Ammonia Limits Continue to Expand

On Thursday, July 27, Bob Rice informed me things were shaping up for a potential launch window the following Sunday, July 30. Conditions wouldn’t be great, but a 5-600 mile flight was within the realm of possibilities. A cold front was to pass through Saturday night and Sunday, and if the winds would die down before sunset the plan was to jump up on the back side of the front and fly under the influence of the 24-36 hours of high pressure behind it.

On Sunday it blew like a banshee all day and into the evening hours, but Bob had said to expect that. True to his word it finally dropped off quickly and we immediately started inflation at 19:42 hours. With four full tanks ammonia tanks at 80 my fastest inflation ever was complete in just over an hour.

Launch was at 20:58 hours. I would preferred to have waited to let the gas warm to ambient air temperature, but I was calculating a maximum possible duration for this flight of 24 hours. Given the average wind speed Bob was expecting of 25 miles per hour I’d need all of those hours to have a chance at the record, so off I went. Imagine my pleasant surprise when just ten minutes after launch at only 900 feet above the ground Big Sky was zooming along at 32 miles per hour, and that on a heading of 120 . Bob had been expecting only 100-110 at the most, which would have kept me uncomfortably close to the Canadian border, the woods of northern Minnesota, and Lake Superior. This was looking much better indeed.

Things stayed quite positive most of the night. I had to ballast constantly, but not as much as on prior flights. I’d left with 525 pounds of sand, three gallons of water, and other supplies. It still wasn’t responding as well as my first homebuilt, the Prairie Queen had done, but at more than 30 mph I wasn’t going to complain. By 22:00 hours the lights of the "greater metropolitan area" of Williston, North Dakota were in sight and by 23:00 already well behind me. I checked in with Sloulin International Airport and upon hearing, "gas balloon" he could only reply, "A WHAT??? I didn’t think you could fly at night." I suggested he look just northeast of the runway and he’d see we could indeed.

Soon Lake Sakakawea was shimmering in the dim light, and just before midnight the mighty Missouri was crossed for the first time. This was rough country and the ground seemed to be getting closer. Sure enough, the little "Killdeer Mt. Range" was just off to the right, right there where no mountains had any business being. To stay safe a bit more sand went over. Now the bright lights of the new casino at Four Bears on the reservation could be seen, and more impressive even, directly beneath at 1 AM the confluence of the Missouri and Little Missouri Rivers.

By 4 AM the balloon was already at Fallon, about ready to exit North Dakota-I thought. I’d traversed 210 miles in seven hours. At this rate the record should be attainable, especially if the daytime velocities would increase at higher altitudes as they usually did. But alas it wasn’t to be. With sunrise everything slowed, even at higher altitudes. It was 6:30 before Big Sky and I finally entered South Dakota at the Standing Rock Reservation. It reminded me of that magical moment during a similar flight the year before when a few miles to the south I heard and watched a pow-wow in full session 6000 feet directly below the basket.

It was about this time also that the GPS quit working, just before crossing the Missouri for the second time at Lake Oahe, north of Mobridge, South Dakota. The next six hours only cost one bag of sand, altitude remained constant and I was able to write a lot of Balloon Post. The down side was a speed of about 20 mph on a heading of only 90 , at times even only 85 , which meant I was also losing great circle distance.

Afternoon light clouds started forming, shading the envelope at times- the ballasting bosa nova began. Not only sand, now the dead batteries, GPS, etc. went over board when close to the ground where the chase could recover everything. The balloon refused to react to measured ballasting, but waited till shortly above ground level to begin a slow but steady climb to 21,000 feet. There we flew in the snow crystals for about an hour at 25 mph.

Sam Moore, the NAA/BFA authorized observer did an excellent job of observing and chasing. FAI reporting forms, guidelines, etc. were used. I have an NAA sanction in place for the AA-4 distance record, but it requires a weeks prior notification to activate it, and I only had four days once I heard from Bob. Thus the record application for distance, altitude, and duration in an ammonia balloon is being made to the Experimental Balloon & Airship Association only. The NAA procedures for establishing records may be fine for fixed wing, but they don’t exactly encourage balloonists. I feel this is an area where their could be work for an improvement.

Gas ballooning in the U.S. has become much more accessible with the advent of ammonia balloons. If one is interested in starting, or just getting more information they should contact Tim Cole, 1017 15th St, Greeley, CO 80631.

Carl Eidness (center front) and the families that helped him pack up near Ortley South Dakota

Editor’s Note: On October 19, Carl Eidsness launched his ammonia balloon and stayed aloft for twenty hours and thirty-five minutes flying a distance of 1124 miles to establish a new AA-4 record.