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Show 5 i ; 5 : N ! 4 V;. . '" ' ' t.- V f J 1 t'ltowers D,oommg ln lne Qesen terrain. one balloon after another is raised to a launch position in colorful Monument Valley. fihe Flowers in the liesert jJL By Alvin Reiner "Bey Alvin, how would you 1 St lo take some photos of hot ' c balloon flights over Monu- IMt Valley," queried John Utn, the amiable manager j Goulding's Trading Post ti Lodge situated in the nBey. "Sure," I replied,, "as hjasldon't have to go up in col those things." Doing some preparatory research, I found out that a hot air balloon is the simplest type of aircraft; the first successful one being invented by the brothers, Joseph and Jacques Montgolfer, of France. On June 5, 1783, the brothers filled a silk bag approximately thirty-two feet in diameter with hot air and smoke from a- fire on the ground. The balloon rose more than a mile before cooling off and returning to the terra firma. The first airborne passengers were a sheep, a rooster, and a duck. Shortly thereafter, on Nov. 21, 1783, Jean Pilatie de Rozier and the Marquis de' Arlandes flew over Paris for twenty-three minutes. si r , -v vv- vr?V . , .nv ; . -. v-;.v-f t.vv:t: r:T : .-.Ml'. ' '';S -rvi-?3 l . .. ' ' .. ,N L , " . -. ... - -.. .- ..- 15.. -" aCV - ..'J -T- - ,11000 feet above the valley floor, one can observe the distant mesas and another baloon The French Army had a balloon corps in 1799 and later in 1809 Napoleon worked out a never-used scheme for invading invad-ing England from the air. Aerostats were used for observation purposes in several sever-al wars including our Civil War. With the advent of fixed-wing craft, manned flights became a rarity until recently. Shortly after 6 a.m. on the late September morning, our convoy left Gouldings and headed out into the valley. One-half hour before sunrise the majestic monoliths were silhouetted by the approaching day's soft light; a rainbow of orange, saffron, yellow green and blue-purple rising into the star-studded blackness overhead. over-head. Near the Mitten and Merrick Butte, there seemed to be a mist hugging the ground in this normally arid region. An occasional cow or horse looked up as the caravan travelled the thirteen miles to the proposed launching site. It looked like the L.A. Freeway with headlights strung out for a couple of miles. After passing the information center, cen-ter, the procession turned into a long snake slithering down the switchbacks to the valley floor. The sleeping Ute Mountains, Moun-tains, over 100 miles away in Colorado, could be readily discerned in the crystal clear morning air. The innumerable pairs of headlight beams heading east were soon outshone by the rising sun as it made its appearance over the horizon. We passed the stately three sisters standing high on their talus thrones, and soon dipped down by the geat sand dunes into the wash, and then up onto the other side. Here, with the Totem Pole and Yei-bi-chei dancers for company we arrived at the predetermined launching site. The aviators quickly converted conver-ted their four cubic foot sacks of synthetic fiberous material into giant 60 thousand cubic foot spheres averaging 55 feet in diameter. V . julJw--, intention,, ''!,a"' " .'" . Rnfk valley landscape. (Photos by Alvin Reiner) sy "l0lypop on the horizon, a balloon joins Rooster Rock, e 0-chei dancers and the Totem Pole in the Monument To inflate these voluminous vehicles, a portable gasoline powered fan is first used to fill the balloon. Then the gas burners are ignited, heating the air so that the aerostat may be put into an upright position. One after another became inflated. It was like watching a field of flowers blossoming as if photographed by' time-lapse photography. Then like dandil-ion dandil-ion seed pods they began to ascend every so gently into the air and drift. Pilot Sid Swanson of Chandler, Chand-ler, Arizona, filled me in on the sport of balloon flying,, which has been growing rapidly in the past few years. For instance, in the 1971 National Championships in Indiana, there were only eighteen entries while the 1975 competition had 130 participants with another 150 being turned away. There is also an international competition competi-tion with each country allowed three entries. This year it will be held in Albuquerque, while next year's will be in London and the following year in India. Sid and the other pilots consider flying a family sport and enjoy sharing rides. The Phoenix Balloon Club got tired of flying around the city with power lines and other hazards and decided to look for other places to hold outings such as Monument Valley. They got together with the Farmington, New Mexico Club and decided on this weekend get-together. Although one of these relatively simple looking jumbo jum-bo airships can be purchased for five thousand dollars, most cost around eight or nine thousand. While the propane gas used to keep an aerostat afloat costs about five dollars an -hour by the time depreciation, insurance insur-ance and a chaser vehicle are considered, the expenditure is close to sevent-five dollars per hour. In order to operate an aerostat a balloonist's pilot license has to be obtained from the F.A.A. This consists of ten hours of dual flight instruction and then passing an F.A.A. examination. Sid started flying about five years ago after watching others and became immediately immediate-ly hooked. Most of the pilots in the Phoenix and Farmington clubs have been participants for two or three years. Sid Swanson then asked me if I would care to go for a ride and before I could come to my senses. I found myself standing stand-ing in a five foot square wicker basket. "No parachute?" I inquired, but then realized I wouldn't know what to do with one anyway. I guess what really got me paranoid was Sid's wife kissing him goodbye as well as aerostat ow ner Gene Cox of Phoenix kidding Sid about applying for flight training one of these days. , Strange thoughts raced through my head. Suppose some sharp-beaked hawk or eagle decided to attack this infringement on its air space; why there wouldn' be anything left for the buzzards to clean up after a thousand foot plunge. I almost had to be told we were airbourne as there was no sensation of rising, Looking over the side of the basket it appeared as if the Earth was dropping away from us. However, a glance at the nearby mesa walls attested to the fact that indeed we were ascending into the immaculate blue sky. The gas jets roared as we climbed, while the inferno breathed its dragon-breath against my neck and singed what few hairs I had left on my head. When we were about 1000 feet above the valley floor, Sid cut the engines and there was the roar of silence. I felt like some supreme being, looking down at the Earth through my window in the sky. Those mighty monoliths mono-liths such as the Totem Pole and Yei-bi-chei Dancers which I had previously looked up at with awe, seemed so insignificant insignifi-cant now. We drifted aimlessly at the whim of the wind. As we hovered, the abstract stria-tions stria-tions in the rock on the mesa tops became a modern art show on the ancient sandstone. sand-stone. The time flew by as we drifted, and soon the gauges on the propane tanks were in the red so it was time to return from our dream trip. I was cautioned to bend my knees on touching down, but due to the expert piloting by Sid, there was less impact than jumping from a chair. If a negative comment dare be made concerning my adventure, it would be that in the future when I view the splendors of Monument Valley from a terrestrial vantage point, they will seem almost commonplace after my view from the heavens. |
