high and so well that

God has joined you in your laughter

and setyou gently back into he loving arms of Mother Earth