National Balloon Classic - Indianola, Iowa

BalloonLife,September 1999

Once again, the staff & volunteers of the
National Balloon Classic put on an excel-
lent event. The weather & winds cooper-
atedtomake thisa wonderfulweek.80
balloonists registered, some forthe whole
week, some here for the BFA North Cen-
tral Regional Championship & some leav-
ingearly to goonto the Nationals. There
wereseveralspecialshapesappearing
throughout the week—Shopping Around,
Oggy,Flying Purple People Eater,She’s
a Lady,Burger King Whopper,Matrioshka
&Mrs. Butterworth.
This isthe 30thAnniversaryof bal-
looning in Indianola. The Nationals were
held in Indianola from 1970-1988. When
theNationalsmovedon—theNational
BalloonClassicwasstarted.Thewhole
community gets involved —from the Clas-
sicBoardtothemanybusinessesthat
sponsor the event. The event is affordable
familyfun.Carloadsofspectatorsfrom
all over Iowaandsurroundingstatesen-
joyed the show at the 155 acre launch site
witha natural amphitheater.
The word on opening day was HOT.
The temperatures were in the upper 90’s
withheatindicesof110-115º.Afew
braveballoonistsflewFridaynight,but
the scheduled night glow was canceled, as
lightningcouldbeseeninthewestern
skies.
Thestormscontinuedduringthe
night,causingcancellationofSaturday
morning’s flight. Butthe storms brought
incooler weather—what a relief!
CombinedwithIndianola’ssesqui-
centennialcelebrationthereweremany
activitiesaroundtown,includingPan-
cakebreakfast,a parade,a craft show &
bathtubraces.AMassAscensionwas
held Saturday eveningtothe thrillof the
hugecrowd,followedbyagreatfire-

worksdisplay.
Sundaymorningwasthefirstcom-
peti tiv eflig h t.B allo on meis terJ im
Christiansencalledthetasks—aMini-
mum Distance Double drop, a fly-in, & a
JudgeDeclaredgoalsouthwestof town.
JohnJohnsonwontheMinimumDis-
tanceDoubledropandBradCraigthe
FIT. JasonJoneshada drop deadcenter
on target for the JDG.
Sunday eveningwas ashow for the
crowd.Halftheballoonsflewintothe
fieldforatarget&Pole grabs.The rest
flew out of the field for a Hare & Hound
flight.
Mondaymorningwasabeautiful
sight—theballoonsflewintothefield
from the northeast for a Fly in Task & on
totheSWforaJudgeDeclaredGoal.
BrianSeymour hadaone footfive inch
drop on the field & Jill Rubin a three feet
seveninch drop onthe JDG.
Monday evening was a chase crew’s
dream. Thewinds werelight & variable &
somecrewsneverlefttheballoonfield.
They were able to stay & enjoy the show,
whiletheirpilotsflewaroundthearea.
Somewereabletoflythe“Indianola
Box.”Pilots&crewsheadedtoIndian
Lanes forHog Heaven—deliciousBBQ
pork, refreshments & bowling.
Tuesday morning was not so easy on
the chasecrews. Winds remained calm, so
there werelong flights,some over 2 hours.
OnlysixpilotsscoredontheFIT,but
several made it on to the JDGNEof town.
JerryTeirnamwontheFIT&Dave
Edminsterwonthe JDG witha fivefeet
throw.
Tuesdayeven ingwasfunfly ing
again. The field was split with half flying
infor Pole Grabs& half flying outfor a
Hare&Hound.BillGriffinofCarlisle

National Balloon Classic

North Central Regional
Championship

by Carol Harris

was able to grab a pole for a cash prize. A
Night Glow wasa thrill for the crowd.
WednesdaymorningwasaGordon
BennettMemorialonthefield&two
JDG’sSE oftown.MauryPetrehnwon
the first task & Mike Reinart the second.
Noonescoredonthethirdtarget.This
wasthe finalflight ofthe NorthCentral
RegionalChampionship.Thetopfive
were: 1. John Johnson; 2. Jason Jones; 3.
BradCraig;4.JimThompson;5.Rob
Bartholomew
Wednesdayeveningwasmorefun
flying followed by “Fire in the Sky” Nite-
GloExtravaganza.35balloonspartici-
patedintheglow.Afterthe glow many
pilots & crews joined the local landown-
ers at the Landowner Appreciation Party.
Thursdaymorningwasamazing.62
balloonsflew,42scoredontheFIT,45
scored on the first JDG & 51 scored on the
second JDG. The competition was fierce.
At the first Judge Declared Goalthetop
sixresults were within seven feet. At the
second JDG, the top five were within five
feet. Thursday night was a repeat of Mon-
dayevening.Balloonstookoff from the
field & flew around, never more than one
mileaway.Severallandedbackatthe
field, readyfor another glow.
Friday morning—it was down to this
lastflightfortheoverallwinner.John
Johnsonwasinthe lead, followed by the
younger competitors—Maury Petrehn &
Jason Jones. Who would be thewinner? JJ
and Jason both missed the field and Maury
hada160feetdrop.Ontothesecond
target.Mauryhadafantasticsixinch
drop.JasonandJJwereapproaching—
bothdroppedinfromabout5000feet.
Jason had a two feet ten inch drop & JJ a
four feet seven inch drop. From then on it
wasup tothe scoring officials.