The Tetherlines Ballooning Society of Pikes Peak

Transcription

1 The Tetherlines Ballooning Society of Pikes Peak Volume 30, Issue 5 May 2015 Welcome to the newsletter for the Ballooning Society of Pikes Peak (BSOPP). This monthly publication of the balloon club is to inform and educate club members and others about ballooning in the area. Learn more at General Meeting Saturday 05/19/2015 6pm Social Hour, 7pm Meeting/Program Location: Holiday Inn (South Building) Program: Landowner Relations President s Note: Chuck Danley Happy Mother's Day to all the Mothers. We are not doing a specific event for Mother's Day, this year, since many members will be participating in the ballooning event at Erie. We are however preparing do to a little more for the Father's Day flight in South Park and recognize the mothers there as well as the fathers. We are planning to have pulled pork for the tailgate. We are also planning to do a corn roast for the picnic in July. More details to come about the tailgate and picnic. Members will be able to enjoy the tailgate and picnic as part of the membership. Non-members can also enjoy them for a fee or join the club to enjoy as part of membership. The topic for May is landowner relations. The meeting will be Tuesday May 19 after the club fly on Saturday May 16 this month. We host the Tuesday meeting at the Holiday Inn near the launch field. Make sure the crew chiefs and regular crew come to discuss how to approach and deal with landowners, especially those that may not be so friendly, that you are on their property. The coming topics will be knots possibly in a crew games format at the July meeting/picnic, both on the same day at the same time! September we will cover communications and etiquette on the radio. November we will cover the effect of balloons on animals and livestock. Elections for the board will also occur at this meeting, so make your decision to become part of the Club Leadership. We will soon start planning 2016topics for the January and March meetings, so mark your calendar to reserve those Tuesdays. Please provide any input about topics that you have an interest in hearing or giving to one of the board members. As festival and rally season starts to wind up, keep safety in the front of everyone's mind. Be careful around the fan, quite likely the most dangerous piece of equipment because most people don't give it that type of consideration and stand right in the plane of the moving blades. Keep someone at the fan to watch for the spectators that move right next to it to take pictures and look inside the mouth of the envelope. We as pilots and crew know of the dangers, but the public doesn't. Keep them safe too.

2 SAVE THE DATE!!!! September 4 th to 7 th of 2015 The city of Colorado Springs has confirmed they are working with Albuquerque balloonist Scott Appelman of Hot Apple Productions to host a hot air balloon event over Labor Day at Memorial Park in Colorado Springs this year. There is a Facebook page and a phone number ( ). We will be seeking out local balloonists to fly, volunteer, and help get the word out! Club Contact Information President Chuck Danley (719) veggiewizard@earthlink.net Vice President Gary Roberts (719) Secretary Myia Danley (509) myairflyair@gmail.com Treasurer Bill Black (719) balloonblack@comcast.net Director At Large Skip Howes (719) skiphowes@cs.com Photography Paul D deberjeois (719) paul@colorbandit.com Events Coordinator VACANT Webmasters Paul D deberjeois (719) paul@colorbandit.com Historian VACANT Newsletter Editor Kimberly Barnett (719) barnettkim@yahoo.com Safety Officer VACANT Community Relations VACANT Membership Myia Danley (509) myairflyair@gmail.com Crew Development VACANT Sunrise / Sunset Location: W104 48, N38 51 (Colorado Springs CO) All times Mountain Time May 2015 Day Rise Set Day Rise Set Day Rise Set Day Rise Set Day Rise Set June 2015 Day Rise Set Day Rise Set Day Rise Set Day Rise Set Day Rise Set

3 Upcoming Events Calendar BSOPP Membership Meetings/Events Date Event Location/Details 5/16 Club Fly Holiday Inn Field 700AM Pilot Brief Stephen Blucher is our balloon meister for the day 5/19 General Club Meeting Holiday Inn South Building 6pm Social hour June 2nd Board Meeting Old Chicago s 630pm (Austin Bluffs & Academy) All Members are Welcome and Encouraged to Attend. 6/20 Club Fly Holiday Inn Field 545AM Pilot Brief 6/21 South Park Father s Day Flight South Park, CO 615AM Pilot Brief July 7th Board Meeting Old Chicago s 630pm (Austin Bluffs & Academy) All Members are Welcome and Encouraged to Attend. 7/18 General Club Meeting/Club Fly Holiday Inn Field 600AM Pilot Brief August 4th Board Meeting Old Chicago s 630pm (Austin Bluffs & Academy) All Members are Welcome and Encouraged to Attend. 8/15/15 Club Fly Holiday Inn Field 615AM Pilot Brief 8/18/15 General Club Meeting Holiday Inn South Building 6pm Social hour Flights, Rallies and Related Events (Tell them you saw it in BSOPP s Tetherlines!) Date Event Location / Details 5/15 5/17 Erie Town Fair Balloon Festival Erie, CO - Steve Hunter - shunter40@msn.com 5/29-5/31 Kansas City Hot Air Balloon Invitational Gardner, KS Jason Jones jnsy588@aol.com 6/5 6/7 Telluride Annual Balloon Rally Telluride, CO - Marilyn Branch - 6/5 6/7 Picture the Sky Windsor, CO - Debbi Waltman - PicturetheSky614@gmail.com 6/13 Craig Hospital Rite of Flight Chatfield State Park, Littleton, CO - Al Luksik hotairalan@msn.com 6/21 SouthPark Father s Day Flight SouthPark, CO 6/21 Angel Fire Summer Fest and Balloon Rally Angel Fire, NM Bill Lee bill@scenicballoonrides.com 6/26 6/28 Frederick in Flight Frederick, CO - Michael Gianetti - michael@lifecycleballoons.com Look for more events at

