Balloon Rally at PSTCC

The PSTCC Balloon Rally took place this past weekend. I was a volunteer as one of the Balloon Crew. All that means is that I was a helper for the balloon pilot. I helped to set-up and take down the balloon.

I learned a bit more about ballooning than I thought I would, but it was fun. I even got a few good pictures in the process.

Friday night was the Balloon Glow. That's where they wait until it gets dark and then they light up the balloons in synch to music. With there being about 20 balloons in the "Glow" this was quite challenging for the choreographer, but it turned out nice. Really a cool event to see. Unfortunately, I didn't get to see the Balloon Glow in all its splendor - I was having to help with one of the balloons and only got to see an up-close view of a nearly 40million BTU flame... it's warm.

On Saturday morning, the first (and only) competition was under way. They chose a location to launch from and flew to the college. The object of the competition was to drop a sand bag from the balloon to the giant 'X' located at a designated spot. My crew's pilot won second place (a.k.a. First Loser). I didn't get to fly that morning, but the pilot took us to breakfast and said I could fly that afternoon. And he was a man of his word.
It was my first time flying in a hot-air balloon. Kinda cool. Very quiet. Until the blasts of propane fueled noise invaded the silence. They were usually only short bursts. Enough to let you sink into the peace of viewing your surroundings, and kick you in the back of the head for wanting to enjoy it. But after the first few minutes you get used to it. Unfortunately, all I had was a few minutes.

I'll share pics. But just a couple.