CHAMPAGNE TALES
February 2006
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Published almost monthly by the
Greater
Mesilla Valley Aerostat Ascension
Association
P.O.Box 279
Fairacres, New Mexico 88033
President: Orbin Stone
Vice President: Sherry Richardson
Secretary: Burt Whirry
Treasurer: Janette
Stone
Editor-with-help:
Patrick Scoggin
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The Accolades and Achievements of
the Greater Mesilla Valley Aerostat Ascension Association
Next Meeting
10 April 2005 at 6:30 pm
Mesilla Valley Inn
From the Presidents Corner
Ok here’s the message from Orbie, Ok not
really but hey you guys he’s been busy, real busy. So instead of including the
one from last month and see if any of you catch it I will just add
something. And you know sometimes I get
pretty busy and confused and if he does send one in I on occasion may lose it
so for a time so anyway what he would have said is something like this.
Go fly a balloon.
Orbin Stone
President GMVAAA
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Greater
Mesilla Valley Aerostat Ascension Association
GMVAAA Minutes
March 13, 2006 GMVAAA Meeting
6:30 pm, Mesilla Valley Inn
Members Present:
Orbin and Janette Stone,
Jeanne Gartner, Burt Whirry, Barney Watson, Marta
Rose, JR Turner, Patrick Scoggin, Jeff and Vicky Shaw, Patti Havstad, Joan and Lance and Brian Smith,
Douglas Jackson
Call to Order 6:30pm
Previous minutes approved.
Treasurer Report:
Current
Balance
$ 2,534.53 no changes
Report Accepted as presented.
Committee Reports:
PZ :
Possible new PZ field corner of University and Stafford,
unsure of actual property ownership.
PR:
Texas Road House interested in a
continued relationship with the Rally.
Fly -Ins:
Bang Tail 30 April, KLAQ looking
for pilots 27-28 May, Father’s Day 18 June, Larry and Rita Albanse
residence. Pool party 2 July Patti Havstad’s.
Safety Seminar: Proposed date 24 June. Instructors need to submit syllabus.
Old Business:
None
New Business:
Club roster is in the works.
Adjourn:
7:30
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Bangtail Muster
submitted by Patti Havstad
According
to the on-line dictionary, www.wiktionary.org
, the meaning of Bangtail
is “docking the tail of cattle” and the meaning of muster
is “a roundup”. Bangtail Muster originated in Australia as a roundup of cattle
during which the end of their tail hairs
were cut straight across to ensure they had been counted for transportation.
Somewhere along the line, the Bangtail Muster evolved into an official holiday
in Alice
Springs, Australia where it has been a favorite May festival
for over 25 years. A web search found the Bangtail Muster described as “A day
for nutty parades and outback silliness”.
The Las Cruces version of the Bangtail
Muster, for which Bangtail means something like “shocking the frail of society”
(not for the average prude), and Muster clearly means “party”, has been a
popular party day for certain groups of Las Crucens for almost as long as the
Australian version (see the historical story below, provided by Ruth Byers).
The Las Cruces version can be described as nutty, fun,
silliness, dress-up, and frivolity all on the banks of the Rio Grande.
For many years, the party has begun with
the launching of a handful of hot air balloons in the early morning hours near
the party site (just south of the Picacho Bridge). While the balloonists are embracing the
early spring day aloft, local Aussies, members of the local British Motor Car
Club, and other Bangtail Muster loyalists arrive in their Bentleys and other
vintage vehicles and begin to set up tables with fine linen and crystal
goblets. Dressed to the nines, ladies in carefully chosen fancy dresses and men
in various versions of the classic tuxedo, set up their finely appointed tables
with copious amounts of delectable food and treats. After the balloons have
landed and are packed away, the balloonists also don their fancy party dress,
lay out additional tables, and adorn them with even more delectable treats. The
champagne is uncorked, and the frivolities begin.
