Newsletter Template Apr 2013

In this issue: PCA Safety Seminar 2013 2 BFA Radio Freq. / BFA Youth Summer Camps 5 National Geographic - People’s Choice 2013 6 Mark Your Calendars 6 Press Release—NASA Super-Tiger Balloon 7 How I Got Into Ballooning 8 Canberra Balloon Spectacular 9 San Diego Zoo Aerophile 10 For Sale - Equipment From Bob Schaible 11 Sunrise Calendar / Protect Your Hearing 13 Denni Barrett - Maiden Voyage of the Black Pearl 14 Monthly Meeting Minutes 15 Club Information/Membership 16 Volume 4, Issue 4 April 2013 DownWind Chase The Official Newsletter for the Pacific Coast Aeronauts PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE We did it! The PCA Safety Seminar really came SKYPE Membership Meeting: Scheduled for together on March 23rd. Wed. April 3rd at 7:00pm Pacific. Please try to I can’t say enough about the efforts by some of join in. Contact me if you need info on Skype. our members to make this event special. Linda David Wakefield Walton did a superb job getting it all together [email protected] and many others joined on the day of the event to help out. I mention them all (I hope) on the next few I’ve changed the header of this page, removing pages so I’ll spare you here, but I must thank the redundant “Mark Your Calendar” area. I am Linda Heisig for her outstanding and thoughtful working to gather more events information and effort at keeping everyone fed. Wow!! Thanks get it to you in one place. You’ll find the more Linda! complete “Mark Your Calendar” section on page six of this issue. As I’ve mentioned here before, Scorch is putting together a flight at the Children’s Hospital Cen- I’m also working on a compiling a list of annual tral California in Madera. The idea is to bring regional events covering the states of California, the balloons to the kids who can’t come to the Nevada, Arizona, Oregon, Washington and balloons. It is scheduled for April 6th with April Idaho. Coming soon? 7th as a backup. He says he already has 10 or If you have suggestions or comments I would be 12 balloons and would like to include more. We happy to hear them. are expecting to have “Air George,” the hospi- Last note: As we move into our Spring season, tal’s helicopter flying there as well to take video there have already been a number of high visi- of the event from the air. If you are interested bility accidents/incidents, one here in California in this event, contact Scorch at: and others both in the USA and around the Dexter Cauffman world. This is a good time to take a breath, go [email protected] back to our check lists and revisit the things that keep us all safe.

Cheers! I have also sent more complete information as an email blast, so you may find this in your David email.

© Pacific Coast Aeronauts, April 2013 Page 1 Downwind Chase PCA Safety Seminar 2013 We had our 2013 Safety Seminar on March 23rd and it was a great success. Total count was 53. After registration finished and things got moving, Linda started setup of the “PCA store” with wearables, pins and lots of other nifty balloon goodies from the PCA supply, leftover items from the 2011 Monty Dinner and WHAMOBASS, as well as donated items from members including Larry Seiler and Bob Schaible. Thanks Guys! At the end of the day, unsold items were turned over to Jeff Haliczer to help fill the swag bags for the junior balloonists at summer camp. The presenters included Leigh Bradbury, Deke Sonnichsen, Tim Brady, Mike Veliz, Jim Abell, Pat Moore and Dana Thornton. Helen Kendrick was master of ceremony and “good sport of the day” for her willing and tolerant participation as Tim Brady’s “victim.” Please bear with me, there were a lot of people who went all out to make the seminar: Linda Walton did an amazing job of putting the whole show together and making sure nothing got forgotten. Thanks Linda!! Special thanks to Linda Heisig and her team for the food purchase and set up, Les Kossow and Willie for the video setup, Bill Wissel for arranging and paying for the room as well as providing 2 projec- tor screens, George Walton for loading and unloading the car and doing whatever Linda asked him to do,

Laurie, Linda and Jim setting up registration Les Kossow and his son Willie setting up the video setup

Steve Turner, his Grandson and Linda Everyone beginning to arrive

(Continued on page 3)

Laurie Pownall for running registration and being available to help immediately after she walked in the door, Jim Bondi and Jamie Hustler for helping with “whatever,” and Linda says I need to mention “that Dave Wakefield guy who found some speakers, generated the application and distributed it to all of the club members.” Ho-hum. The big thing was, we had a great seminar, great presenters who went all out, including some really great Powerpoint presentations, and we got to be there together. Here are some more pictures of the day:

Even Deke got a name tag Leigh Bradbury

Linda Heisig was ON IT, keeping us all fed and energized from before 7:00am until it was over at 6:00pm THANKS LINDA!

