This was my first flight with Pete Wright (my other instructor) and included a climb to 4,000′ AGL where we found ourselves above a thin layer of stratus, seeing our shadow on the cloud with a rainbow halo around the basket.

I was at Mildura as part of the Australian Ballooning Federation’s “The Lake 2010″ event

Here’s my notes from the flight:

• Intensity has stepped up as Pete’s working me towards a commercial level
• “Fun” intro is over – it’s time to get serious
• Pete has a different style to Paul so I’m changing to “step up”
• Pibal on launch & use of compass to compare goals to wind direction
• Pete’s “Top to Bottom” flow checklist / walkthrough
• Building a 3D view of environment & awareness of other balloons
• Setup & rigging of balloon & way to stand & hold ropes (plus getting them out of the way of pax)
• Also consideration of instrument positioning WRT pax
• My first inflation with Pete observing & guiding
  • Short burns
  • Position of flame
  • Wait & see how it reacts – let fan help
  • Watch for fabric stretching out
• Climb up to get winds
• “The voice” is still an issue but am pushing it back & focusing on the flight
• Getting used to working the valve & burners
• Descent & intermediate landing in a clearing
• Discussion on the ground about landing & considerations for take off
• Take off & ascent to about 4,000′ AGL to see what winds were doing above a thin layer of stratus cloud
• Got to see shadow of balloon on cloud below with a halo around the basket – wow
• Didn’t find the direction we wanted so came back down, skimmed trees & worked with what we had to get into a dirt patch between what seemed to be sown crops
• Terminal descent again – 1,000fpm at one point – even more wow!
• Getting the hang of descending towards that big, hard ground below is going to be “interesting” (& essential :)

Click here to view my log book entry at JetRecord.com

This was an afternoon flight where the light winds shifted dramatically part way through, making us reassess our route & target landing spot.

I was at Mildura as part of the Australian Ballooning Federation’s “The Lake 2010″ event

Here’s my notes from the flight:

• Set up @ Werrimal School oval – worked through rigging & prep with Paul
• Used hands on / hands off method to heat balloon & launch
• Up & over Werrimal but couldn’t keep constant height:
  • Would put heat in but the balloon would start to descend
  • Was it thermals?
  • Was it low pressure from a depleted tank?
  • Must learn to check burner pressures while flying
• Flew out over trees north of Werrimal & scraped through the top of one
• Pete Dutneal’s balloon had a valve “buldge” – went up to check him from above after he’d landed
• Stayed high & started drifting left (west) of where we thought we’d go
• Watched Andrew “Harry” Fewtrell land on a field – his layout indicated wind shift was at ground level too
• Also saw dust cloud from tractor working in a field to the north had shifted direction compared to when we had driven past on the way to the launch field
• Changed plans, targeted clear area near dirt-track road
• Winds moving us towards tree – called crew into crop field for a handling line
• Got to experience impact of handling lines – need to burn once crew grab line due to down force exerted as they stop/slow forward momentum
• Worked to keep us light but not too buoyant
• Touched down on side of dirt-track and deflated
• Dug up a massive mallee root for use on camp fire – very dense wood so it’s good for long burning
• Flights today have been fun & educational, great introductions to what is coming up & amazing to see the difference between perspectives of crew, pax & pilot roles
• Loving it! :)

Click here to view my log book entry at JetRecord.com

This was my first instructional flight in a hot air balloon.

I was at Mildura as part of the Australian Ballooning Federation’s “The Lake 2010″ event

Here’s my notes from the flight:

• Paul’s FICOM check process
• Cold, crisp conditions with steady light winds
• Inflated under Paul’s guidance & did a “3 Bounce” take off:
  • Stay on the ground line
  • Inflate & get lift
  • Let it return to the ground
  • Repeat 3 times
  • Launch on peak of next lift
  • Lets you identify false lift
• Went to about 2,000′ to check direction of winds aloft
• Wasn’t totally comfortable at altitude (“the voice”)
• Back down to low level again – skimming the ground was great fun
• Stand up landing in a field
• Got out and rode with the chase crew so Cynthia could get in & fly the second hop
• Elation to be flying at last
• So much to learn
• Paul’s “count the balloons” method for keeping track of others

Click here to view my log book entry at JetRecord.com

I crewed the hot air balloons again last weekend and could see on the account sheet at the fuelling station that we’d only had about 10 flying days in the past month or more. Ouch!

