Program for September David Bair Video and discussion on landing procedures.

Transcription

1 Volume 26, Issue 9a September 2011 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 Tues 9/20/2011, 6p Social Hour, 7pm Meeting Hatch Cover 252 E. Cheyenne Mountain Boulevard Colorado Springs, CO Program for September David Bair Video and discussion on landing procedures. Colorado Balloon Classic Paul D. DeBerjeois Program for October Troy Bradley from Albuquerque, will be joining us to speak about his flying experience s with the cluster balloon house from the movie UP. He has over 5000 hrs as a PIC. Troy s Most Memorable Flights so far: The 1992 Chrysler Transatlantic Challenge flight with Richard Abruzzo. Absolutely amazing! Giving Walter Cronkite a lesson at Château de Balleroy in In 1995, dropping a skydiver (Bob Martin) from 32,000 feet, I then ascended to 34,000 feet. The 1996 America s Challenge. Landing in the Canadian wilderness and being rescued by helicopter. The 2001 Gordon Bennett. Crossing the Alps from Germany to Italy with Earl Miller Flying out of the Stratobowl at night on the AX9 distance record (the only successful record flight from the Stratobowl since Stephens and Anderson s flight in 1935) Cluster flight for Disney/Pixar s movie UP. Flying over 4,000 feet MSL sitting on a carbon fiber La-Z- Boy chair with 70 helium balloons. The next flight For National Geographic took the concept further! Jonathan Trappe and I flew a 1,600 lb. house with balloons to 10,500 feet MSL. Spending six months flying over the unique rock formations, stunning valleys, and ancient cliff dwellings of Cappadocia, Turkey. My son Bobby s solo. On June 4, 2011, at age 9, he became the youngest trained pilot to solo in a hot air balloon. I became the proudest flight instructor in history!

2 Club Contact Information President Chuck Danley (719) Vice President Dave Bair (719) Secretary Peggy Sansom (719) Treasurer Stephen Blucher (719) Director At Large Greg Littlejohn (719) Director At Large Paul deberjeois (719) Director At Large Frank Hunter (719) Photography Paul D deberjeois (719) paul@colorbandit.com Events Coordinator Peggy Sansom (719) peggysansom@yahoo.com Webmasters Joe Lillard (719) LJoeL@aol.com Dave Yob (719) ysoft@att.net Newsletter Editor Kimberly Barnett (719) barnettkim@yahoo.com Historian VACANT Safety Officer Russ Robinson (719) russanna@q.com Crew Development VACANT Community Relations Frank Hunter (719) fhunter4139@msn.com Membership Kimberly Barnett (719) barnettkim@yahoo.com Treasurer Report: $1, Checking $1, Savings $ Petty Cash Colorado Balloon Classic Paul D deberjeois

3 Sunrise / Sunset Location: W104 48, N38 51 (Colorado Springs CO) All times Mountain Time September 2011 Day Rise Set Day Rise Set Day Rise Set Day Rise Set Day Rise Set h m h m h m h m h m h m h m h m h m h m October 2011 Day Rise Set Day Rise Set Day Rise Set Day Rise Set Day Rise Set h m h m h m h m h m h m h m h m h m h m Upcoming Events Calendar BSOPP Membership Meetings/Events Date Event Location/Details 9/20 Club General Meeting 6pm - Social hour, 7pm - Meeting/program Hatch Cover E. Cheyenne Mountain Blvd 9/24 Club Fly Field by Holiday Inn s - Pilot Brief Approx 645am 10/10 Board Meeting All Members Invited 10/18 Club General Meeting 630 PM Ihop Corner of Powers & Stetson Hills 6pm - Social hour, 7pm - Meeting/program Hatch Cover E. Cheyenne Mountain Blvd 10/22 Club Fly Field by Holiday Inn s - Pilot Brief Approx 715am Flights, Rallies and Related Events (Tell them you saw it in BSOPP s Tetherlines!) Date Event Location / Details 9/15-9/18 Snowmass Village Balloon Rally SnowMass, CO - 9/23-9/25 Mancos Balloon Fest Mancos, CO Bobbie Black /23-9/25 Colorado City Balloons Colorado City,CO - Barbi Hann /1-10/9 AIBF Albuquerque, NM /28-10/30 Taos Mountain Balloon Rally Taos, NM - Ed Smith - hotair@puebloballoon.com 11/4-11/6 Arkansas Valley Balloon Festival Rocky Ford, CO - Kevin Kindahl - arkvalleyballoonfest@bresnan.net 11/4-11/6 Page-Lake Powell Hot Air Balloon Regatta Page, AZ Bryan Hill Bryan@pageelectric.org Look for more events at

