Another Saskatoon Balloon Festival is in the books and personally we had a great time again this year. Thursday August the 18th was a travel day and this year we had the winds at our back and a bright sun in the sky making the seven-hour drive from Calgary to Saskatoon an enjoyable experience. The Thursday evening fun flight was cancelled due to high winds so we all got together in the briefing room for registration and the master briefing. Everyone got re-acquainted and hashed over the new Cameron and Balloon Works regulations involving tanks and hoses. Stan will have this all figured out by the time you read this! Most of us retired to the bar for food, drinks and a whole lot of BS (balloon stories).

Friday morning was the media flight / pancake breakfast. We were each assigned passengers for the morning flight that we would meet up with at the launch field. We made the trip out to Kinsmen Park with the hope that the winds would die off but this was not to be the case. On this morning low cloud and brisk winds would cause the flight to be scrubbed. A few balloons inflated to give the crowd something to look at but the winds were tossing them around so we packed it in and headed off to breakfast. Later we would visit Raymond’s favorite Saskatoon hangout, The Fun Factory then back to the Saskatoon Inn for a well deserved nap.

Friday evening was looking like more of the same. Moderate to low cloud and high winds would once again keep us on the ground. Again we headed out to Kinsmen Park with the hope that the winds would die off. We waited until close to 7:30 before Stan (the hare balloon) inflated to check the conditions. He claimed he had to dry out his envelope but I think he was thinking of getting airborne. I believe it was during this inflation that the disreputable target incident occurred. I must admit that I didn’t witness the event first hand as I prefer to be as far away from Stan as possible during launch but like everyone one else on the launch field I heard the grotesque sound of an inflation fan coming to a blunt halt. I would later be informed that Stan had left the target in an awkward location and it was eventually sucked into the inner workings of the fan bringing it to a sudden stop. I though target control was the job of the crew chief anyway! Once Stan had been standing for over 30 mins. a sudden gust of wind shoved his envelope to the ground and that was it for Stan. Out came the top. Later Marvin and Marshal would get airborne for a short flight over the city. These were the only balloons to take to the sky this evening. Off to RK Chicken for the supper buffet. Not a bad buffet and their specialty of chicken was spot on!

Saturday morning the weather had changed and we were blessed with light winds and clear sky conditions. The 6:30 AM parade of chase crews headed off to Kinsmen Park once again. Stan again offered his services as the hare balloon on this spectacular August morning. Once on the launch field little time was wasted and all the balloons where laid out and ready to go by the time Stan was airborne. Stan flew on for about ten minutes before Dale gave us the go for launch. The fans started and the balloons came to life. While on the launch field looking for crew I found Rona, one of the organizers, looking for a balloon to crew on. I took her up on her offer and ended up taking her with me on the flight. It was a nice slow flight over the city with a southwest direction higher up and a north direction down low. Stan landed and laid the target out in an empty field in an industrial part of town. Each one of us had a turn at the target and every balloon ended up dropping a marker in the scoring area. One balloon, Dale Lang, even took two tries at the target making the eventual winning drop on his second attempt. Great fun!

We flew on to an eventual landing a few kilometers away near the city dump.

Saturday evening was the mass launch from the Airshow site. We all meet at the briefing trailer near the Snowbird parking area at 4PM. A quick blurb on the conditions and we proceeded to line up ready for the end of the snowbird performance. Once the snowbirds where parked we began the process of driving out to the flight line and setting up our equipment. Stan was first off the launch field with the target dangling out the side of his basket. Shortly there after he was out of sight and it was our turn to take to the sky. On with the fan, in with the top and off we went. As I was one of the first off the ground it was a spectacular sight seeing the crowd at the airshow and all the balloons lined up for launch. Once stable and at cruise altitude I focused my attention on Stan. He’s already landed? Way over there? Almost immediately I conceded the task and came down for some crop cruising and power line hopping. It was a fairly fast flight with top speed coming in at 10 knots. The crop was going by quite fast and it was a good thing as the landing sites were at a premium. I passed up the first one, a hay field in windrows and took the second opportunity a pasture with cows in the far corner. By the time I had landed and run the crown line up to the top of the envelope things got weird. The cows, that were probably 600 meters away when I landed, were now approaching fast from the southeast. The sound of the stampeding bovines brought images of a shredded envelope to my mind and I was sure I’d be packing the envelope in a thousand pieces. Suddenly they stopped not less that 5 meters from the balloon and just stood there with this strange look on their faces like children at a circus freak show. With my best cowboy imitation I tried to get them to retreat but they would only move away a few meters and then wonder back as we packed the balloon. Once the balloon was streamered on the ground and the excitement started to die down they began to wonder off and do the cow thing. By the time the envelope was half packed they had lost total interest and they had wondered back into their far off corner. It was about this time that Dale Ritchie, flying the Flag balloon, decided that he would take the same field. Well, you guessed it, here they come again! It was the same story with Dales landing. When I finally had a chance to visit with the landowner he explained that the cows where a special breed of docile cow that are quite rare in these parts. This explained their curious nature and their friendly demeanor. If all cows where like this it would open up a whole new set of landing sites for us! Just make sure you don’t hit any on your approach.

Sunday morning and evening were complete blowouts as the wind picked up through out the day signaling a close to the 2005 Saskatoon Balloon Event. Only two flights out of a possible six but we still had a great time. Many thanks go out to Marvin Shultz, Dale Ritchie and the awesome crew of organizers at this year’s event. GREAT JOB!

Rumor has it that next year this will be a stand alone BALLOON event breaking away from the Airshow event. I’ll truly miss the airshow but this will simply mean I can spend more time discovering what Saskatoon has to offer. I’m looking forward to next year already!

Craig Westcott Calgary, AB (Balloon Works)

Steve Raffaele Calgary, AB (Cameron)

Marvin Shultz Saskatoon, SK (Sundance)

Dale Ritchie Calgary, AB (Sundance - Waving Flag)

Stan Wereschuk Leduc, AB (Cameron)

Martial Jacques Winnipeg, MA (Balloon Works)

Jack Bailey Rolling Hills, AB (Cameron)

Connie and Andy Schulthess Standard, AB (Raven)

Dave Gleed Vancouver, BC (Cameron)

Del Michaud Calgary, AB (Sundance)

Dale Lang Taber, AB (Balloon Works)

Jamie Kinghorn High River, AB (Balloon Works)