The intrepid balloonist flew his small homebuilt balloon (with a friend's small basket), with one passenger plus himself. Being a good guy, he managed to get three of us up in the air, touching down twice to swap passengers.
Leg #1: Aquaturf to Devonshire Drive, Berlin
We had 15-20 balloons on the field at the Aqua Turf Club in Southington. Winds aloft were predicted to be high (25 @ 3000 ft, one balloonist report 30 knots), mostly calm at the surface. RZ launched with a birthday girl in the basket (50 is nifty!) who was also a balloon virgin. She had a nice flight, over Camp Slopers and into Berlin, just south of Timberlin Park to a landing on Devonshire Drive.
Leg #2: Devonshire Drive, Berlin to Springbrook Drive, Rocky Hill
I jumped in the basket at Devonshire Drive, and we flew a long and high leg over to Rocky Hill, at a farm just south of the Henckel / Loctite Building (West Street area). We got pretty high (5500 feet, over a mile) and despite a bit of haze could easily see Hartford, Hueblien Tower, the Farmington radio towers, Otis Elevator test building, and Meriden Mountain. Nice to see lots of balloons in the air from that height. Did I bring a camera? No I did not - my newer camera has gone missing and my old one was sitting in my office. Doh!
Leg #3: Springbrook Drive, Rocky Hill to the Rocky Hill Meadows
I hopped out at Springbrook Drive, and KB hopped in with an aviation radio, to fly onwards. They were aiming at Brainard Airport, hence the radio, but the winds did not cooperate. As a result, they ended up in the meadows (a pretty common balloon landing zone, wide and flat with pretty decent access, and unlike the spring when that area can be a mud zone, the roads were flat and hard. The chase crew hit the Dunkin Donuts in Rocky Hill (off West Street) for bathroom breaks and coffee, before meeting the balloon team in the meadows - we drove into the meadows from the north entrance (Wethersfield) so had to drive the long way around - so the balloon was on the ground and deflated by the time we got there. I blame myself, I pride myself on being at the landing site before the balloon when I can.
Back to Southington / Cheshire for breakfast - longtime balloon breakfast haunt Gene's Restaurant has closed, soon to be a Slider's sport bar if rumors are true. So we filled up the Milldale Diner - not sure if that will become the new "balloon hangout" (no big long tables where we can all hang out) but the food was good.
Lots of pictures were taken, so if I get some, I'll post 'em!
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