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Ready to Launch
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Saturday, December 10, 2005 10:56 PM
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| A big smile before liftoff! |
Here I am with my passenger loaded and ready to launch as soon as the launch director walks over and gives me the "all clear". There's an amazing energy on the field with 25 balloons hot, standing up, and ready to go with their burners going off continually. The crowd loves it too!
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Inflating the balloon
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Saturday, December 10, 2005 10:53 PM
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| Getting Hot |
We blow cold air into the envelope with a fan and then heat up the air the stand up the balloon. In this photo you can see my crew holding the mouth of the balloon open as I let loose on the burners. The burners produce a flame jet about 10 to 12 feet long and can produce millions of BTU's per hour. In a typical 2 hour flight the balloon will consume about 30 gallons of propane. That's enough for several years of barbecues on your back porch.
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Laying out the balloon before inflating
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Saturday, December 10, 2005 10:46 PM
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| Laying out the balloon before inflating |
Here we are stretching the balloon out on the grass prior to inflating. Each balloon is assigned a roughly square region of the field designated by a number spray painted on the grass. Everyone wears leather gloves when handling the balloon fabric because skin oil can degrade the fabric over time.
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Mass Ascension at the 2003 Freedom Festival in Provo
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Saturday, December 10, 2005 10:40 PM
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| Mass Ascension July 2003 Provo |
Here is a spectacular shot of our mass ascension at the 2003 Balloon Festival sponsored by the Freedom Festival at Provo. The LdsSingles.com balloon is the blue and white balloon (white equatorial band) just above the surface and the mountain ridge in the distance. There are launch directors that give each balloon clearance to launch in a specific order so that we get an evenly spaced (and visually stunning) start to the day. The balloon at the far right is the Bank of American Fork piggy bank, flown by Erwin Oertle. State Senator Curtis Bramble is flying the balloon at the highest altitude (top of picture). Photo by John Bozung.
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