The 13TH ANNUAL HAVASU BALLOON FESTIVAL AND FAIR was held here in Lake Havasu City, Arizona, from January the 18th through the 21st, 2024.
This was our 3rd Havasu Balloon Festival.
It is really something very special.
In this Post I want to show in detail the process by which the Hot Air Balloons are prepared to fly. It takes a lot of teamwork by the members of each Balloon Team.
The team members travel in vehicles with the balloons and all the necessary accessories needed for each flight.
It is hard to believe, but all of the below photos were taken a few short blocks from our apartment here in Lake Havasu City in the below field.
The next two photos were taken from our front steps.Below one Team is unloading its equipment.
Believe it or not, and I was amazed, the fan you see above and below is what "blows" air into the balloon as the very first step in inflating each balloon after it has been unpacked and laid out on the ground.
I adopted this team as My Team. A really pleasant group.
And now the process of inflating the Hot Air Balloons begins. The balloons are stored in a single fabric bag. The Team Members slowly pull the balloons out of their bags and stretch them out on the ground.
Yes the below balloon is another balloon, one that is being set up by a team beside the above team.
As you can see, the below team is laying its balloon out flat in a different configuration from the above teams.
Jumping ahead of myself, the above beginning became the below balloon in flight.
Now we go to the other end of the above balloons and you can see the fans that initially inflate the balloons that are put into action.
Jumping just a little bit ahead of sequence, the below photo shows an overview of the above team with it's Team Vehicle in the background and a lot of action with the balloon.
Running out and down to the other end (the top of the balloons) you can see the balloons are slowly inflating.
In the above and below photos, you can see the basket that the pilot and passengers ride in.
And then? VOILA! The balloons are upright.
On the right side of the basket in the below photo, notice the one gentleman with his left hand on his hip.
As the balloon was in the final stage before flying, he asked me IF I would like to get into the basket with the team and join them on their flight! Thrilled at the offer, never the less, I politely declined his invitation. I just did not feel comfortable being high up in the air in riding in the Balloon's Basket.
Looking up into the balloon! To get this close to shoot the below photo you have to be on good terms with a team. I was!
We are now very close to our balloon going airborne. The basket is just barely off the ground and the crew can pull it to where they want takeoff to be.
We have "Lift Off".
There you have it. A first look at our 2024 Havasu Balloon Festival here on blogspot.
Cap and Patti
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