by Dee Crabtree
Although not technically difficult, the flight over Lake Travis near Austin, Texas does have its challenges. It is in very hilly terrain, has limited road access, and limited areas suited to landing in anything other than light/variable or calm conditions.
Fifteen balloons, pilots and crews from Houston, San Antonio, & Lufkin met at Quinlan Park about 6 miles south of Mansfield Dam at 6 AM on a Saturday morning in July. Our very capable balloonmeister, Joe Reynolds, conducted the pilot briefing and announced the task for the Central Texas Balloon Association Open - to fly the farthest distance within Travis County and land within the boundaries of Travis County.
After the briefing we caravaned to Steiner Ranch, whose owners, Bobby and Joleen Steiner have kindly allowed us to use their range below the dam to launch our annual lake flight. The launch area was a bit overgrown this year - grass and weeds as high as the hood on my F-150! - but a few turns and some maneuvering flattened it out enough to allow us to lay out the balloon.
It was calm at launch, with only slight drainage winds coming down the river valley. Some of the pilots used the drainage winds to fly over the river and practice their splash & dash techniques. It was a beautiful sight from above! We climbed slowly to about 500 feet before moving north toward Mansfield Dam and Lake Travis. The progress, although steady, was slow, and I was glad that I had inflated using my extra external tank allowing me to launch with 4 full tanks on board. By the time I had reached the main body of the lake and was ready to attempt a splash & dash I had used 75% of one tank. We played around for a time, but missed three shots at a splash and dash as I overburned on every one.
As we approached the opposite shore, each pilot took a different tack. Some stayed low; some landed; and some of us ascended looking for more wind. As I reached 2500 feet, I noticed that clouds were forming far to the east and moving our way. Some clouds has been forecast for our sunrise launch time but had not materialized.
As the sun was now up, I was not overly concerned about clouds, but made a mental note to keep checking them. We continued on with the task. Having found some breezes, I passed over the 4 or 5 balloons that had launched ahead of me. I noted some landmarks and decided to do a slow stair step descent that would allow me to get beyond an upcoming antenna tower, and setup for a landing just west of Leander and just inside Travis County. Prior to beginning my descent, I looked east to check the clouds and was a little surprised to see they had gained on me more quickly than I expected.
As my passenger and I discussed them, he suddenly said, Where is that smoke coming from? My heart leapt into my throat as I immediately began surveying the burner and envelope. He said, There, and pointed outside the basket - at the clouds that appeared to be forming around us. Whew! But now, I had a new concern. It was a matter of seconds (much less than a minute) and we were enveloped in clouds. I could no longer see the ground nor that antenna tower. I checked my altitude, then my variometer to assure myself that I had not descended nor ascended into the clouds.
I decided to ascend. That was one cool sight ... it was like rising out of a sheet of paper! The sun on the clouds was beautiful! I was even happier that I had inflated off that extra tank, because as I looked around, I did not see a way down without going through the clouds and did not know how long I might have to wait for the clouds to break. And I was not sure how far I was from that tower.
We flew on for about 15 minutes, and slowly holes began to appear in the cloud layer. When a large hole appeared, I descended. The clouds were now a thin layer and passing though was another neat sight! We started looking for a landing area that would allow us to stay in Travis County. The countryside is very rural and very hilly. My chase crew had a very long drive around the lake to get to us, so I did not expect to see them for some time. When they called and asked, Can you see us in front of the huge white building west of you? I was pleasantly surprised. I could not, but minutes later they were on the road ahead of us waving and honking! I love my crew!! They swear they did not speed to get there - it was just a long slow flight and they had the time.
We continued on until we approached Crystal Falls Golf Course, very close to the county line. We had to pass up some tight spots, but soon saw the 5th hole and landed on the cart path. We stayed inflated while the crew found the clubhouse to ask permission to deflate. The golf course personnel were very friendly and very pleasant about our landing. With no golfers in sight, we laid the envelope across the fairway.
Returning to Quilan Park for our picnic, we discussed who won the task. (I was sure I had!) Our entire flight lasted 1 hour 45 minutes and went about 15 miles. Although it is not official, it appears Fred Edmiston claims first place, beating me by less that a quarter of a mile.