Safety Seminar at Sea II

www.balloonlife.com

04.2001

Who says youcan’t repeat suc-cess! The
Southern California Balloon Association
andtheLasVegasBalloonAssociation
recently teamed upto present the second
annualSafetySeminar at Sea II. Repeat-
ingtheeventfromtheyearbefore,58
balloonistandcrewenjoyedafour-day
cruisefromSanPedro,Califo rniato
Ensenada, Mexico while attending a Bal-
loo nFedera-
tio no f
Am ericaap -
pro vedsafety
seminar, “Back
toBasicsand
En ri chmen t.”
Th eVi ki ng
Serenad ea
RoyalCari b-
beanLux u ry
cruise liner set
sailonFebru-
ary 16th return-
ingtoporton
February 19th.
The fun started
around noon as
ev ery on ebe-
ganb oarding
theship.Ev-
eryoneb eg an
tofamiliarize
themselves
withtheship
and get settled into their cabins. As we all
emerged on deck the friendly Cruise staff
wasateveryturnwitha friendlysmile,
hello, anda BahamaMamma,or aPina
Colada. The ship set sail that evening with
a deck loaded with smiling balloon pilots
withumbrella garnisheddrinksinhand.
Soonafteritwastimeforthe“manda-
tory” life boat drill, allthe pilots were in
attendance withthe customaryattire of a
brightorangelife jacketanda matching
“rescue whistle.” With everyone’s safety

assured, the group then found their way
back on deck for more Bahama Mamma’s
to attend the “Bon Voyage” celebration
and listen to the Calypso band play as we
sailed into the open sea. First time cruisers
soon discovered that the fog horn located
on the bow of the boat is sounded as we
leave the harbor, those of us who attended
last year were partying on the rear of the

boat to avoid ear ringing for the rest of the
cruise.
As the safetyseminar got underway
on deck four, other members of our group
notattendingtheseminarfoundmany
otherwonderfulactivitiestokeepthem
happyuntilwe met for one of our many
meals.Someof thegrouptreatedthem-
selvestoamessageinthespa,while
othersswaminthepool,playedbingo,
sunbathedondeck orattended activities
likethe“SexyLegContest”orscouted

outfoodatoneofthemanybuffetsof-
feredbetweenmeals.
DaveandKimLyn ch,fromTe-
mecula,Californiademon stratedtheir
outstanding presentation skills and knowl-
edge of ballooningcovering topics rang-
ingfromreviewingballoonaccidents,
weather,FAR’s,Pilot&groundcrew
safety. The Lynch’s owned and operated
asu cces sfu l
HotAirbal-
loon Ride busi-
nessinSouth-
ernCalifornia
fo rov er12
years and 2100
hoursofcom-
mercialp ilo t
e x p e r i en ce .
Thefl ig ht s
wereprovided
inDelMar,
PalmSprings,
PerrisValley,
an dth eTe-
meculaWine
Country. Dave
alsoisaFAA
designatedpi-
lotex amin er,
FAAsafet y
counselorand
holdsa master
instructorrat-
ingfor hot air balloons.
Presentations were also made by Sid
Cutter fromAlbuquerque, New Mexico.
andDonPiccardfromMinnesota.Sid
Cutter, a Lifetime Member-Balloon Fed-
erationofAmerica,Life Member of the
AlbuquerqueAerostatAscensionAsso-
ciationandBoardmember ofthe Albu-
querque International Balloon Fiesta. Sid
helpedorganizedthefirstAlbuquerque
International Balloon Fiesta in April 1972,
he producedand directed the First World

Safety Seminar
at Sea II

by Jim Campbell

www.balloonlife.com

04.2001

Hot Air Balloon Championship held in
Albuquerque,NMinFebruary1973,
served as a FAA Designated Examiner for
a number of years and has accumulated
more than 5,000 hours in gas and hot air
balloons. Sid recently sold his balloon
operation in Albuquerque, New Mexico,
World Balloon Corporation. Sid presen-
tation covered maintenance and repairs,
discussingannualinspectionsandrepairs
that can and can’t be done by the balloon
owners. His in depth knowledge of bal-
loon repairs and inspection procedures
helped the attendees to better understand
the complications of performing annual
inspections and theresponsibilities in-
volved.
The second half of Sid’spresentation
wasfocusedon balloon racing,who’s
better to make this kind of presentation
than a past two time national champion
winning in 1978 and 1986,2nd in the
1979 World Championships in Sweden
and was a member of the 1995 US Na-
tional Team Hot Air Balloon Team. Re-
viewing Sid’s gems of wisdom included:
makeanduse a goodchecklist,alwaysuse

an inflation harness even when it is calm,
read and study the rules, practice throw-
ingbaggies both on the ground and inthe
air, know BFA rules well, double check
for newPZ’s,assignpositionand dutiesto
each crew member, be aware of surface
windsat all times, navigation, controlling
the balloonand radio communication can
be quite valuable but do not jabber, use
only when necessary and never sacrifice
control of the aircraft to talk. Sid in now
retired and balloons just for fun!
Open discussion between the attend-
ees was priceless, with the accumulative
totalsof pilotexperience exceeding more
than100 years and25,000hours,not
including the valuable input of the num-
ber of crew members in attendance.
The final presentation was made by
DonPiccard,who’sballooning career
datesback to1944as aballoonandairship
rigger.Overthepast 51yearshehas
concentrated his enthusiasm and energy
to promoted the sport of hot air balloon-
ing. Piccardwas awardedthe FAI’s high-
esthonorforballooningin1962,the
MontgolfierDiploma.Heisaformer

National Vice President of the National
Aeronautic Association and is known as
the dean ofAmerican ballooning. Don
unusual presentation skills made for an
enjoyable presentation on such topics as,
Compulsive Gambling and Balloon Haz-
ards,Currentvs.SafeBallooning and
Problems with High Altitude Flying.
In conclusion, the Safety Seminar at
Sea II was a huge success and we would
liketothank theparticipantsandpilotsfor
coming and invite themto come again
nextyearforsomemoreBahama
Mamma’s at seawith a group ofgreat
pilotsand their crews. Dollar for dollar it
isnot much more than sittingata Holiday
Inn or a Motel 6in a conference room and
the sunsets on the ocean are spectacular!

Safety Seminar at Sea III will depart
Los Angeles, California on February 8,
2002 and return on February 11th. For
more information contact: Lewin Will-
iams 2925 Hampton Bluff Street, Las
Vegas, NV 89117, phone 702- 682-0097
or email: lewin_williams@msn.com