(Continued on page 4)

Deke Sonnichsen Magic Bob, Helen Kendrick and Tim Brady

Jim Abell Pat Moore

At left:

Dana Thornton

BFA Youth Summer Camps Registration Docs Jeff Haliczer has made several documents available for download:

Camper Reg.: http://www.cheersovercalifornia.com/2013BFAHSBCReg.pdf

Adult Volunteer Reg.: http://www.cheersovercalifornia.com/2013BFAHSBCAdultVolReg.pdf

BFA Radio License Update The BFA's application for a FCC group radio license is still pending before the FCC. Our frequency coordinator indicates it may yet be another couple of months before the license is officially granted and we receive the paper work. (That's supposing that the sequestration forced budget cuts don't cause additional delay. Our application was filed on December 7, 2012. Average approval time is 3-4 months). In the interim we are allowed to operate on the allotted frequencies under FCC Rules 90.159 - Temporary and Conditional Permits. Once the license is awarded we will post a PDF form on www.bfa.net whereby each BFA member can add their name and BFA# to the form and download a copy of the license. In order to use the BFA license your radios must be narrow banded otherwise you and the BFA could be fined $8,000 per offense. The frequencies allocated to the BFA are: 151.5050000 MHz 151.6250000 MHz 158.4000000 MHz 451.8000000 MHz 456.8000000 MHz 456.8125000 MHz

At Right: Coming to a launch field near you

© Pacific Coast Aeronauts, April 2013 Page 5 Downwind Chase National Geographic People's Choice Adventurer of the Year Congratulations to 2013 People's Choice Adventurer of the Year Felix Baumgartner! For the full National Geographic story, pictures and interview visit the site at: http://tinyurl.com/cqoe4cb

Mark Your Calendars!

The following PCA events are currently on the 2012 Calendar. Please contact me with dates and information for missing events.

• PCA Online Meeting - April 3rd @ 7:00pm Pacific • Children’s Hospital Flight - April 6th in Madera, CA • ABRESCO 2013 - May 3-5, 2013 • Wings of History - May 18, 2013 San Martin AP • Sonoma County Hot Air Balloon Classic - June 15-16, 2013 Windsor, CA • BFA Youth Balloon Camp - July 20-25, 2013 Reno, NV • Great Reno Balloon Race - September 6-8, 2013 • ClovisFest - Sep 21-22, 2013 Clovis, CA • Montague Balloon Fair - Sep 21-22, 2013 Montague, CA • WHAMOBASS - October 26-27, 2013 Coalinga, CA

Rebecca Powell Wallops Flight Facility, Wallops Island, Va. 757-824-1139 [email protected]

RELEASE: 13-037 NASA'S SUPER-TIGER BALLOON BREAKS RECORDS WHILE COLLECTING DATA WASHINGTON -- A large NASA science balloon has broken two flight duration records while flying over Antarctica carrying an instrument that detected 50 million cosmic rays. The Super Trans-Iron Galactic Element Recorder (Super-TIGER) balloon launched at 3:45 p.m. EST, Dec. 8 from the Long Duration Bal- loon site near McMurdo Station. It spent 55 days, 1 hour, and 34 minutes aloft at 127,000 feet, more than four times the altitude of most commercial airliners, and was brought down to end the mission on Friday. Washington University of St. Louis managed the mission.

On Jan. 24, the Super-TIGER team broke the record for longest flight by a balloon of its size, flying for 46 days. The team broke another record Friday after landing by becoming the longest flight of any heavy-lift scientific balloon, including NASA's Long Duration Balloons. The previous record was set in 2009 by NASA's Super Pressure Balloon test flight at 54 days, 1 hour, and 29 minutes. "Scientific balloons give scientists the ability to gather critical science data for a long duration at a very low relative cost," said Vernon Jones, NASA's Balloon Program Scientist. Super-TIGER flew a new instrument for measuring rare elements heavier than iron among the flux of high-energy cosmic rays bom- barding Earth from elsewhere in our Milky Way galaxy. The information retrieved from this mission will (Continued on page 8)

