May 5, 2016 Passengers: Alan & Tangye Hopkins, Jennifer & Roger Silbernagel Cool morning calls for a warmer place to picnic so I call for a restaurant as the meeting point and we will move from there to a launch site. The winds are out of the north so I call for a Brooks site but the test balloon shows it won’t work so we move back to Keizer and this will work for us today. The “gang” gets the gear out of the van and starts the assembly process. The cold air is pumped in and when Starship is filled we add some heat to her and call for the passengers to “come on board”. With a bit more heat we are off the lot about 7AM and drift slowly to the east then with a more altitude we drift to the southwest. The upper winds are light and variable and we zig and zag to the south with a lot of “steerage” winds to play in. We catch a light breeze about 30 minutes into the flight to the west so we will cross the river into west Salem. The “gang” call on the radio about moving to the bridges and I say hold a I’ve found some breeze low and we will cross again back to the east soon. The “gang” has moved to the park and it looks like that will be the LZ (landing zone) today if I can find the right breeze to carry us to them. I have great “steerage winds” low and high so I can work our way into the park. We clear the tree line and the gang is there for the catch. We get the balloon down and tied up and ready for the bag, then we have the passengers do the sit. We load up the van and head back to town for the party. I get the story started, the toast is done and the certificates are presented. A BIG thank you to today’s Crew (I can’t get in the air or back on the ground without’um) Cecil also Will & Dr. T. rounding out the gang, JR TRACK Average Speed: 4.0 MPH Distance Flown: 4.3 Miles Websystem hosting provided by WolfPk. | Site Map Copyright © 2003-2017 Balloon Flying Service of Oregon, Inc. Legal Information All Rights Reserved.