Global News

Last month in this space Balloon Life incorrectly reported that Bruce Comstock had left Steve Fossett's Solo Challenger team. Comstock has not left the Fossett's team. He has been contracted to build an autopilot for Kevin Uliassi.

Although Uliassi, a Chicago native, has not officially announced that he will be making an around-the-world attempt this winter he has told Balloon Life that he has ordered his envelope from Don Cameron and that his gondola is being built in Fife, Washington. Uliassi expects a formal announcement of his plans later in October.

Uliassi is perhaps the first person to have "officially" announced for the around-the-world attempt when he petitioned the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale to establish rules for an official around-the-world record by balloons in 1986.

Minimum Altitudes Denied

The Federal Aviation Administration has issued a letter of denial regarding the petition to reduce Minimum Altitudes for Free Balloons. Docket number 28443, submitted on November 27, 1995 by Lyle Alexander (Balloon Life, April 1996). The petition was to except balloon operations from the minimum altitude requirements prescribed in Federal Aviation Regulation 91.119(b) and (c), provided the balloon operation is conducted without hazard to persons or property on the surface.

The FAA's determination for denial reads, "The FAA has determined that the issues identified in your petition may have merit but do not address immediate safety concern. Because of budgetary constraints, and the need to meet the demands of a changing aviation industry and a complex air transportation system, the FAA finds that it must dedicate its rulemaking resources to the most pressing problems and issues associated with safety. For these reasons, we are unable to consider your petition for rulemaking, therefore, it is denied."

The letter also stated, "Accordingly, Docket No. 28443 is being closed. Your comments and arguments for rule change will be placed in a data base, which will be examined when future rulemaking is considered."

If the FAA is overworked perhaps a petition should be submitted to remove ballooning from federal regulations.

Aerostar International

Aerostar International announced an updated web site: http://www.aerostar.com/. The new and improved site contains updated pictures and information on standard shape balloons, special shaped balloons and commercial artwork balloons.

Along with the updates to the hot air balloon information, the new web site has expanded its commercial product information which includes cold air inflatables, parade balloons and helium blimps.

"The Internet is playing an ever expanding role in information dissemination," Larry Manderscheid, Vice-President of Sales, told Balloon Life. "Aerostar is excited about the opportunity to continually be able to update the market place on our new product innovations and information."

For more information contact Aerostar International, PO Box 5057, Sioux Falls, SD 57117-5057, call 605-331-3500 or Internet: http://www.aerostar.com/.

Boulder Blimp Co

Boulder Blimp Company has produced a giant inflatable arch for the Kodak Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. The inflatable arch is designed to provide a friendly greeting to the attendees at the main gate. The arch will be positioned across the entrance and visitors will walk under it to enter the festival. Easy to set-up, the shape of the arch is reliably maintained by the use of a continuously running fan. It is 40 feet tall by 70 feet wide and will frame the entrance and help direct traffic during the entire festival.

For more information contact Boulder Blimp Co, 503 Stacy Ct Ste A, Lafayette, CO 80026, call 303-664-1122, Internet: http://www.boulderblimp.com/

in the Air

in the Air, the catalog for high quality balloon related merchandise, has been sold. The company has been acquired by Ruthie and Tamara Hoffbauer of Carmel, Indiana. A new in the Air catalogs will be available in October.

To order a free catalog, merchandise, or for more information contact in the Air, 2111 E 136th St, Carmel, IN 46032, call 1-800-583-8038, or e-mail: ltagifts@aol.com.

Junior Balloonist

Tom Hamilton, Publisher and Editor of Balloon Life, has announced that the magazine will be donating subscriptions to the Balloon Federation of America's Junior Balloonist program. Junior Balloonists in the program who achieve a straight A average will receive a free subscription to Balloon Life, The Magazine For Hot Air Ballooning.

Tina Reeves, program coordinator, said, "This incentive will help to give our future balloonists one more reason to try their best in school." How students can qualify for the free subscription will be detailed in The Jr. Flyer.

In an unrelated announcement, Reeves told Balloon Life that the recent essay contest was a big success. Sponsored by Aerostar, Cameron, Head, and Lindstrand Balloons, Junior Balloonists were challenged to write a short article on My most memorable balloon experience in the 7-11 age group and What skills and values have you gotten since being involved in ballooning and how will it affect you as an adult? in the 12-17 ages group.

The winner in the 7-11 age group is Nicholas Davies, age 11, Contoocook, New Hampshire. First in the 12-17 age category is Kari Reineke, age 14, Champaign, Illinois.

The winners will receive a $500 savings bond.

National Balloon Museum

The National Balloon Museum, Indianola, Iowa, has announced an afghan raffle. The museum is raffling off two afghans to raise money for museum projects. One afghan is a Christmas design of red, white and green with Santa flying a hot air balloon. The other afghan is navy and burgundy with hot air balloons flying over the landscape.