© Pacific Coast Aeronauts, April 2013 Page 7 Downwind Chase (Continued from page 7) be used to understand where these energetic atomic nuclei are produced and how they achieve their very high energies. The balloon gathered so much data it will take scientists about two years to analyze it fully. "This has been a very successful flight because of the long duration, which allowed us to detect large numbers of cosmic rays," said Dr. Bob Binns, principal investigator of the Super-TIGER mission. "The instrument functioned very well." The balloon was able to stay aloft as long as it did because of prevailing wind patterns at the South Pole. The launch site takes advantage of anticyclonic, or counter-clockwise, winds circulating from east to west in the stratosphere there. This circulation and the sparse population work together to enable long duration balloon flights at altitudes above 100,000 feet. The National Science Foundation (NSF) Office of Polar Programs manages the U.S. Antarctic Program and provides logistic support for all U.S. scientific operations in Antarctica. NSF's Antarctic support contractor supports the launch and recovery operations for NASA's Balloon Program in Antarctica. Mission data were downloaded using NASA's Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System. For more information about NASA's Balloon Program, visit: http://www.wff.nasa.gov/balloons

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How I Got Into Ballooning Stories of how individual PCA members came to ballooning

Jeff Haliczer My first experience ballooning. . . . I had recently graduated from college after a 9 year stay at my Uni- versity (a story in itself) accepted my first teaching position in Gallup, NM and through a chance meeting with a woman who's boyfriend was a balloon pilot ended up crewing for him on my first Saturday in Gallup, getting my first crew experience and ride. Met her looking for information on the local area and she was not able to help with any sort of maps to guide me, but was familiar with the area in and around Red Rock State Park due to her knowing the roads from chasing the balloons. She drew me a small map and that first Saturday I was off to explore my new home and learn about and enjoy the area. The same afternoon, I got home to a phone call from Karl and he introduced himself as the balloon pilot and was looking to fly that afternoon/evening and needed crew. I said yes, and met up with him and the others, and to be totally honest I had never seen a balloon in my life up to that point, possibly in photographs but never a real one. Being a guy with a strong back and weak mind (that has not changed) I helped and did get my first ride with Karl. The flight was over town if I remember correctly and I loved it, the fun, the people and something new and differ- ent. I crewed for Karl for the next 6 years in and around the Gallup area and Navajo Reservation, watched, listened (98% of the time) and enjoyed every aspect of the sport. Since he flew for a local Ford dealer, he flew lots and I crewed for him nearly every flight for the time I was in the area, made a few road trips with him not only as a crew member but as a friend and I still remember many of those adventures, this all started back in 1983, we are still friends to this day and it is always enjoyable to get back home to Gallup for the annual Red Rock Balloon Rally and reconnect with my roots, and to see Karl and the others I have known for so long. But subsequent moves to Arizona and then Nevada took me away from ballooning for a while, but that is another story to tell of how I eventually got my Private Certificate and beyond.

© Pacific Coast Aeronauts, April 2013 Page 8 Downwind Chase Canberra Balloon Spectacular Festival 2013 - Canberra, AU Darth Vader and his storm troopers definitely get around. These pictures come from the Canberra Bal- loon Spectacular in Australia which ran from March 9th through March 17th.

Darth Vader balloon rises over Canberra, Australia. Photo: Adam Shirley

Storm trooper, Vincent McGann, guards the entrance to the Darth Vader balloon. Photo: Rohan Thomson

© Pacific Coast Aeronauts, April 2013 Page 9 Downwind Chase A BALLOON RIDE IN THE SAN DIEGO ZOO SAFARI PARK! AEROPHILE is proud to announce the opening to the public of its 63rd balloon on March 2nd in a magnificent site: the San Diego Zoo Safari Park in California. The BalloonWalk of San Diego Zoo Safari Park is the 4th balloon operated by AEROPHILE in the United States. Aboard the BalloonWalk, you can admire giraffes, rhinos, lions and gazelles of all kinds at 150 meters high and once a day; watch the amazing “cheetah run” at the foot of the balloon. The gondola was decorated with the animals of the park.

From Bob Schaible:

Still have two balloons for sale at a reduced price.

