"The Miss Daisy Team"
Wow, what an experience I had yesterday. Mike had a cold and decided he needed some down time so off I went to the Fantasy Springs Hot Air Balloon Festival; it's held each year in Indio and benefits the military families in the area. So, I get to the gate and within minutes of making my entry fee donation, I am recruited for "The Miss Daisy Team". I had absolutely no idea what I was getting myself in for, but what the heck, I had never been at a Hot Air Balloon Festival and thought this might be a way to understand just what was happening. Let me tell you the story.
This is the trailer that houses Miss Daisy and all the stuff needed to get her airborn. Dan and Susie from Oklahoma own this balloon, which was designed and constructed in Sioux Falls, SD. After quick introductions, we were told that they needed three hours of our time and that we would learn about ballooning, but wouldn't necessarily get a ride. They also warned us that it could be very hard work. Amazing as it seems, I decided to stay and see what was going to happen.
We were also told some facts about this particular hot air balloon. Miss Daisy weighs 1000 pounds and your average balloon, like the one we rode in years ago, weighs about 300 pounds. To inflate this creature takes about 25 minutes and other balloons take about 7-10 minutes. Miss Daisy was the biggest balloon on the field - there were 17 other special design balloons.
Our first task was to spread the tarps on which Miss Daisy would lay when she was uncrated. There were two of these massive tarps, and yes, they were patched with duck tape! The tarps are important because Miss Daisy is an FAA approved "aircraft" and when she goes in to have a rip sewed up, the repair has to be inspected by the FAA - sounded like it could be a long process.
Once the tarps were laid, we (there were about 12 of us - all volunteers except the owners and all 'first timers') helped to uncrate Miss Daisy and lined her up to maximize the wind. As Dan directed our actions, Susie was constantly checking wind direction and speed; it seems that the speed cannot be over 8 or 9 MPH. As the picture shows many around us were close to fully inflated by that time.
As the big blue dragoon was inflated, our Miss Daisy still layed on the tarp and we were checking to be sure that over 20 "flaps", each about 3 feet long, were properly sealed with velcro. I was beginning to wonder just how long this process would take.
The Mayflower balloon was launched and carried the American Flag; as with all events The Star Spangled Banner played and as the final notes sounded, many of the small balloons launched; it made for quite a site.
The decision was finally made to "take her up" and the fans were fired up - they use two industrial sized fans to inflate it before the heat is added. That is me holding up the opening. One of the volunteers said I looked like I was having so much fun, she took my camera and shot some pics for me. It was fun - those of you who know me to usually have my hair in place would not have believed it...
Finally, after about 20 minutes of the fans, it was time to add the heat - two 70 pound propane tanks are used.
As enough heat gets in, she slowly begins to "stand up" and the basket needs to be held in place.
Miss Daisy is up and beautiful. Since we all needed to stay close to man the ropes which held her down to the ground, it was impossible to get a picture of the whole balloon. This gives an idea of her size.
She was only up for about 30 minutes because of the wind gusts - there was one time when the Energizer Bunny started to list, Susie the owner got very nervous and told us to "pull it in".
This is one of the "flaps" we didn't manage to get closed - no wonder it took so long to fill it with air.
This is what it looked like from the basket.
And this was one our neighbors.
When Miss Daisy comes down, we take off our shoes and "walk out" the air. The 2 kids who were with us really enjoyed this part.
After all the air is out, it is wrapped up again, and put back in the crate.
A group of Marines came by just at the right time to help "stuff".
The tarps are folded and stuffed back in the bag and it is time to say good buy to our team members. As I leave the field, two balloons are still up and one is doing a "burn" for the public - a beautiful site.
As soon as I got home, I modeled my new favorite T-shirt.
What an adventure.
This is the trailer that houses Miss Daisy and all the stuff needed to get her airborn. Dan and Susie from Oklahoma own this balloon, which was designed and constructed in Sioux Falls, SD. After quick introductions, we were told that they needed three hours of our time and that we would learn about ballooning, but wouldn't necessarily get a ride. They also warned us that it could be very hard work. Amazing as it seems, I decided to stay and see what was going to happen.We were also told some facts about this particular hot air balloon. Miss Daisy weighs 1000 pounds and your average balloon, like the one we rode in years ago, weighs about 300 pounds. To inflate this creature takes about 25 minutes and other balloons take about 7-10 minutes. Miss Daisy was the biggest balloon on the field - there were 17 other special design balloons.
Our first task was to spread the tarps on which Miss Daisy would lay when she was uncrated. There were two of these massive tarps, and yes, they were patched with duck tape! The tarps are important because Miss Daisy is an FAA approved "aircraft" and when she goes in to have a rip sewed up, the repair has to be inspected by the FAA - sounded like it could be a long process.
Once the tarps were laid, we (there were about 12 of us - all volunteers except the owners and all 'first timers') helped to uncrate Miss Daisy and lined her up to maximize the wind. As Dan directed our actions, Susie was constantly checking wind direction and speed; it seems that the speed cannot be over 8 or 9 MPH. As the picture shows many around us were close to fully inflated by that time.
As the big blue dragoon was inflated, our Miss Daisy still layed on the tarp and we were checking to be sure that over 20 "flaps", each about 3 feet long, were properly sealed with velcro. I was beginning to wonder just how long this process would take.
The Mayflower balloon was launched and carried the American Flag; as with all events The Star Spangled Banner played and as the final notes sounded, many of the small balloons launched; it made for quite a site.
The decision was finally made to "take her up" and the fans were fired up - they use two industrial sized fans to inflate it before the heat is added. That is me holding up the opening. One of the volunteers said I looked like I was having so much fun, she took my camera and shot some pics for me. It was fun - those of you who know me to usually have my hair in place would not have believed it...
Finally, after about 20 minutes of the fans, it was time to add the heat - two 70 pound propane tanks are used.
As enough heat gets in, she slowly begins to "stand up" and the basket needs to be held in place.
Miss Daisy is up and beautiful. Since we all needed to stay close to man the ropes which held her down to the ground, it was impossible to get a picture of the whole balloon. This gives an idea of her size.
She was only up for about 30 minutes because of the wind gusts - there was one time when the Energizer Bunny started to list, Susie the owner got very nervous and told us to "pull it in".
This is one of the "flaps" we didn't manage to get closed - no wonder it took so long to fill it with air.
This is what it looked like from the basket.
And this was one our neighbors.
When Miss Daisy comes down, we take off our shoes and "walk out" the air. The 2 kids who were with us really enjoyed this part.
After all the air is out, it is wrapped up again, and put back in the crate.
A group of Marines came by just at the right time to help "stuff".The tarps are folded and stuffed back in the bag and it is time to say good buy to our team members. As I leave the field, two balloons are still up and one is doing a "burn" for the public - a beautiful site.
As soon as I got home, I modeled my new favorite T-shirt.
What an adventure.
posted by jf and me | 5:15 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home