It was one of the last days of Fiesta at Albuquerque. We were among the last to launch, and, as usual, the wind was picking up. A friend of mine, who was 65 years old and had been living in Albuquerque all his life, had been crewing for me. I wanted to take him up as a reward for his services, but he was scared of heights. So he asked me if I would instead take up a couple of his friends. Of course I agreed to take them.
We cold inflated, using an experienced crew person on the crown line, to help control the top. I turned on the burner, and the envelope rose steadily but shakily, among a lot of other balloons that were swinging about.
His two friends, a couple about his age who had never been around balloons before, climbed aboard. We were tied off, rocking and rolling, waiting for the launch director to clear us. Finally we got the thumbs-up for launch. Our crew pulled us forward into the clear, and we took off, heading out to the northwest at a low altitude. We crossed the street, filled with crews trying to chase their balloons. Then we passed over the large concrete drainage ditch that rims the field to the north of the launch site. The wind was quite strong, so we soon passed over the Rio Grande River. Several balloons were flying close to the water. Other balloons were above us, and many were on either side of us. My two passengers and I were having a great time. Meanwhile, the wind continued to pick up.
We were heading for West Mesa. There the land sloped up gradually from the river. Near the river was dense foliage, then a road with houses and businesses along both sides, and not many places to land. Further up the mesa were numerous new housing projects, and more landing sites. With this wind, I knew I was going to need some room for the landing.
Ahead of us I spotted a fairly large field with a dirt road at the far end of it. I told my inexperienced passengers to hang on, and gave them a briefing. Among other things, I told them to keep looking out, because they could better absorb the shock if they could see exactly when they were going to hit. I told them I expected the basket to tilt over before it stopped.
I said, "It’s going to be a bumpy landing."
We hit at about 10 knots, bounced, and dragged for two blocks with the basket on its side before finally coming to a halt, just short of the road and some powerlines. It was an exciting landing, but everyone was just fine....
Our crew arrived a short time later, delayed by the heavy traffic coming out of the launch field. Everyone helped pack up, and climbed into the chase van. We returned through the heavy traffic to the refueling site. Everyone got out while I took the van through the line and refueled my tanks. Finally we drove back onto the field at the Fiesta grounds, and found a place to park.
At last we were able to begin the preparations to perform our traditional ceremony following first flights. This one was to be complete with champagne. We got out a special cloth which we placed on the ground next to the van and the ice cooler. While everyone was chatting excitedly about the flight, I noticed a beeper on the belt of my former passenger. Curious, I asked him, "What is that for?"
"Oh, that!" he replied. "At any time, my doctor may need to tell me to come right in-that he has found a new heart to replace the one I’ve got!"