1 Michael spread the balloon out onto the parking lot of my main Greenhouse to prepare it for flight. A hot-air balloon consists of a balloon, the basket for holding passengers, and the flame. Phurba was on hand to help. http://balloonsoverwestchester.com
2 Michael's balloon is about 50-feet long by 35-feet wide at its widest point. It is big enough to carry Michael and one guest. Some hot-air balloons are four times this size, with the capacity to hold eight to 10 people inside the basket, or even more.
3 The balloon, or envelope, is made from ripstop nylon, the same material used for parachutes, except balloons are specially coated to protect it from the burner's heat, which could reach 250-degrees Fahrenheit. Phurba held the mouth of the balloon open, so the cold air could blow directly into the throat and fill the balloon.
4 As the balloon filled with cold air, John, the designated chaser crew, held the top vent closed by securing the Velcro-tabs.
5 Phurba and Wilmer held the balloon's mouth open until the entire balloon was filled. The balloon basket was attached to the bottom of the envelope with extremely strong metal cables. Traditional baskets are reinforced steel frames covered in wicker - very efficient, light, and durable.
6 Inside the balloon, much of the fabric was still bunched up. The balloon is ready to stand up when all the fabric is expanded. It needed just a bit more air.
7 As the balloon continued to fill up, the fabric became more and more taut.
8 No more bunched up fabric - it looked pretty ready to stand up.
9 Linda Vankooy, a friend of Betsy, my stable manager, accompanied Michael as his balloon passenger. She took photos of the inside of the balloon while it was still laying on the ground. It looked much larger up close.
10 Here was a closeup of the inside of the balloon looking toward the top.
11 Michael checked the burner before he lit it. The burner acts as the "engine" of the balloon. It's attached to the metal frame above the basket and under the mouth of the envelope. There is a 20-gallon propane tank in the balloon. The burner mixes liquid propane with oxygen to ignite.
12 Michael pulled a small valve, which fired up the burner and aimed the flame into the mouth of the balloon to heat the air already inside.
13 Hot air is lighter than cool air, so by heating the air, the balloon became lighter and began standing upright.
14 Michael kept his hand on the burner controls, and fired the burner again, so it continued to stand up. Pilots need to be very careful during this process, watching that the sides do not cave into the flame.
15 Michael got into the balloon's basket. The balloon was completely inflated, holding 56-thousand cubic feet of air.
16 Michael directed someone to turn off the fan. This type of fan is extremely powerful - great caution should be used when working near it. The ropes hanging down control the various vents on the sides of the balloon.
17 Here was the vent at the top of the balloon as seen from the inside of the fully inflated envelope. Michael checked to be sure there were no tangled lines, and pulled the Velcro-tabs open, so cool air could exit the balloon.
18 Michael and I took a photo before he took the balloon up.
19 Michael checked the equipment one more time. He also set the altimeter, which measures the altitude in feet above sea level. It also indicated the speed at which the balloon was moving up or down, measured in feet per minute.
20 The balloon was ready for flight. The winds were very light - good for flying a balloon. Hot-air balloons fly best when surface winds are below 10-miles per hour.
21 Linda walked over to join Michael in the balloon's basket.
22 And they took off. Here they were about 100-feet in the air.
23 Here was a photo soon after they ascended, looking down at my main Greenhouse and me! I am standing on the right in this photo, with Betsy nearby and Wilmer and Phurba behind us.
24 Another image of all of us in front of my Greenhouse as the balloon went higher. The cutting garden can be seen behind the Greenhouse.
25 The balloon continued to go up. Above it, a plane's contrail was visible. A contrail, or vapor trail, made of condensed water, is a long, thin artificial cloud that forms behind aircraft.
26 A balloon has no forward propulsion system, so its speed is determined purely by that of the wind. They can go thousands of feet into the air, but tend to fly from about 500 to up to two-thousand feet above the ground.
27 While the balloon was in flight, Michael took a few photos of the farm despite the heavy morning fog. This was my cutting garden, looking out to the Equipment Barn, Hay Barn and Vegetable Greenhouse.
28 Another view of my main Greenhouse and cutting garden. To the right, the Gym. At the bottom, the top of my clematis pergola and my grove of bald cypress trees.
29 A view looking at the garage, my Winter House and My Summer House in the back.
30 Michael took this photo looking at the sun through the clouds as he ascended above the trees - so pretty.
31 The donkeys wondered what was going on.
32 At first, the balloon headed south, and then as it climbed, it started to go north-northwest. It was still very early in the morning, around 7am, and a thick fog was forming around them, so Michael decided to bring the balloon back down.
33 Balloons travel in the direction of the wind, which varies at different altitudes. Pilots use the air to go up and down, catch different airstreams at different heights, and eventually go in a desired direction.
34 It was a morning ground fog that allowed for these beautiful pictures. The balloon was able to rise above the fog at first, but the pilot decided it was safer to land the balloon.
35 The weeping willow trees were overhead as I went down the carriage road toward the Run-In paddock. The fog looked to be dissipating a little.
36 The fog didn't look so bad here. This is the carriage road leading to my tennis courts and the Run-In paddock.
37 The balloon was headed into the direction of one of the paddocks, which was large enough to accommodate the size of the balloon.
38 Most of the time, hot-air balloons do not land in pre-determined locations. That is why a chaser crew is assigned to follow the balloon during flight. As the balloon nears the ground, the pilot releases the vent at the top of the balloon letting the hot air escape.
39 The fog made it very difficult to see down the entire boxwood allee.
40 The balloon was coming down very smoothly into the field.
41 Usually, when the basket of the balloon touches down, there may be a bump, or the basket could land tipped over, but overall, this was still quite safe. Baskets are designed for all kinds of landings.
42 This is another view of the tall white pines from the carriage road behind them - the thick fog prevented any view beyond the trees.
43 This is the North Maple paddock, and the Run-In shed for the horses. A run-in shed is typically a three sided structure with an open front that provides farm animals with temporary shelter from bad weather. Of course, the siding on this run-in is painted Bedford gray.
44 Michael came down in the paddock, just inches from the white spruce fencing.
45 But the landing was smooth, and both Michael and his passenger, Linda, landed safely on the ground.
46 Linda got out of the balloon to make the load lighter, so Michael was able to move the balloon over.
47 As much into the middle of the field as possible was the best option, so the balloon had room to deflate safely.
48 Here, Michael put just enough heat back into the balloon to allow Betsy to take a good photo of him.
49 The fog seemed to give our cameras a break also - this photo came out clearly.
50 It was very rare for a flight to take off and land in the same place. This was a special treat - for the chaser and all the spectators.
51 As the morning progressed, the fog began to lift from this back field.
52 My grove of willow trees near a marshy area on one of my lower fields. It was still quite foggy here, but it was definitely lifting.
53 I headed toward the site where the balloon landed.
54 As I drove down the boxwood allee, the tall white pines were still covered in the foggy haze.
55 Michael started to take the heat off, with the top red vent slightly open - hot air was exiting the envelope.
56 Hot air rushed out, and cool air brought it down. If you look closely, there is a line connected to the top of the balloon. This is the crown line. Michael's chaser grabbed the crown line and pulled the envelope out straight as it descended to the ground.
57 In this image, it was easier to see the crown line extended.
58 On the other end of the balloon, the basket was tipped over, and preparations to deflate the balloon were underway. What an exciting morning.