by Thomas Blockstrand
The occasion was a morning flight with four balloons taking passengers aloft in the city of Stockholm. A morning flight during summer in Stockholm can mean you are launching for your flight as early as four o'clock in the morning due to our short northerly nights. It is a pain in the... to get up, but it is well worth it to meet an awakening city from the basket.
Stockholm is commonly referred to as the Venice of the Norththe city basically is made up of several islands. To the west of the city we have a large freshwater lake called Mälaren, and to the east we have the Baltic Sea. The water is clean enough to have a swim in the middle of the city or catch an occasional trout if you like.
At the Eastern end of the city of Stockholm we have a great big field called Gärdet that is loved by us balloonists. If you miss Gärdet for a landing you can end up over a bit of water but we have the island of Lidingö as a reserve for those days. We still love Gärdet due to its size and the fact that Swedish Television has a tall antenna on its building for sending its programswhich makes it easy for us to locate the field and fly towards it.
On this particular day three of our balloons landed at Gärdet. Two had already deflated, but one of the balloons was still standing. We decided to have a bit of fun and empty the balloon in a different manner than we usually do. The balloon was a Colt 105. It was cool enough to remain on the ground without any people in it. We took the end of the crown line and tied it down to our trailer and vehicle. I remember taking advantage of my early scouting years and carefully tied the knot so that it wouldn't come undone. After this we released the carabiners from the burner frame. As we next let go of the carabiners, it was quite a sight to see the balloon turn around mouth up and rise.
At the end of the line we heard a "snap" as the line broke. We stood there as the envelope kept on going upwards to a considerable height. As we watched in despair, it was caught by the wind and started flying towards the city of Stockholm. At first the balloon kept on rising "upside down" but eventually the weight of the carabiners brought the balloon right side up as it continued its majestic flight in the direction of an area filled with apartment buildings. The balloon was slowly deflating and began to sink.
We received more than our share of morning exercise as we raced after the flying balloon envelope. I can still remember myself trying to think of an explanation for the authorities as to how a balloon envelope came to come flying into the city. Luckily the envelope landed on the field just before the first buildings next to the field. While this incident took place about ten years ago, the image of a free flying balloon envelope without a basket underneath is still etched in my memory as if it had been only yesterday.
I am only glad that we weren't closer to the apartment buildings and that the wind wasn't stronger when we released the carabiners. Anybody who has handled a balloon can imagine what damage a free flying envelope can cause if worst comes to worst.
The crown line was the original one that came with the balloon. It wasn't the freshest crown line you have ever seen, but no real damage was visible on it, except there were one or two knots in the rope, which weakens it considerably. The rope was strong enough to function properly as a crown line. I guess if you want to try this deflation technique you better make sure your rope can take the additional stress. Also I would make sure to do this in an area where no damage could be done to property or the envelopein a large area free of obstacles. If the balloon does get away, it flies further than you would expect!
Anyhow it is a memorable and awesome site to see the envelope go!
Ed note: It has happened before, and it will happen again! Don Piccard described an incident where he had recommended holding the top and releasing the bottom for deflation of the envelope. Unfortunately it was during the 1973 Paris Airshow, and unfortunately it got away. The envelope was headed across the tarmac directly toward the brand new and very prestigious British Concorde! To the rescue came a British ambulance, which interposed itself and took the hit. The ambulance stopped quickly because it could not see where it was going, but it saved the day! Cooling the envelope as long as possible before inverting should help make this deflation method work correctly.