It’s AFL grand final this weekend and about 100,000 people are expected to squeeze into the Melbourne Cricket Grounds for the game, despite the predicted crappy weather on the way. I’m supposed to be crewing both days this weekend but it’s not looking great.

To give you an example, check out this TAF for Melbourne Airport over the next 30 hours:

TAF AMD YMML 240409Z 2406/2512 29015G28KT 9999 LIGHT SHOWERS OF RAIN SCT035 SCT045
FM240900 35013KT 9999 LIGHT SHOWERS OF RAIN SCT030 SCT040
FM241200 36020G32KT 9999 SCT040
FM241800 36028G42KT 9999 LIGHT SHOWERS OF RAIN SCT030 BKN040 OVC080
FM250000 34020G34KT 9999 LIGHT SHOWERS OF RAIN SCT020 BKN035
FM250600 29015G25KT 9999 LIGHT SHOWERS OF RAIN SCT025 SCT040
INTER 2406/2412 4000 SHOWERS OF RAIN BKN020
INTER 2500/2510 2000 SHOWERS OF RAIN AND SMALL HAIL PELLETS BKN015
RMK FM240600 MOD TURB BLW 5000FT
FM241200 MOD/SEV TURB BLW 5000FT TILL 250800
T 17 14 12 11 Q 1009 1009 1009 1007


This would have to be the longest TAF I’ve ever seen. Plus the weather is continued crappy with increased patches of crappy likely.

Not great for ballooning :(

Fog + sun = spooky :)

We gave the passengers their breakfast while we waited (usually they eat after the flight) and it paid off as by 8am the fog was breaking up and sinking further into the valley. By 8:30 it was sufficiently dispersed to make for a great flight so we piled the passengers into the vehicles and went to the launch site. Today was very close – actually just across the road from the winery restaurant in a clear patch near some vines. Throw in a bunch of kangaroos coming over to investigate and the passengers were ecstatic.

Balloons always look good

The rest of the flight went well and we retrieved them from a dairy farm’s field. Fortunately no cows had been in the field for a while so there wasn’t much need to “mind where you step” :)

On the way home after cleaning, refueling and packing up, I noticed a small aircraft with an interesting colour scheme doing circuits at Lilydale airport (YLIL). Given the road I use goes right past the threshold of RWY36, I decided to stop and get some photos. So, do you think it was worth it? :)

VH-CDF - Stinson L5B on very short final

Tandem jumpers about to land

Jump aircraft about to land

While I was waiting for another circuit and photo opportunity, a Piper Warrior taxied out, did a run up and then entered the runway & took off. Not long after I watched a pair of parachutes land (looked like two tandem jumps) and, of course, a few minutes later their jump plane landed. By then “Grumpy” had finished flying and things were quiet, so I got in the car and headed home.

So, is Lilydale airport always this good around 1pm on a beautiful Friday afternoon or did I just pick the right 10 minutes to take a few photos? The sun wasn’t in a perfect spot for some of the photos, but it certainly seemed to be the right place, right time and right incentive to stop and watch a great aircraft – gotta love it!

I’ve uploaded the photos I took while crewing and the photos from Lilydale in my photo gallery.

The special shapes this year are amazing. There’s been a giant cow, Darth Vader’s head, a wagon, a cathedral, strawberry, lady bug, American eagle, the two honey bees (often seen at the festival in Canberra) and many more. It’s a shame we never got to take the F1 Racer over there – it would have looked great.

The balloons were right up next to each other on the launch field – much closer than when we were launching the commercial flights here in Melbourne. They’re also letting the public right up to the balloons as they inflate, which freaks me out somewhat.

During their flight a number of the balloons are dropping down over the river and dragging their baskets through the water. Not sure if today’s weather will allow a box-flight as I’ve turned off the sound (TV presenters are annoying at best during these sorts of events).

NOTE: A box-flight is where you take off and fly away from the launch field with the wind then go up higher and encounter a reciprocal wind that brings you back towards the launch field. Very rare in ballooning but rather common during this time of year at Albuquerque. Usually the wind is blowing in different directions at different altitudes but generally at smaller angles, not 180 degrees opposite.

