Inflate, inflating, inflated- no matter what phase it's in, when a hot air balloon is being filled with that heated air, it's an amazing thing to watch!
This was taken back in May during my hot air balloon ride over the gorge in Letchworth State Park. It's been raining and dreary all day (still unseasonably warm though so not too many complaints here!) and I had a lot to do, so this shot came in handy for Becky's week of "I" words when I ran out of time to do the picture I'd planned. Maybe tomorrow for that one.
Very artistic view! I've never been near a hot air balloon, but I see them floating overhead occasionally and wonder if they are safe ...This does sound like fun!
@annied Thanks Annie! Once you're in the basket this is pretty much what you see when you look up when the burner is going off.
@pandorasecho Thank you Dixie! It's quite an experience. At first the teams are milling around, chatting with one another and waiting. The pilots soon disappear to the Flight Master's tent to get an official reading of the weather. Once the conditions are determined to be suitable for flight things happen quickly! Balloons are stretched out across the field, baskets and burners pulled from vans, rev'd up and primed, huge fans are wheeled to the end of the balloon and while one or two folks hold up the opening, air is pushed inside. At a certain point, the heat is sent into the balloon as well. Once that starts happening the energy level kicks into high gear because once the balloon goes upright, it wants to fly! As soon as the paperwork is signed and all passengers and pilot are in the basket, the folks holding the tethers let go. The burner blasts again and before you know it, the ground is rapidly retreating beneath you! It takes your brain a moment to realize your flying but when you do it's an exhilarating feeling. Up into the sky you climb and soon enough your seeing things as the birds do. I hope you get to fly in one someday- you would love it!
@dibzgreasley Thank you Debs! @dsp2 Thank you DS! Yes, they are absolutely safe. The pilots are extremely careful and as far as the basket goes, it comes up slightly above your waist, so you can't fall out. Once you're airborne it's hard to tell your flying. Since you move with the wind current you don't hear it and it feels like you're gliding. @sangwann Thanks Dione! I'm having to think a little bit each day, but if I can't take a shot, I'm able to find one in the archives. It's been a busy week, otherwise I'd try to take a shot each day. There are a surprising amount of "I" words in the dictionary!
@sailingmusic Thank you Myrna! I bet you would have figured it out eventually! @francoise Thank you Francoise! That was a fun week- well they've all been fun!
@timewalker Thank you Pam! @cruiser Thank you Chris! @rufus2895 Thank you Rufus! @lynnz Thank you Lynn and thanks so much for the fav! @stownsend Thank you Suzie! They are all different colors and patterns so the insides look the same structurally but they are all different colors- very pretty! @salza Thank you Sally! I had another thing in mind to play off the rain, but ran out of time to take it. It was fun revisiting this though. @pyrrhula Thank you Ferry! @grammyn Thank you Katy! @alia_801 Thank you Alia! Next week is Lucy's week and she choose flowers. And you're doing just fine with your "I"s! @allie912 Thank you Allison!
@ninaganci thank you Nina and thank you so much for the fav! @radiogirl thank you Kathy! It has been fun. This week it's back to the archives though (for most of them) because Lucy chose flowers and there are not any out in the gardens now!
November 23rd, 2015
Leave a Comment
Sign up for a free account or Sign in to post a comment.
I words are proving somewhat tricky! What's next week's focus again?
@pandorasecho Thank you Dixie! It's quite an experience. At first the teams are milling around, chatting with one another and waiting. The pilots soon disappear to the Flight Master's tent to get an official reading of the weather. Once the conditions are determined to be suitable for flight things happen quickly! Balloons are stretched out across the field, baskets and burners pulled from vans, rev'd up and primed, huge fans are wheeled to the end of the balloon and while one or two folks hold up the opening, air is pushed inside. At a certain point, the heat is sent into the balloon as well. Once that starts happening the energy level kicks into high gear because once the balloon goes upright, it wants to fly! As soon as the paperwork is signed and all passengers and pilot are in the basket, the folks holding the tethers let go. The burner blasts again and before you know it, the ground is rapidly retreating beneath you! It takes your brain a moment to realize your flying but when you do it's an exhilarating feeling. Up into the sky you climb and soon enough your seeing things as the birds do. I hope you get to fly in one someday- you would love it!
@dibzgreasley Thank you Debs!
@dsp2 Thank you DS! Yes, they are absolutely safe. The pilots are extremely careful and as far as the basket goes, it comes up slightly above your waist, so you can't fall out. Once you're airborne it's hard to tell your flying. Since you move with the wind current you don't hear it and it feels like you're gliding.
@sangwann Thanks Dione! I'm having to think a little bit each day, but if I can't take a shot, I'm able to find one in the archives. It's been a busy week, otherwise I'd try to take a shot each day. There are a surprising amount of "I" words in the dictionary!
@quietpurplehaze Thanks Hazel! Yes, the burners are quite loud, but they are only going in spurts. The balloon you are in is the loudest, but it doesn't hurt your ears. The sound of the other balloons is like puffs of air. To me it sounded like the balloons were whispering to each other. It was a great sound! Yes, I did post a few shots from the ride (but not all of them!!) Here are the links:
http://365project.org/olivetreeann/365/2015-05-28 http://365project.org/olivetreeann/themes-and-comp/2015-05-28 http://365project.org/olivetreeann/themes-and-comp/2015-05-30
And this one is sooc. It was used as the base picture for a WWYD challenge. It's a little on the dull side without post processing as it was a cloudy day. http://365project.org/olivetreeann/themes-and-comp/2015-06-15
@sailingmusic Thank you Myrna! I bet you would have figured it out eventually!
@francoise Thank you Francoise! That was a fun week- well they've all been fun!
@timewalker Thank you Pam!
@cruiser Thank you Chris!
@rufus2895 Thank you Rufus!
@lynnz Thank you Lynn and thanks so much for the fav!
@stownsend Thank you Suzie! They are all different colors and patterns so the insides look the same structurally but they are all different colors- very pretty!
@salza Thank you Sally! I had another thing in mind to play off the rain, but ran out of time to take it. It was fun revisiting this though.
@pyrrhula Thank you Ferry!
@grammyn Thank you Katy!
@alia_801 Thank you Alia! Next week is Lucy's week and she choose flowers. And you're doing just fine with your "I"s!
@allie912 Thank you Allison!
@pandorasecho It's still quite fresh in my mind even though it was in May!
fav
@radiogirl thank you Kathy! It has been fun. This week it's back to the archives though (for most of them) because Lucy chose flowers and there are not any out in the gardens now!