The official Bangtail Muster holiday is
the first Monday in May. As the rotating of the earth would have it, Australia is well into their Monday at the same
time that we here in siesta- land are still enjoying our leisurely Sunday.
Hence, the celebration here is traditionally held on the first Sunday before
the first Monday in May. This year, May 1 falls on Monday, meaning that the
traditional Las Cruces Bangtail Muster would be scheduled for Sunday, April 30.
So - When is Bangtail??
Stay tuned, as we may take the
unprecedented step of moving our Bangtail party to the next Sunday, May 7, to
avoid conflict with an event the British Motor Car Club has already scheduled
for the weekend of April 29-30. Consultation with the Aussie contingency is in
progress regarding this possibility! However, I suspect the traditional date of
April 30 will hold.
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There is a new Balloon in town,
And she is a beaut! That’s right folks, Midnight
Angel Too is finally here! On April
1st Midnight flew the skies of Las Cruces, and she did not want
to stop. We inflated her in Mayfield’s
parking lot. Orbie
had warned me that we probably would not fly, we
needed to get used to her and learn how her top worked. She is a learning experience for all. Students, crew and our instructor (Orbie Stone) have never flown a balloon with a “Smart Vent”
before. It is a little strange because
there are a whole lot of cables in the top to contend with, and of course the
manual that came with the new envelope does not even mention the “Smart Vent!”
Well, it did not take us
long to figure out how to put the top in and stand her up. After playing with the top a little while we
figured out how it went together…thanks to Jeff Shaw. At one point while putting the top in, Orbie told me to turn the fan down. Again, thanks to Jeff Shaw, we have a fan
that will inflate Midnight at idle!
Well, after we had her inflated she was so
beautiful Orbie just could not resist. He decided to fly her to our amazement and
delight. He and I took off and began Midnight’s maiden flight. She was catching everyone’s eye and commanded
the skies. She WANTED to fly! Every time Orbie
would point out a place, in a direction we were headed, that looked like a good
landing spot, the winds would change.
Finally after a
45-minute flight across Las Cruces, we came down behind
the dam behind Home Depot. Of course
the winds had picked up as if she was out to prove herself. Orbie decided to
use the smart vent and see if it worked as reported. We hit the ground at a very good clip with Orbie pulling the red line.
As the envelope quickly deflated Orbie’s smile
got bigger and bigger. By the time Midnight was flat on the ground,
about 25 seconds, his smile was ear to ear.
In fact, Midnight had deflated so fast
our 4 chase vehicles had no idea where we were!
When
they finally found us, after a few cell phone calls, the REAL fun began. We put the balloon back in the bag and loaded
the truck up. I was properly christened,
with all kinds of different liquids, as it was my first time to fly in my
balloon.
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Then,
since Midnight is a Family balloon, a
fun time was had by all! ![](image013.gif)
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(NOTE: ok the
original had photos. Realy nice colorful photos. But there was a problem. If technical
stuff and submitting photos are or interest to you see the ‘from the editor’
stuff at the end)
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BFA Competition Committee
Update 03/15/2006
The
BFA Competition Committee met in Houston, Texas in February. A
number of important decisions were made.
The Committee approached the tasks at hand with a great deal of
dedication and enthusiasm. The Committee
discussed the subjects of improving BFA competition, increasing the number of
pilots in the National Ranking list, and conveying to the general population of
balloon pilots that BFA competition is for EVERYONE. Not just for the pilots that have a desire to
attend the World Championships, but also for the weekend rally pilots who want
to learn more about competition, and possibly improve their flying skills. With
the failed attempt to unify NABA and BFA competition behind us, the Committee
looked inward to see what can be done to improve the product offered to BFA hot
air balloon competitors.
The
following is a summary of some of the new ideas that will be implemented this
year, as well as some traditional benefits to our members.
- A fund of
$15,000 has been set-aside for the 2006 World Team and manager, to be used
to help offset expenses in Japan.
