Up! Up! and Away! - Ottawa, Canada
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Stumble It!Up! Up! and Away!
Ottawa, Canada
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Heating the air to right the balloon for takeoff. |
For 20 years I've been an avid chaser and photographer of the many balloons that fly over Ottawa, especially during the annual Gatineau Balloon Festival. My wife Myrtle and I had always jokingly said: "We've got to try that some day". Well, our "mañana" finally arrived.
When we decided to take the plunge [no, that's definitely the wrong metaphor!] and go for a balloon ride to celebrate her 75th birthday, we wanted to do it while the autumn leaves were at their best. So we booked a flight for October 14, which began as a bright and sunny day. Unfortunately, the wind came up at the last minute and it clouded over, so the flight was cancelled. The same thing happened on the 17th, and we were beginning to wonder if we'd make it before the leaves were all gone. If not, we decided we'd wait until Spring. We didn't have to, for on the 21st all was bright and sunny, although it was far from being a warm day.
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This balloon has 13 passengers. |
At the Skyview Ballooning office downtown, while waiting for the other passengers to arrive, we enjoyed a slide presentation on the whole gamut of their balloons – at least a dozen – with baskets ranging from small two-person affairs to a giant one capable of holding over 20 passengers. Finally, everyone had arrived, and we all got into two vans, and headed for our take-off site across the Ottawa River in Hull. Much to our surprise, although it was rush hour when we left, we got there in only 20 minutes.
Two balloons were there, ready to be inflated. The pilots looked us over, and decided that we and another middle-aged couple would be most comfortable in the four-passenger basket, under the smaller balloon. The other 12 passengers would take off first in the larger one. We were amazed that they were able to inflate the big balloon, using two powerful fans, in about six minutes, and then off they went. Ours was next, and one fan inflated it in about five minutes. We slid in on our backs while the basket was still on its side. Then the burner heated the air, the balloon and basket stood upright and we were ready. A few more blasts of the burner, and we too were off.
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The peaceful Rideau River downtown. |
The takeoff was so smooth that Myrtle didn't know we were airborne until she looked down and said: "Hey, we're off the ground already!" There was a seven-knot breeze from the north, so we drifted slowly across the Ottawa River, past the Parliament, and headed south about half-way between the Rideau River and the Canal. It was an awesome sight to see buildings and places we knew so well from our new vantage point. Parliament, for example, was revealed to be more than twice the size we knew it to be, for on the ground one only sees the walls of the front or the back buildings, but not the connecting structures and courtyards in between them. We drifted along slowly in the luxury of silence. That's perhaps the most distinctive feature of ballooning – the complete lack of noise except for periodic blasts of the burner.
We flew at about 1,000 feet all across the city and, although the sun was going down, I managed to get a number of pictures on ISO 800 film. One thing that really amazed us was the "forest" below. When we heard that Ottawa had lost 75,000 trees during the 1998 ice storm, we thought that must be an exaggeration. Now we know it wasn't. There must still be at least a million – everywhere – and most of them were cloaked in their autumn finery.
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Crossing the Ottawa River from Gatineau. |
We drifted for an hour, then when the sun began to set the pilot decided to put down in a field south-east of the international airport. That made for an interesting finale. We had been flying at about 1,000 feet, but regulations require a balloon to stay at least 3,000 feet above an airport, so up we went. As we passed over the airport, a small plane, buzzing like a dragonfly, flew right under us. Two big Air Canada jets landed, a 737 behind us and an Airbus in front, and another took off. Once past the airport we came down and landed gently in a field. That's where the only uncomfortable part began.
While we were flying, there was no breeze, because we were going at the same speed as the air. On the ground, though, we felt it immediately, and it wasn't hot air from Parliament! I'd estimate that the wind chill temperature was around 20°F (-7°C).
Myrtle was frizzed right to the bone in no time, then we got the bright idea of crawling inside the balloon, which still contained warm air even though it was lying on its side. So, while the pilot walked to the road and summoned the chase truck, we huddled with the other couple right inside the balloon. What an unusual experience!
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Myrtle, frizzed but delighted. |
Eventually the chase truck arrived, nice and warm, and we all got into it and had champagne while the pilot and truck driver rolled up the balloon, put it into the basket, and lifted the whole shebang onto the ground-level trailer. Then we drove to the roadway, and switched to the waiting bus. By the time we returned to the Skyview office, Myrtle was warm again. Twenty minutes later, our dog was jumping up and down and sniffing us as we arrived home, making sure we hadn't been off carousing with some other pooch.
Overall, it was an outstanding experience, one not to be missed, and one sure to be repeated in future years – but in the summer, when it's warm!
