One week day of the
annual Hot Air Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque, Jeff & I got up in the middle
of the night (or so it seemed!) to check out the mass ascension! We got there in time to see the morning glow
– when some hot air balloons fire their engines to do a warm air inflation
before the sun rises. They glow! Take a look….
The challenge of
these shots was that it was so dark, I couldn’t see anything. I also had to hand-hold the camera, so the
fact that the image is as clear as it is…was surprising to me!
Before the officials
determine whether the balloons will be able to fly on any given day, a small
number of hot air balloons take off to check out the wind speed and
currents - the Dawn Patrol. One of the things that makes
Albuquerque so great for hot air ballooning is that there are frequently what
are called “box winds”. A box wind
occurs when the air current flows one way at one altitude and then the opposite
way in another altitude. In the case of
Albuquerque, when the balloons take off, they fly south. After a while, they fire up the engine that
blows hot air into the balloon. Since
hot air rises, the balloon will rise to a higher altitude, where the air
current flows in a northerly direction.
The balloon will then fly back in the direction from where it
originated. In a perfect world, the
balloon could land in the same spot from which it took off; but that doesn’t
happen very often!
One last look – a
little closer to the balloons – of the morning glow. We were lucky this day. At first, it seemed like it would be too
windy for the balloons to fly. Things
were delayed for a little over an hour, but then the green flag was raised, and
let the inflation begin!! More in
another post!
Enjoy!
