June 21, 2012 Passengers: Teena Stratton, Destiny Fleming, Larry & Barbara Park I called for a Keizer launch site last night but in the gray light of pre-dawn my pi-ball tells me to move to the west side for this morning. We get the balloon out and start filling it with cold air and soon we are ready for add the heat and get Starship standing. We get the passengers on board and with a bit more heat we are off the lot. The winds fall off after a few hundred feet as we cross over the ball fields and then the tree line on the edge of the river. We cross over onto the river and with a slow wind will stay and play a while close to the water. We drift past the condos then finally start to drift toward the trees on the east side of the river and will climb out. We come out on Front Street just as the gang stage at a Pride Fuel Station. Then the winds quits and I take a peek at the GPS and we are doing 0.0 MPH, we have stopped dead calm. I start a slow climb and finally catch slight breeze and we double back over our track (check TRACK below) and start to move east. It is over town for the rest of the hour and my first LZ shot is the Green or Yellow lot on the Capitol Mall. I set the shot and the last 100 feet get shoved off to the north. This will put us into a possible shot at North High so the gang moves in there but Mother Nature shoves us east again. I call the tower with “another Missed Approach” call as I cruse along for another LZ set-up. With the drift to the south by east I’m closing in on the open field on D Street next to the Birthing Center at the Salem Hospital. I again drop to set the shot and get a turn to the east and CANNOT get 60 feet south to clear the power lines on the street edge. The “gang” saddle up again….hmm number 4/5? I’ve lost count! Next is Englewood School, miss that one…next is Hoover School & Park. I really think that I can hit this one but at the last minute I get a push to the south and the LZ will be a really ugly, gravel parking lot across from the S/K School Dist. bus lot. We get down and get packed up and head back to the Park for the picnic. I get the story started, the toast is done and the certificates are presented. PASSENGER COMMENTS: Teena: “Thank you! Very informative for a 1st time ballooners!” Destiny: ”It was a lot of fun.” Barbara: “Totally awesome, even with little wind.” Larry: “Lots of fun looking for a place to land.” A BIG thank you to today’s Crew (I can’t get in the air or back on the ground without’um) Ken, Brett, Lance, Molly, Casey, Beth TRACK Average Speed: 2.0 MPH Distance Flown: 4.5 Miles Websystem hosting provided by WolfPk. | Site Map Copyright © 2003-2017 Balloon Flying Service of Oregon, Inc. Legal Information All Rights Reserved.