The balloon you see on this page is named "ColorVision". It is currently piloted by David Begin of Grapevine, Texas, and sponsored by East Fort Worth Eye Associates. It is a 1995 AeroStar RX-8 with dual propane burners, and is 60 feet wide, over 7 stories tall, and holds 90,000 cubic feet of hot air. It flies around Texas and the Southwestern US.
I'm a member of the ColorVision crew team that helps get it unpacked, off the ground, back to earth safely and packed up again for the next launch.
You can volunteer to crew a balloon at any rally in your area. Just walk around the field and ask the group standing around an unloaded trailer if they'd like an extra hand. It's a whole lot of fun, even if it IS hard work!
("Reflection", copyright 1998 by crew member, Robert LeRoy)
Balloon Crew members tend to fluctuate during a weekend rally, so not everyone is available all the time, even though they'd like to be. Pictured here are: Marsha, Sherrie, Terry (Crew Chief), Crystal, Robert and Jeff. (Not pictured: David (Pilot), Logan, Susan, Keith)
Terry shanghai'd Robert out of the crowd Friday evening and put him to work. He got his first flight that night, was with us all weekend and now he's hooked on ballooning, AND he's a great photographer!
Saturday, Sept 19, 1998, 8:15 AM, Plano, Texas.Flying with him is impressive!
After a brief ceremony that included the history of hot air ballooning and the Balloonist's Prayer (below), ColorVision Crew Chief, Terry Austin, pours the traditional first flight champagne over my head while the next first flight victim, Susan, looks on.
The ColorVision Chase vehicle is behind us.
I was also awarded a First Flight Certificate commemorating the momentous occasion.
Two views from the air:
It's a misty morning as I rise over the park after the switch-out with the previous first flight riders, Susan and Logan, and in the picture below, we are chasing our shadow as we come in for a very peaceful landing.
The morning flight was so beautiful that David didn't want to land until the propane ran out. He skims just INCHES off the ground - so close, yet no blade of grass is touched - until landing.
The balloon envelope is laid out, connected to the basket and ready for inflation.
Logan (yellow shirt) waits patiently by the basket for the official orders from the pilot to start the fan for cold air inflation. Robert (blue shirt) uses the rare waiting time to take some pictures.
The basket is tethered to the truck for safety during the inflation.
Looking into the balloon envelope from the throat (near the basket) while it is being inflated by the fan.
When it is full enough, the pilot will turn on the burners to heat the air, and the balloon will start to rise on its own.
The black circular "crown" keeps the air in, and after landing, it is opened by pulling a rope to let the hot air out so we can pack it up.
ColorVision rises above a field filled with 80 hot air balloons in front of a crowd of several thousand for a lovely Saturday morning flight.
But the toughest job is still to come!
Now known as "Vision Chase" on the radio, we stuff ourselves into the truck/trailer and follow the balloon via visual sighting, radio contact with the balloon, and road maps.
It's not easy to figure out where ColorVision is going to land, (it all depends on the whims of the wind) and we hope to be there BEFORE the balloon arrives. Traffic jams caused by onlookers, dead end/closed roads, locked gates and fences all make the chase quite a challenge. But, we always find our balloon, eventually.
The black crown was opened before the bag ever hit the ground. A person holding the "crown line" guides the rapidly deflating envelope back to earth. "Milking", shown here, is how we get the rest of the air out of the bag prior to packing up after landing.
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Updated: November 10, 1998
