Balloon Invasion

Every year Albuquerque hosts the International Balloon Fiesta and it is always great to see. My house has an amazing view of the Rio Grande valley and as such we get great balloon views. When we are lucky the wind brings them our way and so they land all around our house. That is what happened on Saturday and here are some pics:

From the front of the house:



From the side of the house:



From the back:



Today there were even more, but the wind kicked up and there were several accidents .

As long as I am showing off, here are a couple of our views -

From the bedroom:



and from the living room:



It is a hard-life, isn't it?!

Brewpastor said:

Today there were even more, but the wind kicked up and there were several accidents .

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You could scavenge up some great burners for a huuuge batch.

That is so cool BP. Thanks for sharing. Always wanted to visit when this was going.

Nice house too! Great pic's!

How's about a view of the bedroom from the outside... at night...

BierMuncher said:

How's about a view of the bedroom from the outside... at night...

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Why you would want to see a picture of me snoring in bed is beyond me!

I know a balloon designer in Denver who considers that meet the high point of the year.

Not a bad view. A little like looking south from my place back in Vegas. I gave serious consideration at one point of heading to NM, but decided between Tucson and Vegas, I'd had enough dusty brown.

I have been down in ABQ several times in the past weeks... everyone was talking about the baloons... JET fodder...

I am from Santa Fe and every year I would go. My dad took me up a few times when I was a young'n. NM in the fall is really wonderful.

Fall is our best season IMHO, and in the fall there is a wind pattern they call a box wind that occurs. It is perfect for baloonist because the wind will go one way above and the opposite below. You can simply fly in circles, or in a bow. Very cool.

Brewpastor, that was soo cool. Thanks for sharing. One of these days i'll find my camera and post some pix of my doin's. Till then thanks again.....

Great pics BP, and an amazing view. It reminds me very much of the view from the back of my moms' house in Sierra Vista Arizona. Her backyard looks right up at the Huachuca Mountains. It's an awesome view.

Thanks for sharing, great sight with all the balloons!

Ize

Looks like you need one of these, Brewpastor.

Nice picture's Pastor, That is one awesome place you got there, the view it amazing.

Cheers

I saw the title of this thread and I thought it was about drug smuggling. This is much cooler.

The mass ascension of special shapes has always been my highlight at the fest., oh and them early morning breakfast burritos.

So here are some more pictures:

The boys chasing down a Pirate Balloon:



A balloon named High Jack:



High Jack up close:



The kind pilot gave my boys a short ride in his pirate balloon:

A cool balloon eclypse shot:

Hello all. I'm new to home brewing and this forum. I had to search "Balloon" and found this thread.

I live in the Albuquerque area (Belen) and own my own balloon. I have been flying the Balloon Fiesta since 1990. I'm looking forward to next year when I will be able to share some nice home brew with my family, crew and lots of new friends.

BTW: AirRageous is the name of my balloon.

My dad has a balloon (the "American Eagle") and we used to do the balloon fest every year for close to a decade. Nothing like getting up at 4am, heading out in the cold for a pilot's briefing, and getting an early start. I grew up with ballooning but it is simply amazing to see the sky filled with that many balloons.

It is a really great part of living in Albuquerque. If any of you are out for the fest, drop me a PM and we will get together. Next year I will be having my 50th during the fest. Time to celebrate!

Damonic, what is your dad's name? I may know him.

Pastor, I see you live in Corrales. I'm in Belen but work in Abq. We should get together sometime and compare notes. My first brew will be ready around Xmas. I'd like a critique of it from an experienced palate.

When I lived in Tulsa, my apartment was within blocks of a common launching ground. While there weren't near as many ballons for that fest, it was still nice to see.

And as for the view from your bedroom, it'd be pretty nice if you didn't have all that eff'ing rock blocking the view.

TULSA? I was born in TULSA. I even got one of them there degrees from that there University of Tulsa. I made my first HomeBrew in Tulsa. But I never saw any Balloons there.

AirRageous said:

Damonic, what is your dad's name? I may know him.

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Dave Hill. But we haven't been to the Fest in probably 10 years. I'm proud to say I still have a HELLUVA balloon pin collection that's probably worth some money at this point. When you're a kid its about all you can do other than hold the cold pack fan.

The Eagle is a Firefly 7B that was owned by American Savings and Loan before they went under when all the S&L's collapsed in the 80's. We were living in Texas and my dad flew for them for years before buying it from them in '83.

Red, white, blue... and dirty!




Me taking friends for rides at our yearly summer party




Me being completely dumb and reckless... DO NOT ATTEMPT AT HOME!!!

Damonic, nope, don't recall your dad. Is that balloon still flying? In the balloon world that is an antique.

LOL! I'll be sure and NOT tell 'em you said that! Still flying, in fact those pics are from this last summer. The envelope has become extremely porous so we end up burning through a lot of propane. He priced out the cost to have it treated and it was about the same as buying a whole new envelope (that's the fabric balloon-ly part for you non-balloonists!)

I know about porous Fireflys. I trained a lady a few years ago in one and we would use up 30 gal. propane in less than an hour. Of course Abq. is 5000' elevation so that burns more fuel anyway. I told her it was like flying a lace curtain.

My 2000 Aerostar 90K with 350 hours would fly over twice as long under the same conditions.

But, like an old airline stewardess .... as long as she still flys have fun with her.