NATCHEZ 2005
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Tracks for all flights.
Flight 1. The flying was great in Natchez this year. All the flights ran in pretty much the same direction: northeast to southwest. West to east on the track chart, they're Saturday Afternoon's, Saturday Morning's and Sunday Morning's. We had a nice little glow Friday evening, for which I have no pictures...pictures don't capture the magic of the Natchez glow. Balloons are arrayed all over the place, not just in one big field: next to the Rosalie antebellum home, up on the bluffs, just behind the river levee on the Louisiana side, and next to the river by a campground (where we usually are). It's a complete 360-degree experience. So let's skip to Saturday morning. As shown, we had virtually identical conditions all weekend long...light winds from the northeast. On Saturday morning Ernie Ethridge, our seasoned weatherman, warned us of very high winds up above 800 ft...but I never got over 600 ft.
Just before the first picture was snapped, I realized to my disgust that I had forgotten to get a marker to throw on the target, which was located just a half mile north of the big Hwy. 61-84-98 intersection on the local golf course. I found a great place to launch in a tight, uninhabited little lawn behind a ballfield, well past the 3,000-meter minimum distance from the target, and managed to fit (l-r) my sponsor, a co-worker of Pam's and her husband. I improvised a marker from one of the old ones I keep in the basket for such a situation. It would cost me some penalty points, but it was better than nothing. (I'm wearing the infamous Natchez shirt from 1997 where "Mississipi" is spelled like that, with one p.)  My sponsor was Concordia Bank, which is owned by one of the Biglane brothers.  Jim Biglane, the other brother, is another balloon pilot, but works for another bank, so his own brother doesn't sponsor him! Natchez 2005, first flight, pre-takeoff
The second picture is right after launch, looking towards our target over two miles away.  Eileen is airing up in Clifford on the lower left side of the picture.  The stars-and-stripey balloon on the upper right is Stephen Guido's.  Stephen is one of the Natchez event's organizers, along with his ex-wife.  We actually went to the left of the cell tower on the left, but the winds were very slow and easy so it was no trouble. Natchez 2005, first flight, post-takeoff
We flew past the high school where last year's final target was located.  Left to right, the other balloons are: Dean Durr, Steve Jones in the almost solid red Budweiser balloon, Pat Cannon (a well-seasoned and highly skillful pilot who's a BFA officer), Nancy Mitchell's Sky Eyes, and Harry Moran's bright mostly-yellow balloon from Baton Rouge.  (Sunday morning's target was located right next to the Trace Bridge which is located barely an inch below Pat Cannon's balloon in this picture.) Natchez 2005, first flight, last years target
At this point my sponsor passenger's camera's batteries gave out, so I handed him my camera and just told him to shoot away.  He was full of information and let us know what we were flying over.  Here we approach the golf course where the target was located.  There are antebellum homes scattered all over Natchez, and there was even one on the golf course.  We flew right over it...very low.  Stephen Guido was even lower...he practically landed here, which would have been a disqualification.  But then, he's an official... Natchez 2005, first flight, plantation
Passing over the target, on a fairway.  I was well to the right, with no one else around, and throwing an obviously wrong yellow marker towards a tight pile of blue markers.  Very embarassing, even more so later when the scores were announced at the awards ceremony and the balloonmeister mentioned all this for those who didn't know. Natchez 2005, first flight, target
Looking back behind us.  Rick Ashby, from Texas, lands in the neighborhood on the lower left.  Most of the rest of us continued on, landing at the old paper mill south of town.  I just squeeked in to land just inside the entrance where a confused guard was directing traffic.  The paper mill is closing down for good, which is bad news for Natchez, but considering we didn't have to put up with the smell, I was just as happy. Natchez 2005, first flight, lookback
Pam caught this picture of GR just before landing.  Sadly, it's very dusty, basically because it's been very dry and dusty where we've flown this autumn. Natchez 2005, first flight, landing
Flight 2. Saturday afternoon...the barge drop. Winds were a good bit trickier than they were that morning, but they always are right above the river. Most people (such as myself) went to the property of a very friendly landowner whose lawn overlooked a bluff three miles north of town. Balloons launch here all the time when the winds are out of the north and the target's down in town. The launch site is very dramatic; you take off from the bluff towards the river and the ground drops away one or two hundred feet almost immediately.
I flew some of my morning sponsor passenger's family members, basically because no one else wanted to fly. Natchez 2005, second flight, pre-takeoff
Pam got this great shot as I jumped off the bluff into thin air, the sun right behind me. Pam is always shooting these silhouette and into-the-sun shots of GR. I don't know how she does it, but they always look good. Natchez 2005, second flight, silhouette
My passengers were breathless. (Note that, through the magic of reflective sunglasses, you can see everyone in the basket.) The other balloon belongs to Ellis Calvert. It was indirectly thanks to Elllis that I got into my first Natchez last year. His property was heavily damaged by hurricane Ivan, and he had to stay home to fix things up...so I got his spot. This year I nearly wasn't able to come because of Hurricane Katrina...but we both made it. Natchez 2005, second flight, Ellis and passengers
Meanwhile, Eileen was launching from near my spot on the bluff. Both Pam... Natchez 2005, second flight, Eileen Launch Bluff
...and I got shots of her. (Eileen told me later that her crew was trying to walk her to the edge of the bluff...when suddenly they saw a snake in front of them! They let go of Eileen, and she wound up bouncing off a tree. Fortunately no damage.) Natchez 2005, second flight, Eileen Launch River
I wasn't getting the left I needed down low to get down the muddy Mississippi to the barge...so I rose up high. Here I look down on Eileen and Ellis close to the water...in fact, there's a boat under Ellis conversing with him. The balloons themselves are most definitely NOT touching the water. The wake is caused by the boat. If you touch the river with your balloon, you are ejected from Natchez and not invited back. Natchez 2005, second flight, Eileen and Ellis

