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Saturday 9th August
4am comes early when you don't get to
sleep until after 1 !
But we were ready and waiting, and so was our young friend who had
almost been left behind the previous day. Here he is, helping to hold
the balloon canopy open as air is pumped in by the large fan.
Our launch site was about a half hour
drive from Alice. During the
course of the conversation en route, our pilot asked if anyone knew
the current temperature. When no-one did, he told us "Good, you don't
want to know". Well, then of course, we did want to know, but wished
we hadn't asked when he informed us it was 0C. Yes, that is zero Celsius
or 32F... freezing point ! We all took a few steps closer when the
burner
roared into life !
This shot of one of the two other
balloons is out of focus due to poor light
but I've included it to show the effect of the burning gas glowing
through
the canopy. It was spectacular in the pre-dawn darkness. You can make
out
the silhouette of a person standing in the opening. The pilot inspects
the
interior with a torch during inflation to check for any tears or other
prospective problems.
There's a glimmer of orange light just
above the horizon.
Meanwhile, our balloon is almost fully inflated...
... and begins to rise...
... to an upright position.
All aboard !!
And we're up, up and away !
Hey, someone needs to unhook us from the bus !
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