March 2000
thisa goodideaorwhat???!!The
Southern California Balloon Associatio n
and the Las Vegas Ballo on Club recently
teamed up to present the first of what they
hop etobeann ualcruis eseminars.
Twenty-two balloonists and crewenjoyed
a three day cruise from SanPedro, Cali-
fornia to Ensenada, Mexico while attend-
inga BalloonFederation of America ap-
provedsafetyseminar.Participantsset
sailonFebruary4andreturnedreluc-
tantly toshoreon Feb ruary7. Dave and
Kim Lynch presented topics ranging from
FARstoballoonmaintenancebetween
shuffleboard,shows,&shoreexcur-
sions.AttendeescamefromSouthern
California, Las Vegas, and as far away as
Amarillo, Texas.
Theseminarbeganwithacasual
welcomeget-togetheronFridaynight.
The group got down to business Saturday
morning, discussing weath er and groun d
crewsafetypriortobreakingforshore
excursionsandexploringinEnsenad a.
Sunday was a full day of seminar presen-
tatio ns onFARs, pilot decisionmaking,
and balloon accidents, while spouses an d
significantothersbask edinthesun,
shopped, or took advantage ofship-board
activities for the day at sea. A compellin g
slide show and vid eo of balloon accidents
kept participants painfully aware of what
canhappenwhensafetyproceduresare
overlookedorigno red.Thedayended
witha groupdiscussionof“Stupidbal-
loontricks.”After Dave&Kimshared
someoftheirownmistakesandnear
misses,therestofthegroupchimedin
withth eir own mis-ad ventures an d close
calls. New safetytips po pped upsponta-
neouslyduringthe “if only I had...” dis-
cussions.
Dave&KimLyn chbroughttheir
vastcommercialpilot experience (some
2,000hours betweenthem) tothe semi-
nar.Dave isalsoanFAA examiner. As
n oted,“It’sbettertolearnfrom
others’experienceratherthanhaveto
make all the mistakesyourself.” The ca-
sual atmosphere and leisure time between
classes encouraged the informalsharin g
of informationbefore theshow orafter
dinner.The“hangar flying”wasnever-
ending.Seminarattendeescouldeasily
identify fellowballoonists by theirobliga-
toryfestivalT-shirts,pins,andAlbu-
querq uejackets,andtalessprangforth
fromtheabandonshipdrilltothede-
embarkationprocedures.
Despite thedistractions ofexpansive
ocean views from everywindow and the
temptationsof slotmachinesanddance
lessons,Kim & Dave’s presentations held
the atten tion of novice and veteran pilots
alike.Thesmaller,morerelaxedgrou p
settingwasperfectforKim’srole-play-
ingapproachtoseminartopics.Pilots
groupedtogethertoproblemsolvesce-
narios such as ‘Your red-line has become
fouled an d the surface winds have picked
up, ho w do youinstruct yo ur crew?’ an d
Cruise2000
and-d ash, your basket seems to be havin g
problemsclearin g thewater and y ou’ve
lost radio contact, what can your crew d o
to help?’ The role-plays were taken from
real-life experiences and generatedspir-
ited debates amon g the participan ts.
Theseminarwastheresultofthe
brilliant ideas andeffortsof a number of
dedicated ballo onists, most notably Dou g
Campbell and Lewin Williams of the Las
Vegas Balloon Club. The only downside
was that the endless buffets may result in
weightadjustmentson future flights!
Safety Seminar At Sea II depa rts Los
Angeles, California aboard Royal Carib-
bean Cruise Line February 16 to 19,
2001. Back to Basics and Enrichment
sessions with Don Piccard, Sid Cutter
and Kim Lynch. For details contact Lewin
Williams, 2925 Hampton Bluff St., Las
Vegas, NV 89117, phone 702-682-0097,
or email: lewin-williams@msn.com
