Wow.  Just WOW.

The Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta has been on our bucket list for many years.  We decided this year it was going to happen.  It’s the LARGEST hot air balloon festival in the world.  This event was one of the few firm placeholders on this fall trip of ours.  But I need to give you some background.  And I have a feeling I’m going to have to do a couple of posts about this event!

Boomers

We belong to an RV group called the Escapees.  There is a subgroup within the Escapees called the Boomers to which we now also belong.  The Boomers have been coming to the Balloon Fiesta for many years and have built up a great reputation with balloon pilots.  As a result, by being a Boomer, we were given preferential RV sites (dry camping only…but with a view) AND if desired, we could be hooked up with a balloon crew to help for the 9 day Fiesta.  Wow!

The Boomers BOF (Bird of a Feather). The goal…FUN!

Balloon Fiesta Grounds

The balloons all launch from the Balloon Fiesta Launch Field.  The field was one mile from where we camped in the South RV Lot.  In the middle of the South RV Lot, there is an open area called the Box where balloons often land (thus our aforementioned view).  There are shuttle buses that run from the RV Lot to the Fiesta grounds, or you can walk it.

The black arrow points to the balloon launch field. The yellow star is where is where is the Blue Flame was parked in the South RV Lot. The red rectangle is the “box” where many many balloons landed!

You can see the backside of the Blue Flame parked on the perimeter the Box. This is the view we had when we weren’t on the launch field.

This balloon in the foreground (yellow and orange from this angle) aimed for our Box (as much as a balloon can aim).

The balloons can get pretty close to the RVs in the South RV Lot.  There were a few RVs that actually got hit by balloons. We were told to put our TV antenna down because balloons have hit them in the past.   This pilot made a VERY impressive gentle landing in the box.

Family

My brother Jim and family live in Albuquerque.  Plus, my brother owns a motor home. My Dad lives in Arizona.  Janelle lives in Texas. Let’s put that all together.  We reserved two RV sites and put our RV on one and my brother’s on the other.  Our friend Mary Ellen (from Rochester) flew out to join us and stayed in my brother’s motor home.  Janelle did the 14 hour drive from Galveston, Texas to join us .  In addition, my Dad drove over from his home in Arizona to spend a week at my brothers.  Toss in three nephews and you have a heck of a lot of family and friends in Albuquerque.

Yes, we are all related!  Left to Right…Janelle, Jim aka Grandpa, Sarah, Jim aka my brother, Eric, me, Harrison, Ian.  My camera shy husband Jim took the picture.  Mary Ellen somehow didn’t get in this picture!

Typical Events

Over the nine days of the Fiesta, a routine emerged.  We were out of the RV and on the shuttle bus by 5:45 a.m.  Events kicked off at 6 a.m. with the Dawn Patrol.  This is where a small number of balloons take off before sunrise.  Watching these very experienced balloon pilots gives a visual indication of the direction of the wind.

Balloons inflating for Dawn Patrol.

Dawn Patrol is in the air. The balloon are equipped with transponders (signaling to other aircraft and the local towers they are there) and beacon lights hanging from the bottom of their baskets.

Next comes the Mass Ascension where hundreds of balloons take off and float all over Albuquerque.  The launch field is divided into a grid and each balloon is assigned a grid square on the field.  That is how you know where to inflate.  Once inflated, the balloons are released in waves, typically row by row.

The first balloons to go off were usually the “balloons for hire”. These are the Rainbow Ryders that give balloon rides for $350 a person. They fit somewhere around 16 people in a basket.

Mass Ascension – the balloons at the rear are inflating.  The trucks you see in the foreground have balloons in their trailers and are awaiting permission to inflate. 

Mass Ascension – the balloons go off in waves.  People are allowed to walk all around and talk to the pilots and crew.  I read somewhere that this is not the case in other countries or even other events in the USA, spectators are kept back.  Not here!

Mass Ascension as seen from up on a hill.

A guy Jim was crewing with did a short time lapse of the Mass Ascension. The video was texted to me, so it’s grainy. But it gives you an idea of what a Mass Ascension looks like. You can also view the video at https://youtu.be/jJfP5S6PQkg.

Some balloon pilots skip the Mass Ascension and instead participate in a competition that happens immediately after the launch field had cleared.  The pilot picks a launch site away from the Fiesta grounds in order to have the wind blow them over the balloon launch field to do the day’s assigned task.

On this competition day, the pilot of this balloon is trying to toss a bean bag at the center of the white X or target on the launch field.  Another balloon is right behind him trying to hit the same target.  The winner of the three days of competition gets $10,000.  That is NOT chump change.

Most evenings, there is a “glow”.  That is where the balloons set up on the launch field, fill their balloons, and then stand them up.  They are tethered to their chase vehicles so they don’t launch.  The glow happens when the burners are ignited and lights up the balloon.

An evening glow. All the pilots had radios. So when instructed to “glow”, they would all light up their burners at the same time.

The video below shows the balloons executing a Flicker (turning their burners on and off) during the Glow. I took it, so it’s not as grainy as the previous video. Here’s the link: https://youtu.be/Q1S4Xei78wo

So, that lays the groundwork for what Balloon Fiesta is all about.  It’s definitely going to take more than one blog post to get through everything we did and experienced.  Next I’ll let you know about our crewing experience!