Ask Hyde about hot air balloons

[hyde]

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Ever been to the balloon festival in Howell, Michigan?

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no. I have done most of my flying in New England. Some Canada, Florida, Arizona, New York, Antigua and one trip to Albequerque for the 'big one'.

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When did you go to ABQ balloon fiesta? I hope you had a good time. It's happening in three weeks I think. I used to crew for a balloon but got sick of waking up at 4:30am and not flying because winds were at 15 mph. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

ScottieK [/quote


I was at ABQ balloon fest in 1987 or so. It was only 450 balloons at that time. Still too crowded......I mentioned in another post about collisions being rare....seems like every year there is an 'incident' there.

It does indeed suck to get out to the field and have the wind to strong to fly. That doesn't happen as often as it used to. There are some great internet weather sites that help with the forecast.

[hyde]

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I am scared of heights. I am not afraid to fly on airplanes. I would love to go on a balloon ride if the opportunity ever “arises”. Do you think I would be afraid in a balloon? Ever encounter anyone who has ridden who was afraid of heights?

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For years everyone I took flying with a fear of heights was not afraid in the balloon. they could not explain it and I could not explain it.
three years ago I was giving a talk for the local rotary and stated the above. Some guy raised his hand and said he could explain it.....
His wife was a nurse and had taken part in a study of fear of height. It turns out there aree two parts of your brain that deal with fear of height. One part is fear of ladders, edges of buildings, cliffs. this is 'attached height'. Many people have this fear.
The other part is of detached height, airplanes, helicopters, balloons....very few people have this fear.
Maybe he made it up. But I bought it and I'm selling it to you.

[hyde]

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Hyde,

Can a fat bastard like me (6' 240) be detrimental to the basket? In other words, when we run out of sand bags am I S.O.L.?

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While lift capacity is determined by cubic footage and air temperature and should we be running out of fuel it would be beneficial for the largest of passengers to go first.....odds are you would likely be able to toss a few of the little folks out and save yourself. It is important to remember only one of us knows how to land the thing.

[Slow Play Ray]

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can you swing by and pick me up in framingham sometime?

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No.

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[KilgoreTrout]

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It is important to remember only one of us knows how to land the thing.

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I thought landing was the easy part... sort of taken care of by that thing called gravity.

Good idea about tossing the little folks out first. I can see you've contemplated this very situation, which, of course, confirms that you are a scary man.

[FortunaMaximus]

Silly question. Maybe not considering the content of the balloons.

Is smoking permitted while riding balloons?

[ScottieK]

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I was at ABQ balloon fest in 1987 or so. It was only 450 balloons at that time. Still too crowded......I mentioned in another post about collisions being rare....seems like every year there is an 'incident' there.

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Cool man. They've moved the field since then. It's pretty big. On the website, they say the launch field is 78 acres, and the entire park is 365 acres. They're expecting over 700 balloons this year. Yeah, there are still incidents...usually with power lines. Of course, most of the incidents are drivers getting into accidents when they're watching the balloons instead of the road.

ScottieK

[hyde]

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Silly question. Maybe not considering the content of the balloons.

Is smoking permitted while riding balloons?

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some pilots allow it. I don't. Afterall there are 25,000,000 btu's worth of propane being ignited a foot or so above your head. The danger is dropping a hot ash on the floor of the basket. they are made of wicker..and often have a bit of grass or leaves in the corners.....

[hyde]

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can you swing by and pick me up in framingham sometime?

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No.

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You need to get out of Framingham more. And Foxwoods does not count as getting out of Framingham.

[CORed]

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can you swing by and pick me up in framingham sometime?

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Hijack: Are people who live in Framingham called Framinghammers?