Balloon Life,August2000

6

PREFLIGHT

DigiWx
Belfort Instrument,Baltimore, Mary-
land, hasannouncedthe first automated
weatherreportingsystem,DigiWx,to
utilize handhelddigitaldisplay un itsfor
visual data. The co mpany, long time pro-
vider of weather sensors for the US Nav y
aircraftcarriersandASOS,developed
this mid-range system positioned between
inexpen sive and inaccurate “hobby” sys-
tems, and th e big government-sponsored
systems.
DigiWxisideallysuitedfor several

DigiWx is available now at a special
introductory price of$6,950 for the tower
and one handheld unit, and $595 for each
additionalhandheld.
For more information contact Belfort
Instrument by calling 1-800-937-2353 or
visiting their web site www.digiwx.com.

Balloon-ers
Looking for a new promo tional idea
for your balloon event or business. How
aboutBalloon-ers. This funand colorful
headgear canbe custom designedto ad d
a balloon.
Developed by headers,the front panel
can be designed using y our rallies theme/
logo or other balloon theme event. Incor-
porateinthedesigncouldbeawicker
basketwithfolkswavingandhav inga
greattime. Withthe balloonattachment
directlyabovethewicker basketthe in-
flatedballoon,withyourmessageim-
printed on it, would look just like the real
thingin flight. The back o f the headgear
has plenty of room for event informatio n
and/or sponsor logos.
For more informationcontact Chad
Smith,headers,201MallorcaWay#2,
SanFrancisco,CA94123,Ph one888-
822-5948,Internet: www.headgears.com,
email: headgears1@aol.co m

Fatal Balloon Accidents
Kenya-A balloonpreparingtofly
touristsovertheKenyanMasaiMara
game reserve hadan aluminumprop ane
tankex plodekillingthepilot,M ark
Lesimoreof England, andinjuringnine
people,includingthreeAmericans.The
balloon was operated by Transworld Sa-
faris of Nairobi. The flight was to take off
from the Mara Sarova Lodg ein the south-
easternsectionof the reserve.
Balloo n Life haslearnedthatthe
Lindstrand260,000cu.ft.balloonwas
equippedwithfourstainlesssteeltanks
with four burners. According to a former
pilot for the company standard procedure
ifthewindisabovesevenknotsthat
passeng ers were preloaded. Takeoffs, al-
thoug hdifficult,canbemadeupto14
knots of wind. The balloon is tied throug h
a loadh arnesstotwoverylarge tru cks.
On top of the basket, asitlies on its side
areusuallytwoWorthingtoncylinders
usedforinflation.Thefuelburnedis
butane andpressurizedwithnitrogento
appro ximately150-200psi.
Reports indicate that sixpassengers
andfour crew were preloaded, the infla-
tiontanktu rnedon,theburn erignited,
andtheinflation started.Approximately
30secondslatertheinflationtankex-
plodedk illingthepilotwithshrapnel.
Thecrewevacuated the passengers,some
with bu rn injuries. A fire burned throug h
thetieoffropesandtheemptyballoon
tookoffclimbingonfireto1500feet
AGL.Atthispointtwoonboardtanks
fellfree andthe remn antsof the balloo n
crashedsome distanceaway.
BalloonflightsinKenyaaremade
almost 360 day s a year. The former pilot
toldBalloon Life that there is norequire-
ment for hydrostatictesting ofthese tanks.
InaSeptember19 94Preflight report,
Balloon Life, reported on a an emerg ency
malfunctionan d defectrepo rt filedwith
theAlbuquerqueFAA FSDO aftersev-
eral10-gallonWorthingtonfueltanks
were foundexhibiting stresscracks.

situations and applications including bal-
loon o perations with a truck-mounted
tower. A 15 foot tower includes state-of-
the art sensors that provide input for av-
erage and gust wind speed and direction,
temperature, humidity, barometric pres-
sure, density altitude, dewpoint and adia-
batic condensation altitude. The data is
then accessible by any DigiWx h andheld
unit within a five to ten mile radius,
displayed on a large, easy to read liquid
crystal display . The handheld unit will
display the exact crosswind comp onent,
either av erage or gust, for a selected com-
pass direction.

Preflight continued on page 9

9

Balloon Life,August2000

Mississippi- Gordon Rainey of San
Angelo,Texaswaselectrocuted andkilled
whenhishotair balloonbecameentangled
in electrical lines on Friday morning,
August 4. He had landed safely about 20
minutes earlier after competition in the
North American Balloon Association
Championship in Canton, Mississippi.
He was attempting to remove his en-
tangled envelope from overhead power-
lines when the accident occurred. Bill
Cunningham of Germantown Tennessee,
was seriously injured with leg and hand
injurieswhenhe attemptedtohelpRainey.
From Hill Country Hot Air, Newsletter of
the Central Texas Ballooning Associa-
tion.