Firefly 8B, 90,000 was listed at $18,500 now $14,500: 4.9 gondola excellent condition, has been kept in a heavy duty metal trailer with water proof canvas top for easy refueling and everything has been kept in a hanger out of the weather, trailer w/spare tire included, four 10-gallon tanks with tank heater covers....T-3 burner, instruments, flytec system, turning vents, parachute top, kevlar cables, nomax skirt...Firefly quick release...drop rope w/bag.....never been temped.....annual good thru May 2013, total hours 297....excellent condition...rainbow colors zig zag pattern....log book, airworthiness certificate and original manual included...complete system.

Firefly AX-10, 180,000 was listed at $28,500 now $24,500. 5.9 gondola, excellent condition....has been kept in a heavy duty metal trailer with water proof canvas top for each refueling and everything has been kept in a hanger out of the weather....trailer w/spare tire included....carries seven 10- gallon tanks with tank heater covers included...two T-3 burners, instruments pod, turning vents, parachute top, kevlar cables, nomax skirt. pulley system for parachute top....Firefly quick release and drop rope w/bag...rainbow color zig zag pattern....annual good thru May 2013..... total hours 211...never been temped...excellent condition. Both include newly painted trailers, etc. Contact Bob Schaible at: 209-815-6260

Firefly AX-10, 180,000

More For Sale From Bob Schaible: 1997 Dodge Ram 15 Passenger Van Asking price for the van is $5500, has a rebuilt engine, heavy duty suspension, tow package, tires like new...clean clean inside. Contact Bob Schaible at: 209-815-6260

The reflector has been somewhat quiet lately, so that got me to wondering whether my hearing was getting worse, and if it's not yet too late to begin figuring out a long-term plan to combat hearing loss while ballooning! I have flown with disposable foam earplugs many times, and find the noise reduction levels are very comfortable (-33dB attenuation), but I dislike the lack of ability to hear passengers' questions as well as the myriad of subtle balloon/environmental noises that are handy to hear occasionally. There are a lot of options for hearing protection out there, but many of them are expensive, bulky, or not quite ideal for ballooning in certain ways. Without having had a chance to field test them all, I would love to hear others' opinions on the very best ways to combat hearing loss while ballooning - while still being able to hear all the important (quieter) things. Here are a few products I have found which might be worth considering: In-Ear, Battery-free: http://www.surefire.com/ep3-sonic-defenders.html http://www.surefire.com/ep7-sonic-defenders-ultra.html Over-the-head, Battery-free: http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200387469_200387469 http://www.woodcraft.com/product/2005488/16255/zem-hearing-protection.aspx Headset, Electronic, Quiet Amplifying and Loud Noise-Cancelling http://www.orvis.com/store/product.aspx?pf_id=56A4 There are many others and I have only just started researching this topic. I would love to hear what others use, and the benefits/drawbacks of any type of hearing protection that you may have experience with in ballooning. Ideally, I'm looking for an unobtrusive or highly concealable solution (in-ear), which will attenuate the burner noise but allow passengers to be heard. Is there such a product, and have you used it? UPDATE: On the Reflector there have been many posts about this. It seems the most popular choices seem to be passive “musician’s” ear plugs, which filter according to sound intensity. This means they do not interfere with casual conversation and, in some cases people report improvements in normal clarity. These are easy to find online and vary in price from $25-$60.

SIX MONTH SUNRISE CALENDAR

Sunrise Chart for Tracy, Ca. (Morgan Hill will be approximately 1 minute later)

Apr-2013 6 6:44 May-2013 4 6:07 Jun-2013 1 5:46 13 6:34 11 6:00 8 5:44 20 6:24 18 5:54 15 5:43 27 6:15 25 5:49 22 5:44 29 5:47

Jul-2013 6 5:50 Aug-2013 3 6:11 Sep-2013 7 6:41 13 5:54 10 6:17 14 6:47 20 5:59 17 6:23 21 6:52 27 6:05 24 6:29 28 6:58 31 6:35

Ahoy! You say ye be a master pirate. Sailed the 7 seas boasts ye? You not be an admiral of the black, hearties, until ye sailed the skies aboard our Black Pearl says I. A league or more above sand and sea with six pounders on both sides, the jolly roger amidships and a hidden treasure map within her. Come join our swashbucklers, buccaneers, carousers, jack tars, picaroons, scallywags, strumpets, wenches and rapscallions Arrh! We search for treasure and pillage from interlopers along the coast of southern California. There be plenty of food, grog and spirits after our journey mateys, It's an adventure to last a lifetime, ho!