You can get an idea from my profile that I tried to rise up to about 1,500 ft. to get a left...unsuccessfully. But I did get a great view of my launch spot, with one last balloon (John Friedrich of Missouri) launching...		 Natchez 2005, second flight, launchsite view
...as well as many of the other balloons, the Natchez waterfront, and the barge.

No one hit the barge target this year.		 Natchez 2005, second flight, waterfront
Meanwhile, Pam got good pix of Eileen jumping off the bluff... Natchez 2005, second flight, Eileen off bluff
...and me lazily crossing the river. The water beyond the river is not more of the river...it's a cutoff lake called Marengo Bend, which still forms part of the LA/MS border.

After crossing the river we eventually got over Vidalia, and I got low to find someplace to land. But the Vidalia neighborhoods are very dense. We flew across the whole town, low (causing a good bit of excitement), finding nothing to land in. Then we almost ran into the side of a large warehouse which I was trying to land next to...this turned out to be the Fruit of the Loom factory, which caused a lot of jokes among my passengers about going back to get some new underwear. We landed on the other side of the factory, near what appeared to be dumping ground for old machinery, where we conducted our first flight ceremony.		 Natchez 2005, second flight, crossing
Flight 3. Sunday Morning. conditions were almost exactly like those of the previous morning, except the higher-altitude winds were lighter and the winds near the ground were practically non-existent. The target was east of the school, in a small field right by where the Natchez Trace Parkway starts. This was on the other side of Hwy. 84 from the previous morning's target, and a good bit further north, so we had to adjust the launch position accordingly.
We found a trailer park where several other balloons were launching. I got a chance to fly Pam's sister Carla and her husband Dave. Both have flown in a balloon before, but never together. David, as I've explained before, is a balloon crewman of long standing, and crewed for me here last year. Natchez 2005, third flight, pre-takeoff
Pam snaps us as we rise directly over her head. Like I said, the ground winds were almost nothing. Natchez 2005, third flight, overhead
We set up next to Sam Edwards in Texas Twist, a handsome Lindstrand. Sam's one of the top pilots in the mid-south. He wound up winning the competition here this year. Natchez 2005, third flight, Texas Twist ground
We flew right over him before he launched... Natchez 2005, third flight, Texas Twist overhead
...getting good pictures from all angles. Yes, his identification number is G-DADDY. His balloon was a gift from his daughter, who also flies. Natchez 2005, third flight, Texas Twist air
Most of the other balloons were already ahead of us. Natchez 2005, third flight, mass 1
Here are Carla and David with Nancy McConnell-Robinson's Sky Eyes right next to us. Sky Eyes is a Japanese-made special shape. Supposed to be an owl. Natchez 2005, third flight, Carla David and Sky Eyes
We approached the target, slowly. Carla and David got a very enjoyable, low-flying flight. Natchez 2005, third flight, mass 2
Wynn "Gus" Gustafson, in one of the Freedom Flight POW/MIA balloons, was right behind us all the way (just like last year). Here's a good shot of him passing right over a ballfield. Natchez 2005, third flight, Gus ballfield
We zeroed in on the target using the ample steering provided by the winds in just the first couple of hundred feet over the ground. I came in right over it. Here Pam catches me silhouetted, about to throw my marker (the right colour this time!) Natchez 2005, third flight, silhouette
Gus came in right behind us and flew DIRECTLY over the center of the X, very close to the ground. I watched him PLACE his marker on the center! That's the Trace Parkway in the upper right of the picture; the end of the school's running track is on the upper left of the picture. Natchez 2005, third flight, Gus target
I landed just a hundred feet or so beyond the target, between an exit ramp and the Parkway itself, next to Carson and Martha Lane, who we've landed by quite a lot recently. Here are the Lanes and one of their crew, with my basket, chase vehicle and the Trace Parkway bridge behind them: Natchez 2005, third flight, Lanes
And here are Pam and I! In the background are a couple of motorcycles. These belonged to a co-worker of Pam's and her friend, who had come up to see the festival. We knew that they were there, but were unable to connect with them until this moment, just as everything was ending, when they walked up and recognized Pam.

I wound up taking 11th place overall in the competition. I probably would have been 9th (just like last year) except for the stupid wrong-marker the first morning. Still, not bad out of 50+ pilots. Eileen took 5th. 		Natchez 2005, third flight, Pam and Martin
That's pretty much it for competition this year. We'll still be flying at home (especially while the weather's so good). Occasionally someone starts up an informal event during the autumn, but given the devastation of Katrina, that's highly unlikely this year.