From Rebecca Elkins, our Balloonmeister

Weather Permitting?
For distribution April 3, 2007

To those who attend the event:

First, please let me state that my role as Balloonmeister is to protect the event, a responsibility that I take very seriously. Regardless of the number of public on the field and their expectations, I will not launch balloons from the airport unless the weather ensures the best possible chance of safe passage for the passengers, pilot and equipment to the conclusion of the flight. That is what I am paid for. And I have broad shoulders with which to carry complaints from Joe Grumpypublic, so let me help with that burden.

I guarantee that the bad press associated with a forced landing in trees or an injury law suit would cost more than $30,000 worth of disgruntled ticket holders. My job is to keep the risk of an incident or accident associated with launch conditions to an absolute minimum. I can’t begin to tell you how strongly I feel about that responsibility and I give you my word that I will never succumb to performance pressure. It is a difficult decision to send balloons off field, away from the paying public, to launch, and yet, it is the only course of action when considering the consequences and safety issues. I have been prepared for that task in the past, and I will continue to stay the course for as long as you will have me. I am not distracted by long faces. I have the big picture in mind and use that vision to serve the long term, best interest of the event.

Simply stated, balloon operations are extremely weather sensitive. Safety is always the priority, and cannot be compromised.

The airport is situated in a challenging spot. The best wind direction is to the east, and usually good weather will send us in that direction. The previous two years have been less than kind to us with respect to the weather. Morning river fog presents its own aggravations; we are restricted by law to very specific visibility requirements and the stuff doesn’t always burn off as quick as we need it to before the day winds become capricious and unstable.

When winds are headed south, we need to be assured of enough speed aloft (up high) to clear at least 5 miles of mountainous, forested terrain (that was the problem last year on Saturday evening). Winds going to the west pose difficulties because of the mountain ridge, river and urban congestion. Winds to the north are okay, but represent a shorter horizontal distance of open landing areas than are available to the east. You will recall that hot air balloons have limited directional control (going where the wind blows) and no brakes or engine to propel forward or reverse. Burners provide heat to allow controlled ascent and descent. Rain or thunderstorms in the area, if not at the airport itself, dictate that the flight must be cancelled. I like an 80-100 mile space between my balloons and the nearest troubling cloud, which frequently harbor violent and unpredictable winds as well as rain.

When the weather is marginal at the airport, we have 4 choices:

1. Cancel the flight in its entirety.
2. Launch from the alternate spot; at least the passengers will get their rides, the pilots will get their paychecks and some public will see balloons.
3. Cancel the flight, but request pilots inflate the balloons on the field for a brief static display. This would make the crowd happy for a while, but the pilots will likely be very grumpy, if they could have flown from the alternate launch spot.
4. Declare “pilot discretion” (I cancel the official flight but open the field to any pilot who decides to brave the conditions.). This, in the right circumstance can be a workable solution, but the results are unpredictable.

We collect weather information in the days, hours and minutes preceding a given flight. We take into account cloud coverage, surface winds and winds aloft, both speed and direction and make our decision at flight time, usually not before, because of the changeable nature of weather.

This year we have two balloons that are prepared to tether mid day. The Elkins balloon (with Jerry and I relieving each other) and John Outzen (as in last year). Again, all balloon operations are subject to change/cancellation and tether operations are extremely weather sensitive…even more so than regular flights. But, at least we have two balloons that will perform if it is at all doable. 6. This year, we have at least 15 balloons coming, up from 12.

Remember that balloons launch at dawn and then again 2 hours before sunset.

If anyone, committee, public or otherwise has questions or complaints regarding balloon operations, please don’t hesitate to refer them to me. I can take the heat and am happy to inform and enlighten.

Time will be our best friend. As the years roll by, the public will become smarter and get behind this event. There will always be a handful of whiners…even at the Adirondack Fest, Glens Falls, NY, after 35 years, some people still show up midday looking for the balloons or leave mad (and that’s a free gate) because it was a beautiful evening and no balloons flew.

I humbly submit that I have 15 years of flight experience in the Lycoming Valley, another 7 in various other parts of the world and I have seen it all at a million different balloon festivals. The pilots attending your festival are hand picked, high hour, commercial, professional pilots. They are your very best bet, they love to fly and I hope that you continue to have confidence in our collective abilities and judgment.

Respectfully submitted,

Rebecca Elkins, Balloonmeister
rebeccaelkins@hughes.net

Thanks for letting me be a part of your beautiful festival.

Special thank you to our 2008 Pilot Sponsors!