You know what? Stuff the Olympics – this is something worth staying up for and watching live :)

I was focusing on the basket, burners and the team and didn’t even look up until Pete asked me what I thought of the new shape. Oh wow. Very spectacular and it’ll look great from a distance (not to say it doesn’t look good up close either, just that from a distance there’ll be no doubting what this one is).

The crew had a very tricky time inflating the balloon inside the atrium – there was only just enough space for it to stand up and required guys on the upstairs balconies with ropes to guide it. Quite the feat and the guys were justifiably proud of what they’d achieved.

It was going to be a long day for the team as they had to inflate it before the center opened and keep it up all day until close when they could take it down. Naturally, they were working in shifts to ensure no one got too worn out.

When I was crewing with Balloon Sunrise, I was working on the Formula 1 Racer Balloon (pdf) which took 5 of us over an hour to pull down, flatten out, pack up and put in the back of the trailer. It was also a real pig to fly with the wheels filling with cold air and slowing it down when changing altitude. This “beer glass” shape will be easy to pack up (a long tube with a vent at the top) and fly, so the guys at Picture This will have a blast touring it and flying it around for Carlton & United.

After hanging around for a chat, I headed into the office. Wish I’d had my camera with me.

Updated – 2008-09-04: One of the local papers had an article & photo of the balloon on its first flight over Melbourne.

This morning’s session certainly proved for me that 6 months off crewing has left me a little rusty, even after the training session the other week. A few things have changed in the way we rig the balloons and between that plus generally getting back into the swing of it, I wound up forgetting to get the fan off the trailer. Nick (my pilot today) got everything ready to start the cold inflation, including the guys holding the mouth of the balloon open, and went to start the fan – ooops. Of course, I’m up the other end getting the velcros in when I hear the ramp drop on the trailer and realise “oh shit!” :)

Not the worst thing but still embarassing.

Oh well – a fun session and it’s great to be back doing it again.

Training was held for Balloon Sunrise pilots & crew out at the Balgownie Estate winery in Yarra Valley. Karen & Robyn were our trainers and it was a lot of fun. Things are certainly easier than when I first got basic training back at school. Apparently they found people were taking too long to sort things out and not getting into the important bit (CPR) soon enough. Then there were also the legal aspects where people were paranoid about getting their asses sued if they tried to help, etc.

So, now it’s easier – yay :)

It all comes down to a handy mnemonic:

Danger
Response
Airway
Breathing
CPR
Defib

Some things haven’t changed, including the recovery position and using the Little Annie practice doll thingos – although now you get to use a funky face thingo that fits on and there’s one per person – gotta watch out for those body fluids, ya know :)

All up, a lot of fun and educational – ya can’t beat that!

I went out there with Carlo as a representative of his Flight Experience operation here in Melbourne. He was presenting there so we caught a few others in the agenda and then stayed for the dinner. Between the end of the conference and the dinner, we shot over to the airport for a couple of drinks while watching the aircraft come & go. While there we caught Virgin’s new Embraer E-170 jet come in and park – it’s doing flights around the country to train pilots, cabin crew and ground staff on the specifics of its operation.

On the Sunday I went out the Yarra Valley for a day’s crew training with Balloon Sunrise. We spent some time reviewing the crew procedures manual, then had some pizza for lunch and ended up taking a balloon out to a field so we could rig it, inflate it and deflate it, all without the pressure of commercial operations. The idea was that we could take the time to discuss what was being done at each step and review important issues, etc. Much easier to do in the daylight without passengers and with heaps of time to review, etc. It’s an idea that Rob’s been trying to get happening for a while now and it really did work well.

Of course, we wound up attracting a few people who thought we were going to launch. Not likely – it was getting rather unpredictable with winds puffing all around the place. The joys of a mid-afternoon inflate :)

After lunch and while the others were taking the balloon out to set it up, Peter took Marlon & I out for a flight in the company’s new helicopter. They’ve set up Sunrise Helicopters and are running a Robinson R44 (Clipper II) model based off the lawn in front of Balgownie Estate. NEAT!!! A quick 10 minute ride (sadly with me in the back – DOH! :) was a lot of fun then it was back to the training session.

So, quite the aviation weekend. Now, if only I could have added in some flying time where I was at the controls, well, then it would have been almost a perfect weekend :)