The briefing was scheduled for 8am at Warren farm, and all the way down the thought was going through my mind would we get there in time? Anxiety started setting in or was it just excitement, either way I still got butterflies , I was a bit cruel to the crew on the trip down and said we would only call in at the services briefly for them to have a ciggy and Loo stop?, being anxious about the time, I just wanted to get there .
As it eventually worked out, we arrived with plenty of time to spare, so we picked a nice spot on the launch field and walked to the barn for briefing.
By this time there were quite a lot of Balloonists congregating, just time to say a quick hello to all our friends and then check our Balloons in.
The briefing was started at 8 o’clock prompt by Pete Bish and members of the Dante team, the Weather briefing looked promising with the wind being 3-4 knots all day, with 10 knots at 2,000 feet. The forecasted direction wasn’t brilliant as it sent us over the Danger areas to the south west , also there was snow coming in from the east sometime during the day, and as if that wasn’t enough the local Lro officers report was a bit off putting , with pleas not to fly low and don’t all land in the same field, beware of the Danger areas and landing fees, not to mention the local Pheasant shoots etc etc. It was almost enough to put anyone off wanting to fly!
The teams soon started to lay out the Balloons , slowly at first then one by one they started to drift off very slowly out of the field.
The visibility wasn’t brilliant but the direction looked better than originally predicted .
We watched for a while then decided to start laying out our kit. Mart Axtell was flying his Saltzenbrau Pils Special Shape beer Bottle and getting it ready for flight, Austin was prepping Mojo, John was getting BUDK ready and Mart was inflating Hollybush, we were all going to take off together and try to keep up with each other but then, just as we were all about to launch it started to snow very lightly.
Mart was first off in the Bottle, we followed in hollybush, being pursued by John. As the snow got denser Austin made the decision to stay on the ground .
Radio messages were coming in from Balloons that had got into the air before us telling us that it was quite thick snow with visibility down to less than 50 metres prompting all the Balloons to land.
Mart put the Bottle down just after flying over the farm buildings, I had to fly on to the next field as I was over a wooded area and John wasn’t far behind. It was disappointing to have to abandon the flight so soon after taking off.
We kept our balloon inflated so we could walk it out to the gate which was some distance away, there must have been ten balloons or more all in the same field ……. so much for not flying low and landing all together!!
John and Martin had both also decided to terminate their flights , and as we all waited, the snow shower slowly started to fade away, Mart and I then made a quick decision to carry on our flight ,we took off again flying low out of the field at first then climbing above the tree line, by now we were maintaining a steady drift towards Pewsey with visibility was a lot clearer and we noticed a few more Balloons had also taken off from the launch site.
We were following the direction of the Kennet and Avon Canal and also the Railway and heading towards Wooton Rivers and the Royal Oak pub , where, coincidently we were to be staying. As we approached the village we couldn’t quite get enough steerage on the ground for the field behind the pub. But we did manage to land not too far off, and as always our retrieve crew were waiting for us.
On our way back to the launch site there were Balloons still taking off in the now much calmer conditions. Martin was now flying the Remax Balloon over the public car park and not going anywhere, then we found that Austin had also been drifting up and down the field in Moro for most of the morning, and as we got back on the field he was just having a flight in another Balloon.
We parked up on the field and were immediately approached by Mel Kirby who wanted to know if I would tether an old Balloon for enthusiasts, I asked him which one it was, and Mel replied that it was one that hadn’t been out of the bag for sixteen years, a 1972 Cameron 140, construction number 45.
I jumped at the chance and we soon had an eager bunch of Balloon enthusiasts volunteering to help.
That’s one of the great things about the Icicle meet.
After we sorted the Velcro rip parachute out, we filled the envelope with cold air, it didn’t look that bad from where I was in the basket, a bit smelly and faded, and you could just make out signs of its 3 previous registrations!!
We soon had the envelope inflated with hot air and kept it up for enthusiasts to take photographs, eventually everyone chipped in and helped pack the Balloon away, who knows, maybe not to be seen for another sixteen years?
The time soon goes when you’re having fun and the weather still looked good for another jolly, as our basket was already rigged up we decided to go for another flight John was also prepping his Balloon and basket,
There were still Balloons flying from the field as we both took off, simultaneously this time. At about 1 o’clock we headed more or less the same direction as this mornings flight, the wind was virtually still with very little movement and a lot clearer, time to admire the scenery along the way. After about a 45 minute flight I brought our balloon down low over the hedgerows and in a field ahead our retrieve were there waiting in the gateway, we managed to land on the trailer then deflated the balloon as quickly as possible without getting too muddy and damp.
All sorted we drove back to the launch site where by now there was not much activity going on, we then had a long drive to the Hilton Hotel in Swindon for the trade fair and to hand over the trophies won the previous year.
We all eventually arrived at the Royal Oak in Wooton Rivers where we were staying that night, that evening and with the predicted forecast looking doubtful for the morning we took advantage of the hospitality and stayed up for most of the night!!
Morning Dawned grey and gloomy and a tad windy we thought, but as we were having breakfast the familiar sound of a burner was heard ,we rushed out of the breakfast room to just catch the sight of the flame in the mist and the outline of the balloon travelling at a rate of knots. We found later that five balloons ventured out with the rest staying firmly on the ground.
The presentations were being held at the Hilton, sadly, there wasn’t going to be a repeat of last years awards when I took most of them. Martin got the prize for travelling the furthest by vehicle to the meet, with other awards going to various pilots for longest flight, shortest flight, best looking balloon etc.
All in all another successful Icicle Meeting and a good flying start to the New Year.
Story by Russell. A .Crew
Photos by Norman Smith |
