November 2000
George Denniston
Rattlesnake
niston is presented to enhance safe flying
by providing balloonists the opportunity
to gain experience from others without
actually flying. The column is edited by
George Denniston who is a d octor and
balloonist living in Seattle, Washington.
Articles may be signed or anonymous to
protect the privacy of those involved, as
the author wishes. If you have an experi-
ence th at you would like to share with
others, send your manuscript to Balloo n
Life magazine, Hangar Flying with
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Seattle, WA 98116-2 331. Submissions
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with a sunset flight. The flight was un-
eventful, the landing was uneventful, but
deflation witnessed pilot Sam Slaughter,
crew and passengers running from the
balloon. Since all good captains go down
with the ship, the pilot ran last. During
deflation the group had encountered a
The balloon continued its own defla-
tion. When completely deflated, the bas-
ket was on its side, and the envelope was
flat. It was coveringthe area from which
the“buzz”hadbeenheard.Everyone
waited a long time, threw rocks and made
noise. Since there wasn’t any more buzz-
ing,theyfigured the snake hadslithered
off, but who could be sure. Carefully they
liftedthe fabric towardthecenter.Each
movement of fabric was met with several
momentsofsilencewhiletheylistened
for their friend. Meanwhile, it was getting
dark. It took a long time, but the envelope
was finally packed and put into the truck.
Everyonestillsteppedcarefully,even
thoughthey were sure that the snake was
gone. The basket was packed on the truck;
the snake adventure was over. They drove
home, pleased with having defied gravity
one more time.
Thenextevening,Samwassetting
up the same balloon. In Del Mar, as well
asinotherbigcommercialballooning
areas, pilots tend to fly the same balloons
forcomfo rt.Theykn owth esy stem.
They’veorganized the setup, and the pack
up. The same crew as the night before set
theballoonupforthisflight.Asthey
pulledouttheenvelope,theyknew the
snake was gone, but still they were careful
aboutstretchingouttheenvelope.The
andcrewbuttonedtheirtopshirt
buttons, just incase somethingfell from
the envelope duringcoldinflation. After
the balloon took off, the crewscanned the
ground tarps, just in case the snake fell out
ofthefoldsoffabricandwaslyingon
them. There wasn’t asnake tobe found.
Theyknewithadleftthemthenight
before.
Sam’sflight wasuneventful. Itwas
justanother gorgeousnightinDelMar.
Thebreezeswerelight.Itwassoclear
passengersandpilotcouldseeCatalina
Islandfrom2500feet.Thelandingwas
routine,andthepackupcommenced.
Now, while sippingchampagne with the
passengers, the storyof thenightbefore
could be told. The passengers enjoyed the
verbal adventure with a mixture of humor
and fear. After all, this wasjust the night
before.Afterthe balloon was again packed
on the chase truck, they returnedthe pas-
sengerstothe office. Samtookthebal-
loon to be fueled for the next flight. At the
propane dock, Sam looked all over forthe
refuelingadapter.Cursinghisluck,he
had to undo the fitting at each tank. While
looseningone of the fittings, the wrench
slippedandfellbehindatank.Ashe
unstrappedthe tanktoleanitforwardto
reachthewrench,hefroze.Behindthe
tank, nexttothewrench,wastherattle-
snake.
