Hot Air Balloon crash
Joined: May 2001
Posts: 30
Likes: 2
From: Vic Australia
They call it "Timing the bounce"
I crewed for Rich at Saga a few times. One year he was flying G-DHLB on a hare & hounds task. My problem was I was on the ground and could only see about 200 balloons silouetted against a most beautiful sunset. I made the mistake of calling him and asking “Rich, where the hell are you?” Quick as a flash the answer came back “Japan. Where the hell are you?”
And he had the triumph of being the only balloonist to retrieve his retrieve crew. Excuses like “Don’t know Japanese roads, radio batteries went flat etc etc” counted for little for us as we saw him tooling up the road on the back of a farm truck with burner roaring at full power.
The world needs optimists and adventurers. I for one am glad Rich got out of this one and lives to fly another day!
I crewed for Rich at Saga a few times. One year he was flying G-DHLB on a hare & hounds task. My problem was I was on the ground and could only see about 200 balloons silouetted against a most beautiful sunset. I made the mistake of calling him and asking “Rich, where the hell are you?” Quick as a flash the answer came back “Japan. Where the hell are you?”
And he had the triumph of being the only balloonist to retrieve his retrieve crew. Excuses like “Don’t know Japanese roads, radio batteries went flat etc etc” counted for little for us as we saw him tooling up the road on the back of a farm truck with burner roaring at full power.
The world needs optimists and adventurers. I for one am glad Rich got out of this one and lives to fly another day!
Thread Starter
The Reverend
Joined: Oct 1999
Posts: 2,020
Likes: 0
From: Sydney,NSW,Australia
Blue Eagle, one camera shot shows the two of them tumbling out of the basket at initial impact. The object falling to ground after the balloon became airborne again, looks like a gas cylinder.
Joined: Dec 1998
Posts: 45
Likes: 0
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/printFr...469791,00.html
Try the link for a good photograph of the incident.
Try the link for a good photograph of the incident.