4

5 Club Meeting Program Highlights from David Bair (July/August 2011) Key points in the video: I. Accident Data A. 1/3 of balloon accidents involve power lines B. 2/3 of fatalities involve power lines 1. 90% from falls 2. 10% from fire / burns 3. <1% from electrocution II. Electricity basics A. AC vs DC B. Voltage, Current, Frequency C. High Voltage, Low Current is efficient - big danger D. Arc Flash exceeds 18,000 degrees F E. Spark gap in dry air = 33kV/cm. (distance grows as contaminants enter) F. Breakers vs. Switches 1. Switches in High V - Transmission 2. Breakers in Low V - Distribution III. Rules for Ballooning A. Rule 1: Launch distance = 100ft / knot of wind B. Rule 2: Cross powerlines in level or ascending flight C. Rule 3: Rip vs. Burn - When it doubt rip it out. 1. How hard is that landing? D. Rule 4: Critical Distance during flight IV. Balloon / Powerline encounter scenarios A. 9 scenarios - what is the danger / pucker factor? B. Be careful with I would never do that.... Be prepared to do any of them with proper training and know the dangers V. Response to occurrence A. Step voltage - remember the cows B. Three scenarios to remember 1. Basket on the ground 2. Basket hanging in the air 3. Basket severed / falls VI. FAA / NTSB A. Accident vs. Incident, FAR / AIM Part 830 B. Notifying (immediately) vs. Reporting (upon request) VII. Wrap-up - PREPARED (Plan, Readiness, Emergency, Practice, Accidents, Rip or Burn, Energized, Decision Making) FAR out Stephen Blucher Over the past months we have been discussing (there has been feedback, thank you) the Federal Air Regulations. To those who fly, they are very important, but not all pertain to those who have tasted flight to quote Leonardo DaVinci. Some are for the people who care for the airspace conveyances, while others for those who take off with us but do not land. Some of the Federal Air Regulations (FARs) are misunderstood, OR, heaven forbid, ignored all together but not by balloonists not by us never...cough gasp. So we have and will continue to look at the ones that cause consternation (i.e. befuddle).

6 Some are so simple they are often forgotten. For example, how can one live permanently in one place yet have the address of another place on their pilot certificate? Is that not illegal? Do you have to tell the FAA of an address change? The answer is no, you do not have to tell anyone. However, I can already hear the outcry, however, if you do not notify the Feds of your address change, after 30 days a pilot may not legally exercise the privileges of the certificate. OK, the notification is done within the time limit. What about the certificate? Does it not need to reflect the new address? Again the answer is no. When the FAA is notified of the change, they make the necessary changes in the computer records but do not issue a new certificate. One of mine has an address over 25 years old, but you know the Feds know where I am as do the junk mailers, stock brokers and anyone else who can put their hands on the list. If you want your new address reflected on your certificate, you can send for a replacement, but it will show the issue date of the new certificate and not the date the original was issued (when you received your rating), which is important to some pilots. Of course, with the requirement that all pilots have the new tamper-proof versions of the certificates, many aviators have had to give up their old worn indicator of being an aviator. The FAR? As a side thought, you all know the difference between a certificate and a license do you not? To refresh your memories, not that this makes a difference in your ability to pilot your craft, a certificate has no expiration date. So why do they call the piece of paper the Student Pilot gets a Student Certificate? It is one of those great, unsolved mysteries of the federal bureaucracy. And, are your FARs up to date? BSOPP July Board Meeting Balloon Society of Pikes Peak Board of Directors Meeting 09/12/11 The meeting was held at Old Chicago s and called to order by Chuck Danley at 7:02 PM. Board Members and Club Members attending: Chuck Danley Dave Bair Kimberly Barnett Frank Hunter Kim Sweetwood Stephen Blucher Peggy Sansom 1. The next Board Meeting will be held at IHop on the corner of Powers & Stetson Hills on Monday, October 10 th. 2. Stephen Blucher reported that the Club has: $1, Checking $1, Savings $ Petty Cash Stephen is working on a budget. Paul D. DeBerjeois Colorado Balloon Classic

7 3. Kimberly stated that membership was way down and that members that had not sent in their dues were removed from the list for receiving the newsletter. 4. Board members discussed the elections. Greg Littlejohn is coming off the board and there have been no nominations turned in for his position. Nominations will happen at the October Meeting and a voting will happen at the November Club Meeting. 5. Paul is working on creating a web page for the club as discussed. 6. The Club Fly will be on September 24 th at Powers & Fountain. Nolan Schuler was not available for the Board Meeting so we are looking forward to the Competition that is planned. 7. Chuck Danley received a balloon request from ENT for an offer of a ride as part of the United Way Fund Raising. 8. It was agreed that the Club Meeting will stay at the Hatch cover for the rest of the this year and then a new location would be discussed. 9. The Board was disappointed that no letters indicating desire to win this scholarship were submitted for the Private Ground School in Denver. Guess the club will keep the donation until next year. Meeting adjourned approximately 7:47 pm. Peggy Sansom BSOPP Secretary

8 Tetherlines Ad Rates Per Issue: Full Page $10 Half Page $6 Quarter Page $3 Bus. Card $1 Article Submission Guidelines 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, September 20th 6p Dinner, 7p Program Club Website FlyBSOPP.com Facebook Ballooning Society of Pikes Peak Tetherlines Official Newsletter of the Ballooning Society of Pikes Peak PO Box Colorado Springs CO 80970