Denni Barrett Magical Adventures' Black Pearl Balloon Rides - Temecula, Del Mar & Palm Desert California 866-ENJOY-US (866-365-6987) or www.hotairfun.com

Above: Kid pirates too.

Left: You’ve gotta love the cannons.

1. Call to Order 7:09PM Pacific Time Attendees: Dexter Coffman 2. Meeting Minutes a. Call for Approval – Minutes not available at this time. 3. Treasurers Report: $9876.54 Total $115. Pay Pal and 10 Applications for Safety Seminar. Action Item: Linda will mail out budget. 4. Review of Future Flying Events: a. Scorch Valley Children’s Hospital 6 & 7 th of April Hoping for 25 balloons to tether for photos and then fly away. Will have photo ops from Helicopter. Hoping to get the public to attend and solicit donations. b. Wings of History will be inviting balloons once again. Will be Saturday May 18, 2013 C. ABRESCO, in California Valley May 5, 6, 7 5. Flying Reports: a. Morgan Hill – No report b. Tracy – Don flew a few weeks ago c. Reno d. Fresno - Going to fly this Sunday and have had some great flights 2 weekends ago. Large group of Ladies had a blast. e. Sacramento: No Report. f. Napa According to Face Book they have been having good flying in Napa. g. Others: LA, FLA, NYC - Scott and Laurie Spencer are traveling around the country with “Great and Powerful” Disney “OZ” Balloon. Had a little incident with a fountain in Central Park. Sioux Falls SD - We have had some flyable days though the days matched perfectly with days Tom was working days. Several other local pilots have gotten in some flight. Will send Dave W. some photos.

6. Old Business: Safety Seminar has received BFA Approval. Dave Sullivan is the BFA Continuing Education contact. Everything is all set, just taking care of the last minute details.

7. New Business: No New Business

8. Committees Reports: • Awards - Bob Locklin will be presenting Awards at the Safety Seminar • Crew – No action on the committee. • Jr. Balloonists/Youth Camp/Education – High Sierra Balloon Camp is gathering support and enthusiasm. Jeff reported that there has been donations from FireFly Balloons and they expect more in the near future. • Montgolfiere Dinner - Kathy Terry • Safety Seminar - March 23, 2013 • Website and Internet - Up to date. • WHAMOBASS - No Report • Winter Party - in process 9. Open Discussion topics

10. Guest Speaker – No Program 11. Adjourn Meeting 8:15

PCA Board Members and Officers 2012 Committee Chairs:

Education: Jeanne Anson WHAMOBASS: Pat Moore David Wakefield: President/Board Member Awards: “Magic” Bob Locklin Tom Sharpee: Chairman of the Board Montgolfier Dinner: Kathleen Terry Pat Moore: Secretary/Board Member Safety Seminar: Linda Walton/David Wakefield Linda Walton: Treasurer/Board Member Junior Balloonist: Jeanne Anson/David Wakefield Orval Choate: Vice President/Board Member Website: Jeanne Anson Newsletter/Facebook: David Wakefield Winter Party: Volunteer Needed

Pilot Briefing: Tools to Plan Your Flight Disclaimer

Information contained within this issue of Tracy AWOS 209-831-4335 the Downwind Chase is the most up-to- Mt. Diablo Robot 925-838-9225 date and correct information available at Morgan Hill AWOS 408-918-7724 the time this newsletter was issued. The Flight Service 800-992-7433 PCA, its Officers and Directors are not responsible for the accuracy of the If you have your favorite flight planning resource, send us a note at [email protected] and we’ll publish it material enclosed herein. Opinions here. expressed in the Downwind Chase are solely those of the individual authors and should not be perceived to be those of the PCA, the Editor, Publisher, or its leadership.

MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION

Membership & Shirts: Cost: Mail to:

Pilot or crew: $ 20.00 Linda Walton—Treasurer

Pacific Coast Aeronauts Family Membership: $ 30.00 14938 Camden Ave. Suite 76 For Postal Delivery of the Newsletter $ 5.00 San Jose, CA. 95124 Grey Polo w/PCA logo (sm—xl) $ 20.00

Long Sleeved Denim (sm—xl) $ 20.00 Name (s): ______2xl—4xl add: $ 2.00 Address: ______Shipping: $ 4.00 ______

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