by Mike Rose
The pilot has been trained in the various methods of landing a balloon depending upon the conditions at hand. The pilot can land the balloon without the aid of the crew in any weather or ground condition. What I am trying to get across here is that the crew can assist in the landing, but the ground crew is not necessary to the success of a good landing. The only possible exception to this rule could occur when it is totally calm and the balloon is stuck over some sort of ground obstacle. This "becalming" of a balloon occurs so infrequently that it may be years between situations. See Drop Line Landings below for further information.
Now that I have made it perfectly clear that the ground crew is not necessary in the landing procedure let me contradict myself. The crew can be helpful and assist the pilot in many useful ways during a landing. From the air the pilot cannot always determine many things including field conditions. field access and landowner attitude. The field that the pilot has chosen may be fenced, posted for trespassing or wet and muddy. It may be filled with debris or undergrowth making it unsuitable. These things cannot be seen from the air. The landowner may be standing there demanding that the balloon not land in his field. It is situations such as these where the ground crew can be of most use to the pilot when it comes to landing. Once the pilot has declared his/her intention to use a specific field it is the ground crew's job to check out the field for any hazards that may be present. You should then communicate all the positives or negatives to the pilot for the final landing decision.
Much of the time it is possible for the crew to approach the landowner prior to the landing to seek permission to land in his field. If it is at all possible this should be done before the landing instead of after the balloon is on the ground. If the landowner is friendly and does not mind the use of his field, all is well and good. If, however, the landowner does not want the balloon landing in his field it is certainly better to know before the landing. This is helpful in avoiding a confrontation between the landowner and the pilot and goes a long way in keeping the peace. Landowner relations is one of the more important crew responsibilities and good landowner relations will go a long way in improving the sport in your area.
Calm or near calm wind landings are obviously the easiest of all. In calm conditions you can do many different things to assist in the landing. With near calm winds the crew can literally catch the basket as it settles to the ground. In these conditions, once the balloon is on the ground, the pilot will often ask the crew to "walk the balloon" to a spot that is more accessible for deflation. This is accomplished by heating up the air inside the balloon until it reaches a point of equilibrium. At this point, just another small burst of heat will lift the basket slightly off the ground where it can be maneuvered around by the crew. The crew grabs the outside handles on the basket and simply moves the entire system to the location chosen by the pilot. When assisting in this maneuver please remember that your feet should never leave the ground. It is very dangerous to be picked up by the balloon while you are hanging on the outside of the basket. Do not, however, just turn loose. Communicate! Tell the pilot what is going on and that you have to let go. If the pilot knows what is going on then corrective action can be taken to account for the loss of your weight when you let go.
High wind landings are another story. A high wind landing does not allow for much except getting the balloon down and stopped in the shortest possible distance once it touches down. In these conditions you can assist by adding weight to the basket once the balloon is on the ground and dragging, but please do not stand in front of the basket as it is approaching the ground. Stand off to the side so you do not get run over. Also, be careful of the first touch down in a high wind landing. More often then not the balloon will rebound after touching down and some of these rebounds can carry the basket 50-60 feet or more into the air. The steeper the approach, the harder the landing, the higher the rebound. I stress again, do not get caught hanging onto the outside of the basket when the balloon is ascending or rebounding.
Drop Line Landings
A drop line landing is something that is seldom learned during a pilot's training. I do not recall one mention of drop line landings when I was training, and up until now, I have not done any drop line training with a student. In view of the many things that can go wrong in a drop line landing I think it will add it to my training in the future. In my opinion, a drop line landing is not a normal landing. Oh, I know, some pilots use a drop line on almost all landings. I have never talked to one of these guys about this, but I feel that a drop line has a specific use and if overused it just becomes dangerous. As I look back on my flying career, I can recall only 4-5 drop line landings in 19 years.
A good time to use a drop line would be if the balloon is becalmed in an area where it cannot land. Some specific examples would be if it was over water, over a planted field, over a congested area such as houses or over a forested area. If there is no wind to move the balloon away from the obstacle on the ground the pilot will throw his drop line to a crew member on the ground. The balloon can then be maneuvered to a clear area to land. This is one of the times where gloves are mandatory in ballooning. Do not try to handle the rope or webbing with bare hands. This is the quickest way to get a rope burn.
When an inexperienced crew person gets a drop line for the first time the tendency is to pull down. DO NOT PULL DOWN. This will usually pull the balloon down on to the obstacle it is trying to avoid. At the direction of the pilot, you will be pulling the balloon to the side, away from the obstacle. Be very careful that there are no powerlines in the vicinity as even rope or webbing can carry enough electricity to cause serious bodily injury. If a drop line is thrown and it comes into contact with a power line DO NOT TOUCH IT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES!
I feel that a drop line should never be used in a windy situation such as trying to get into a short field at 10 to 20 mph. A balloon moving at this speed has so much momentum that two or three people at the end of a drop line will just get dragged along the ground. Please do not let yourself get into a situation like this as it can be very dangerous. You could be dragged into some solid object on the ground that could cause serious injury.
With several people handling a drop line they should all be as close together as possible, forming one restraint point. If you have two or three people at the end of a drop line and one person 20 to 30 feet further up on the line, that single person could get picked up into the air if a gust of wind came along.
Now, I know this sounds funny, and it can be embarrassing to the pilot and dangerous to the passengers, if the other end of the drop line is not secured to the basket before throwing out the line. Oh, don't laugh... It has happened. The pilot throws out the drop line and the whole line comes falling down to the ground because one end was not secured to the basket. It is also a good idea to have the drop line attached to the basket with some kind of quick release. This will allow the line to be released should it become fouled in trees, powerlines or some other unpleasant thing on the ground.
OK, the basket is on the ground and all movement has stopped, but the envelope is still vertical. In calm winds it is sometimes a task to get the envelope deflated. This is usually accomplished by using the crown line and any handling lines attached to the envelope to pull the envelope to the ground. The top vent is pulled open to allow the heated air to escape and the balloon deflates. In calm conditions, the crown line is used to pull the envelope away or it will settle down on top of the basket. As you pull it down a large bubble will form in the middle of the balloon. Once this happens the person on the crown line can simply let up on the line to let the vent hole in the top of the balloon to rise. This is called "burping" the balloon. Sometimes this is done 3-4 times until the entire bubble of hot air is released.
OK, the balloon is down and IT'S TIME TO PARTY!! No, No, NO. Now comes the hardest part of crewing. Coming next month, The Pack-Up. As always, please forward comments or suggestions for future topics to me at P. O. Box 830011, Richardson, Texas 75083 or balloon@flash.net.