4 FARout - By Stephen Blucher The Federal Aviation Administration has, in some cases, decided if a pilot accepts propane, a room or show up money from a balloon event, that pilot is being paid and must be commercially rated. Fortunately, as mentioned before in this column, opinions of various government representatives differ from region to region. This turn of events, so to speak, and because more balloonists want to pass their passion to offspring or try their hand at the paid ride and promotion business, the number of Private Pilots upgrading to a Commercial Rating is growing. Though the rules changed several years ago, there is still considerable discussion as to how many hours and flights a pilot taking instruction for the certificate change must have. Once upon a time Private Certificate training would double for what was needed for a Commercial ticket, but the FAA saw the fallacy of that and changed FAR Part (h)(4). The first misunderstanding was the definition of a flight. Some certificate applicants were landing, deflating, re-inflating and taking off for another flight. The only differentiation in FAR Part 1.1 is between powered aircraft and gliders. Glider flight time begins when the tow starts as the sailplane (the true designation) cannot begin a takeoff under its own power, unless of course it is a powered glider with a small engine used for take-off and climb then turned off for the remainder of the experience. There are no words about balloons, none stating necessary deflation to end a flight. Balloons, like airplanes, are in-flight from the moment the aircraft first moves under its own power for the purpose of flight. The flight ends when it comes to rest at the next point of landing. This means one inflation and deflation could encompass several flights. Just to muck up the water more, this definition really has to do with pilot time rather than flight time; that time which is legally logable. Some pilots start flight time when the envelope is laid out. Others time from burner on while lift off (closest to the FAR) is the rule used most often. There has been flight time logged by pilots not in the balloon. Illegal? Of course, but the pilot s explanation was they were there, watched the flight and flew it in their minds. It is a sad commentary and unfortunately they get away with the bogus logging. Only through a very careful check of pilots and balloon logbooks would the discrepancy be discovered. However, we are drifting away from the flights/hours purpose of this article. Hours are the hours; there is not a legal way to cut them short. The flights with the authorized instructor, however, can be any length necessary to prepare the student for the tests. Can pilots carry Private hours/flights forward? Must Commercial candidates have a new set of 10 hours of flight training and 10 training flights with an authorized instructor in balloons on the areas of operation listed in FAR (b)(8).? Does someone wishing to have a Commercial Balloon Pilot Certificate have to start with a Private rating? Can they gather the necessary Aeronautical Knowledge and Flight Proficiency, take the written and the practical tests and be rated? Perhaps it is like, "who REALLY has the right-of way when a balloon is ascending at a high rate of speed below another"? Any questions? Next month if I do not get careless and recklessly forget what I plan to be the subject of the article.

5 Future Meeting Topics: May: Landowner Relations July: Picnic and knots (Club Fly and General Meeting on the Saturday the 18 th of July) September: Radio Usage November: Balloons and Animals Impromptu topics at Club Flights: Fly/No Fly, Piball 101, Crown Line, 20 Stupid Things Pilots Do Board Minutes: April 2015 BSOPP Board Meeting May 5, 2015 Prior to club fly/meetings No mother's day just club fly for father's day will have grilled/pulled pork, tater, coleslaw suggested sides by last name meal/membership July picnic/corn roast, hamburger, hot dogs at park meal/membership Guest once/then join club September -radio usage November- animals and balloons Pictures this month are by Paul D deberjeois, from Fathers Day Flight with BSOPP and CBC in Southpark

6 Tetherlines Ad Rates Article Submission Guidelines Per Issue: Full Page $10 Half Page $6 Quarter Page $3 Bus. Card $1 Please limit articles to 750 words Deadline is first Tuesday of each month Publication by second Tuesday of each month 12 Months for the price of 10 if paid in advance 12 Mo ads include ad & link on BSOPP.com Next General Meeting is Tuesday May 19, 2015 Location: Holiday Inn South Building 6pm Social Hour, 7pm Meeting Club Website Facebook Ballooning Society of Pikes Peak Tetherlines Official Newsletter of the Ballooning Society of Pikes Peak PO Box Colorado Springs CO 80970