BalloonLife,June1999

38

Experience of others can help prepare you for the unexpected!

HangarFlying

editedbyGeorgeDenniston

On the Edge

by Daryl McKee

Auckland issituatedon anisth-mus, the
narrowest part of the North Island of New
Zealand. It has two harbors, the Waitemata
opentotheeastcoastandtheManukau
opentothewest.TheWaitemataisthe
mainportandistheoneaboutwhich
greater Auckland (population 1.1 million)
hasspread.Botharelargeharborsthat
overlapinageneraleast/westfashion.
Theyareonly800metersapartatthe
closest point. Alongthe west coast to the
northoftheManukauentrance,arethe
bush-cladWaitakereranges.About20
milesto the northis a thirdlarge harbor,
the Kaipara. The average distance coast to
coast is only 12 to 15 miles. So ourweather
conditionsareaffectedby6microcli-
mates: theTasman Sea, the Pacific Ocean,
theWaitakereranges, and thethree har-
bors.
Why flywith all these potential haz-
ards?Well,whereelse canyouseetwo
oceans,twoharbors,bush-cladmoun-
tains,acityandfarmlandallintheone
flight?
This is the story of one of my flights.
The weather was checked the night before
and the passengers were warned to expect
an early call. For the flight on this particu-
larmornin gIwasu sin gmy(Phil)
Kavanagh 105 fitted with their Smart Vent,
a top that permits quick deflation, and re-
closingif necessary. I hadthree smallish
womenpassengers.Ihaddoneallthe
usualweatherchecksi.e.Lookedatthe
previousnight’sTV,aviationweather,
localmarineweather,andthenoutside
with my Mk 1 eyeball, then did it all again
in the morning.All the information pointed
towards asurface wind of 22005 (220@5)
and 2000 wind 19015 (at 2000 feet, wind

190@15)whichwaswithinlegallimits
andfit my personalcriteria.
Wehavetovaryourlaunchsites
accordingtowinddirection.Soweal-
ways meet at the end of the northwestern
motorway and then decide on which launch
sitetouse.InthiscasetheHenderson
ShoppingMall was chosen.
Once airborne, I could climb to pick
up the more southerly breeze, make a left
turn and track toward open country to the
north of the suburbs. Liftoff was delayed
15 or 20 minutes but as no changes were
forecast, and everything still looked good
after a final pibal, I launched.
Lessthan5minutesintotheflight
things were not looking good. The lower
windshadbackedfurthertothewest,
taking me east toward the entrance of the

Waitemata. “The easy answer?” Climb
and pick up the southerly wind. Wrong!
This breeze had also backed to the west.
By the time this was apparent, I was
already over the upper Waitemata Har-
bor, our usual flight pattern and not nor-
mally a problem. As my track was not
looking good, I phoned my wife at home
(thank goodness forcellphones) and asked
her to put the Coast Guard on standby for
a possible water recovery. At this time I
was tracking towards the east coast and
would be flying over the most densely
populated area of the North Shore. She
alerted the Coast Guard (we have an ar-
rangement with them for this kind of
eventuality, as we often fly up to seven
miles over the upper Waitemata), and she
also alerted some of our casual crew who

McKee landed in the na rrow patch of g rass near the lone tree seen through the openin g
of the gun emplacement. Direction of flight was from right to left. Next stop, South
America.

39

BalloonLife,June 1999

HANGAR FLYING with George Den-
niston is presented to enh ance 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 doctor 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 that you would like to share with
others, send your manuscript to Balloon
Li fe m ag azin e, Han gar Flyin g with
George Denniston, 2336 47th Ave SW,
Seattle, WA 98116-2331. Sub missions
may be typewritten, submitted on disk
(Mac or IBM format), or e-mailed to
tom@balloonlife.com. Balloon Lifepays
$35 for each story used.

live andwork in thatarea.
Ihadcrossedtheharborandde-
scendedtoa low levelover dense hous-
ing. Now my immediate plan was to drop
into any school or park (there are several)
that presented itself. Failing that—as soon
as we were clear of the rotor off the cliff
along that part of the coast—into the sea.
Had the water landing been the eventual-
ity,myreasoningwas,thatbystaying
close to shore with the basket in the water
and the balloon still inflated we would be
belowthewind,whichbynowhadin-
creased to 10-12 knots, and was therefore
relativelystable.Incidentally,wehave
alwayscarriedlifejacketswhenflying
aroundAuckland.
As we flew over the NorthShore at
what seemed like “warp speed” (my sons
aretrekkies),weactuallypassedwithin
50 yards of 6 or 7 parks and 5 schools. Due
tothetopographyofthelandandthe
increasedwind speed there wasvirtually
nosteerage.WepassedwhatIthought
was the last possible school and only had
onemoreridgeof high ground between us
andthe sea. I quicklyreviewedmyplan
withmy passengersandprepared for the
water. But no! As we clearedthe ridge—
hello—yetonemoreshallowgullyand
one last park, this time long—to my right

and left about a half mile, and skinny—on
flight path, 50yards!Therewasyetan-
other revision of “the plan!” In our excite-
ment we almost didnot see the 240volt
arrestor (a la aircraft carrier!) wires along
thenearsideboundaryandhadtoadd
bulk heat to clear them. Consequently, all
that extra heatenergyhadto be dumped
really quickly. Fortunately because of the
SmartVent,I wasabletoachievethat.
Thanks, Phil!!!!!
IalreadyhadtheSmartVentwide
open by the time the basket contacted the
groundsowe onlydraggedsevenpaces
before stopping. The basket, burners, en-
velope cables and Nomex bottom panels
were the only parts onsolidground. The
restoftheenvelope wasdownthecliff
face, and had gift-wrapped a Pohutukawa
tree(largenativetreefoundincoastal
regions).We were10 feetfrom the tide,
but 100 feet above it!
With myextra crew andsome local
assistance, 9all told, we took nearlytwo
hours to recoverand pack everything away
without any damage to people or balloon.
Needlesstosaythechampagneflowed
and we had good stories to tell—and Auck-
land isstill abeautifulplacetoflywhen
it’s not raining.