For only the 2nd time in the last 16 years, I am not spending the first week of October getting up at ‘oh dark thirty and heading for a long, sometimes freezing, morning chasing a balloon. I thought it wouldn’t bother me, it is, after all, just a week of my time.
It started in August of 1993 when my wife made a causal comment to a co-worker that she had always wanted to go up in a hot air balloon. Just a casual comment in idle conversation, nothing really expected by it, but two weeks later, we get a phone call from a stranger, who a friend had passed our contact information to, about helping with their balloon. Debbie and Gary, had just purchased a new balloon, and the 90,000 cubic feet of hot air was a lot for their current current crew to handle, asking if we would we like to help. . . And so started a new friendship and a new hobby.
We started by meeting that first day, for a shake down flight, and got our first taste of what is involved in flying a balloon. we had a few weekends before balloon fiesta and think we used all but one to learn the ropes, but by Fiesta time, Merlin’s Dragon Magic was as much our balloon as it was the Gary and Deb’s.
Since I had some weight behind me, Gary got me on the crown. My job was to hold a 100′ length of rope, tied to the top of the balloon, and to keep it from blowing around, and when we go hot, to keep her from standing up too fast. Mary Lynn was trained to install the crown. The crown is the top of the balloon that when inflating, keeps the air from going out the top, but when descending, the pilot will control by letting air out. Her job was to put it in so it will both hold the air when inflating, yet let the pilot pull out when ready.
Come our first Fiesta as chase crew members, we found our other job just a important, and sometimes, more challenging….. Crowd Control. The opening day is always interesting. over 100,000 people flock to the field to view the balloons. Unlike just about any other spectator sport, the spectators are actually allowed on the field while the activity is going on, and to keep that many people from stepping on the delicate balloons, and not get hit or tripped up when inflating and standing, is a challenge by itself, much less when you are trying to take care of your business. We were learning what being a member of a chase crew was all about….. but wait, we only wanted a balloon ride. It was not our intent to “get involved.” This was fun, but…..
Unfortunately for my wife, it was I that was called out that first morning of Fiesta…. “Hop In!” as I was tying the crown line to the basket. Surely not for me, then again only louder….”Hop IN!” and Gary was looking at me. Here it was… opening day of Balloon Fiesta, and I was going up in the Mass Ascension. 800 balloons, the largest gathering of Hot Air in the world, and I am going to be in the middle of it. . . and I forgot my camera!
Before lift off I got the briefing, and found out that I was not a passenger, but actually expected to help Gary fly. He wanted my eyes and ears to watch for balloons below us, beside us and above us. Point until he acknowledges he sees was I see. What absolute fun.
After lift off, we headed south, out of the park, then he ascended another 100 feet, and we started heading north…. The Albuquerque Box was in effect. (the box is a condition only found in a few places around the world, where the air currents allow for boxing. One layer blows one direction and the next layer, blows exactly opposite. If allowed, a balloon could stay over the park for its entire trip) We headed north over the Rio Grande, headed for Bernalillo. It was surprising how still everything was. You could understand conversations that were 400′ below you, dogs barking sound like they were right next to you and the sound of the balloon burners were like dragons talking in flight. The 45 minute flight had us about 15 miles from where we started, and the chase crew had lost us for about 20 minutes of that time, but they found us just in time for a landing in which the crew actually caught us. Not so much as a bump on the landing. (I would learn later that week what the opposite of a perfect landing is, but that is another story.) 
The best description I have heard about hot air balloon flight, is the total lack of sensation. Though you might be 1,000′ from the ground, you don’t experience the height (acrophobics usually do not have a problem if you can get them in the balloon to begin with.) You don’t feel the wind in your face… in fact, you can light a match and the flames stands straight, regardless of the speed of the wind. In the balloon, you are traveling the same speed, you do not feel it.) It really is very relaxing, and easy to get caught up in the ride… but I still had to stay focused and look out for others.
This was the start of 14 years as a member of Deb and Gary’s crew. There was one Fiesta where during the week, I was the only crew member (not an easy task is it Deb?) I met many many friends that I would only see at Fiesta or other ballooning events. Mary Lynn and I started crewing weekly during late summer/early fall. We were hooked. It became so much more than the balloon ride we had set out for.
Even when we moved to Denver in 2000, Balloon Fiesta was the highlight of our year and we would get back for the full week.
In 2008, I was laid off from work, and had to skip the Fiesta when I started a new job, just before that first week in October, which unfortunately, Deb and Gary decided to retire from balloon ownership, and the ride was over.
Last year, I was upset that I could not be there for Merlin’s last Fiesta flight, but this year, I am finding myself pining for that balloon flight, just one more time…….
I remembered my camera for my last flight in Merlin’s Dragon Magic. Though, not my last Fiesta, my last flight was in 2004 and I took this picture just after lift off. The gray truck, left of center is the chase truck, and Mary Lynn can be seen waving.