Raffle tickets are available for $1 each or six tickets for $5. The afghans are currently on display in the museum..

Tickets may be purchased at the museum or by mail at National Balloon Museum, Afghan Raffle, 1601 N Jefferson, Indianola, IA 50125.

The drawing will be December 15, 1997 and you need not be present to win.

Coupe Gordon Bennett

The 1997 edition of the Gordon Bennett gas balloon race took place in Warstein, Germany September 7. 15 teams from eight countries participated in the event.

This year's race had the closed finish ever in the Gordon Bennett and may well be the closed finish ever in a distance gas balloon race. The teams flew to the Southeast across Germany, Hungary and into Romania. Because permission to enter Bulgaria had not been received before the pilots took off and the assumption that the balloons would not have enough endurance to cross the Black Sea into Turkey all teams were required to land in Eastern Romania.

Two teams landed in the Danube River delta region of Northeast Romania. The 1996 winning team of Eimers and Landsmann landed on a tiny island near Tulcea and had to wait for the next morning's scheduled boat in order to leave the island..

Five balloons landed in the Southeast corner of Romania near the Bulgarian border. The USA team of Mike Wallace and Kevin Brielman landed in the summer residence of the Romanian President right next to the beach on the Black Sea. Reportedly the team was met by armed guards.

The top three finishers were separated by only 300 meters. The French team of Leys and Leys, flying a homebuilt gas balloon, were declared the winners with a total distance of 1,732.5 kilometers. They edged out the USA team of David Levin and Mark Sullivan by just 200 meters. In third place only 100 meters behind the USA team were the Dutch team of Jurg and Van Houten.

The distances flown during the event were some of the longest ever in Europe. Both the German and Polish teams established new national distance records. According to Markus Haggeney, event director, of the longest 25 distances flown in the history of the Gordon Bennett nine were flown in this competition. These were also the longest distances to be flown in Europe since 1939.

A complete report on the 1997 Coupe de Gordon Bennett will appear in the November issue.

Top Eight

1. Leys/Leys France 1732.5km

2. Levin/Sullivan USA 1732.3km

3. Jurg/van Houten Netherlands 1732.2km

4. Hohl/Fink Germany 1726.9km

5. Wallace/Brielman USA 1726.7km

6. Eimers/Landsmann Germany 1719.2km

7. Brachtendorf/Huthmacher Germany 1690.7km

8. Makne/Hallas Poland 1570.5km

World Air Games

The First World Air Games, sanctioned by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale, were held in Turkey September 6-21. The ballooning competition took place in Kapadokya, Turkey September 14-21. 59 pilots from 29 countries completed 15 tasks during the week. The lone American entrant was Chuck Thomas from Illinois who finished in 48th place.

Top Ten

1. Uwe Schneider Germany 13151

2. Lindsay Muir United Kingdom 12879

3. David Bareford United Kingdom 12620

4. Mamoru Endo Japan 12535

5. Josef Scherzer Austria 12487

6. Mathijs De Bruijn Netherlands 12320

7. Crispin Williams United Kingdom 11472

8. Janne Balkedal Sweden 11222

9. Paul Gibbs Australia 11172

10. Masahiko Fujita Japan 10988

US Nationals/Rantoul

The Board of Directors for the U.S. National Hot Air Balloon Championship has accepted the resignation of director Marsha Neal. Neal asked to be released from her contract with the Champaign County organization due to family concerns in Virginia.

"We regret Marsha's departure, however, we understand that family needs come first," said Max Mitchell, President of the Board. "At the same time, I am confident that Marsha's departure will not adversely affect the event that will be held next August 7-16. We have a dedicated Board of Directors and each person has pledged to do everything necessary to ensure an outstanding event. We also have an exceptional core of volunteers who will continue to perform the bulk of the work."

Plans are underway to select a new director.

Obituary

In the last month ballooning has lost several long time balloonists:

Fred Hyde: In late August Dr. Lawrence Layton "Fred" Hyde was fatally injured in an automobile accident. Dr. Hyde was a physician, surgeon, aviator, astronomer, and musician. In ballooning he had won several US Gas Balloon Championships and represented the US in International gas balloon competitions.

Gail Turley; Since his retirement from the White Castle hamburger chain in 1988, ballooning had been his profession. Turley, 65, was very active in the Ohio ballooning community and was a frequent contributor to club newsletters and answering questions on the Internet.

Ralph Rehm: On Sunday, September 21 Ralph suffered an apparent massive heart attack and died shortly after landing his balloon during the Plano Balloon Festival. He had just completed a short morning flight across the pond in Bob Woodruff Park, site of the Festival. The attack occurred while he was deflating his balloon. Immediate and repeated efforts by Plano Fire Department Paramedics, who were on site, to revive Ralph failed. "I did it just the way I wanted to do it," Ralph commented to his passengers moments earlier as they were skimming the water.