Hot Air Balloon Flight Record - 20-21Jul2013
Ben and Liz; Ann and Lisa

Seven day heat wave leading up to Greenfield was finally breaking on Saturday due to an approaching cold front. Unfortunately that generated unstable storms in the afternoon which canceled flights. We were able to do the balloon glow at 9pm. The breeze did pick up a little at the end.

Sunday morning was clear, calm, and south down the valley. Started out staying low and tracked close to 91. Before reaching Deerfield we popped up to move SE toward RT 5. Couldn't get enough east so we were south of Deerfield before dropping to track along RT 5. South of Childs Cross Rd I tried to drop for the left turn into a couple of large yards, but the turn never materialized though the flags showed it when I started the descent! Continuing at low level I couldn't see very far and took the large field we came over. Turns out we were one tree line short of the Butterfly Conservatory.

Yankee Candle during the day and back to the field for the afternoon flight. During the afternoon it was mainly to the east in line with the Poet's Seat Tower which can be a problem with running out of landing sites. As we got into our launch window the winds shifted SE into the area with more farm fields, missing the state park. For a while, I found wind moving SSW on the east side of 91 but started loosing it too early to stay in the valley. Started watching a VERY long freight train crossing 91 and as we got across the ridge we watched it pulling into the rail yard. Committed the crew to the west side of the Connecticut River though toward the end it was looking close. High Voltage lines made it tight to find anything near River Rd so we passed over, having seen farm fields closer to the river. Tree topping, we turned a bit ENE to pass over the back corner of a crop and end in the back yard with everyone out watching our approach. Very slow and gentle landing and a short wait for the crew to get around the end. Rather than walk to the front, we deflated in the back where everyone could watch, even from the pool.