Balloon Story Fun with
Honestly, Jim!
Aren't we high enough yet?!?
hole
They make me Sooo angry!
Here's some stories from them!
Balloon Story Fun with |
| Those silly Earthling creatures! |
Honestly, Jim!
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They make me Sooo angry! |
Sky Chasers is a commercial hot air ballooning company that offers hot air balloon flights, tethers and promotions in the McKinney and North Texas areas. We have a lot of fun and this page reflects some of it, but we take our job seriously. Safety is top prioity.
I am still in awe that I can now say I have taken a hot air balloon ride!! Thank you for being so wonderful as we reworked our calendars! Chalon and I will never forget flying in the Sky Circus!! You are wonderful at what you do and bless others with your work!! Thanks again!
If you're looking up and happen to see a hot air balloon overhead, you can bet on one thing... That balloon is going to land somewhere. Normally the landing place is some field and the owners never know that a balloon landed there.
It's after 5:00 pm and we're setting up the balloon for launch. Yes, we're running a bit late, but that happens. At least it's a nice evening for a flight. Anyway... The balloon stands up nicely and the passengers climb in.... Jim fires the burner and they're off. The wind is an easy north with slight west. We load up in the van and start the chase.
I've crewed on flights where the balloon was out of sight so fast you wonder if you'll ever catch it. On this flight, I was wondering if I could drive slow enough for the balloon to catch us. We wondered down some back roads and stopped for a few to find the balloon. We knew we were ahead of the balloon, but where was it? There's lots of trees and Jim is flying low. Quick radio call to ask Jim to go up high so we can find him. I walk over to a fence and spot the balloon just as a gentleman drives up to the other side of the fence to ask if there is a problem. After an introduction and explanation, we thank the gentleman for his concern and move on.
Jim informs us that he'll be landing shortly. We make a few turns and end up outside the field where he has set the balloon down. The land owners are standing outside a barn watching and waving to us to come on in. I turn the van around and head for the gate. As we pull up to the land owners, we ask if it's ok to go in and recover the balloon. They seem thrilled that a balloon has landed in their field and wave us on.
By the time we get to the balloon, we see that the land owners are following us in their vehicle. Jim keeps the balloon up since it's a calm evening. We all greet the land owners and thank them again. Jim offers to give them a tether ride in appreciation for letting us in and their kindness. We connect the tether rope and give the ride, then get the balloon packed up.
Like I said at the beginning, many times the land owners never know that a balloon has landed in their field. It's nice when we, as a pilot and crew, can give a little something back to the people whose land we use for our landings.
Best regards,
Frank Vest - Crew member
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