HotAire TradingCards
HotAireTradingCardshasan-
nounced the final set of The Inaugural
Edition Series trading cards. The com-
pany plans to close out its original series
with the tenth edition. Hot Aire Trading
Cards began with the introduction of its
inaugural set at the1991 Albuquerque
International Balloon Fiesta.Since that
time the company has produced hundreds
of thousands of balloon trading cards for
pilotsand events around the world. This
year’s set commemorates the end of the
millenniumas well as the tenth limited
edition. “The cards have been a lot of fun
forour company,” said PatrickO’Hea
HotAireTradingCardsoriginator.
“We’veheardof people receiving and
collecting our cards as far away as the
Arab Emirates and Australia.”
This year’s cards are framed an an-
tique patina background graphic and the
millennium logo. A new series begins in
2001.
Each of the series reflects a piece of
ballooninghistorybeginningwith the
1991series whichcommemoratedthe
first trans-Atlantic balloon crossing. Ac-
cording to O’Hea,the Double Eagle II
card became the fastest selling balloon
cardofall-time.“Theoriginal setsin
originalboxes inmintconditionare fetch-
ing upwards of $250. We’vedone just

about every special shape balloon in the
trading cards but we’realways adding
new ones from around the world.”
Formore information write Hot Aire
Balloon Trading Cards, PMB 2430 Juan
Tabo NE, Albuquerque, NM 87112, call
505-292-6479,email
info@hotaire1. com ,Internet
www.hotairport.com.

SpanishChampionship
For the second year in a row, Angel
Aguirre wonthe 22ndSpanish hot air
balloonchampionship. Secondplace was
JosepMaría Lladóandthird Javier Tarno.
Held in conjunction with the champion-
shipwas the World Air Games Cup2000
wonby Uwe Schneider of Germany. Sec-
ondplace was capturedby Markus Pieper
andBrazilianRubensKalousdianinthird.
The site willbe used for the balloon-
ing World Air Games 2001 to be held
June 22 to July 1.
For more information as well as the
complete final ranking can be obtained
on the Internet at www.sportec.es/www/
fae/aerostacion/wagcup2000.htm.

Rewrite the Regs
Do you have an FAA regulationthat
you would like to see changed? Every
three years, a Presidential Executive Or-
der directs the FAA to review its regula-
tions to determine that they are legal, in
the publicinterest, and fall within the
scope of whatthe FAA ismandated todo.
You can submitthree regulations, in
priority order, that you think should be
amended,revised,ordoneawaywith
entirely. The number you can comment
on is designed to allow the agency to be
better able to focus on the areas of great-
est interest and more effectively manage
resources.
You have until October 11 to work
on your suggestions and get them in. As
isthe government way, you willbe asked
to mail ordeliver yoursuggestions in
duplicate.Send themto: U.S.Depart-
ment of Transportation Dockets, Docket
No.[FAA-2000-7623],400Seventh

Street SW., Room Plaza 401, Washing-
ton DC 20590.

British Documentary
Ricochet Films (TV Dinners, River
Cottage, Real Gardens) have been com-
missioned byUKbroadcastersChannel 4
toproduce an ambitious and aspirational
series following British individuals as
they transformtheir lives in pursuit of
their dreams. The film maker is keen to
meet with British people who are plan-
ning to sell up and take on a fresh chal-
lenge in a new environment. This could
for example be runninga ballooningcen-
terintheUKorabroad.Ideally,the
company is aiming to follow individuals
as they go through their first year of their
new lives in search of personal fulfill-
ment.
Interested British subjects preparing
totake a risk anddownshiftto aruralidyll
or are planning a life change through an
exciting new business venture such as a
ballooning center abroad or in the UK
shouldcontactJamesChristie-Miller,
RicochetFilms,telephone02072516966,
email: mail@ricochet.co.uk

1000 Balloons
The 2000Kodak Albuquerque Inter-
national BalloonFiestawill fill New
Mexico skies with 1,000 hot air and gas
filled balloons this October.Participat-
ing in the record setting event will be
balloon teams representing 27 different
countries.The29th annual event will
also include a new balloon glow, a new
hot air balloon competition and the larg-
est competitive gas balloon event in his-
tory.
Balloon Fiesta Officials registered
the 1000th balloon for the BalloonFiesta
in July. In 1999, there were 903 hot air
and gas balloons registered to fly in the
Balloon Fiesta. “This event will be the
largest balloon event,barnone,in the
world,”Harry T. Season, Presidentof the
AlbuquerqueInternational BalloonFi-
esta Board toldBalloon Life.