- A fund of
$2,000 has been set-aside for the USA observers attending the 2006 World
Championships.
- For this
year, anyone that has never purchased, or has not purchased a competition
task card within the last 5 years can purchase his or her competition card
for $10.00. This also includes a FREE CD of all the competition articles
written in Ballooning by Pat Cannon
- Everyone
purchasing a 2006 BFA competition card will receive the free CD.
- In 2006,
new awards will be given out relating to the National Ranking list; they
will include, Points Champion, Highest Ranking Rookie, Highest Ranking
Female, Highest Ranking Senior Pilot (over 55), and the Most Improved
Pilot.
These awards will be in the form of wall plaques, and
will be presented at the awards ceremony at Fiesta in October. These awards
will start now, and are for the 2005 competition year.
- Starting in
2007, for the 2006 competition year, a cash award system will be in place.
All of the above-mentioned awards will receive $300.00, except for the
points champion; he or she will be receiving $500. Additional monetary
awards will go all the way down to 20th place on the National
Ranking list. In addition, the top 10 places will also receive wall
plaques. To date, the points fund
for 2006 is based on $5,000
- A press
release will be issued for each State Champion to their local newspaper,
and each will receive a State Championship Certificate from the BFA.
- The BFA web
site will establish a competition page for rally results with photos,
articles, news, year to date point totals for all BFA competitors, etc.
- More space
will be dedicated to both Skylines and Ballooning magazine, with more
rally reporting.
- A
Competition Education Program will be developed that can be used at safety
seminars. Trained education speakers could be provided to teach the
program.
- A “mentor
program” will be developed that will allow less experienced competitors to
crew with “veteran” competitors to learn the trade. In addition, they will
coordinate debriefings at balloon rallies to openly discuss tasks, flight
profiles and to critique flight mistakes.
- A new
user-friendly Windows based scoring program is under development. It will be on a CD, and shared with any
balloon rally wishing to host balloon competition.
- The 2006 US
Nationals in Anderson, SC, will have $20,000 in prize money. Prize money
will be paid to all 40 competitors.
In addition, $7,500 will be set-aside in an escrow account that
will assist the 2008 World Championship Team.
- The 2006 US
Nationals will use pre-selected map goals, and a list of coordinates will
be issued to each pilot. This will greatly reduce the amount of pre-event
work required on the maps.
- A new rule
was established that would make it easier for any BFA competition pilot to
acquire points at any competition rally. In the past at least 6 BFA
competition pilots were required in order to turn in scores to the office
for tabulation. The new rule will
read in part; if there are more than 6 BFA pilots and they want to have
their points count in the National Ranking list, the points are based on
how each pilot finished against the “6”. If there are less than six pilots
with BFA task cards, and they want to have their points count toward the
National system, the entire pilot list is to be submitted and the points
for the BFA pilots will be based on their finish against the entire field.
This new rule, for BFA sanctioned events, will allow pilots who are in an
area with few BFA competition pilots to still obtain national points and
be counted toward the BFA National Ranking list and the awards program.
- There will
be NO COST to weekend rallies for a BFA sanction. A sanction includes
non-owned aircraft insurance coverage for the balloon officials acting on
behalf of BFA.
- The BFA CC
will be purchasing more GPS trackers this year to increase our inventory,
and will be working on software to use these trackers in our competition.
The 2008 Worlds Hot Air Balloon Championship in Austria will not be using observers, so we must be ready
to use our trackers in our 2007 Nationals. The Committee feels that we
must prepare our Worlds team for the type of flying they will encounter
when they compete at the World level.
The
Competition Committee is serious about increasing and improving competition
ballooning in the USA. If you have any questions regarding any of these issues or would like
to volunteer for any of the programs, please contact a Competition Committee
member in your Region.
Philip Bryant, Sanction Manager Balloon Federation of
America
Competition Committee 5001 Woodway #302
www.ballooningtexas.com Houston, TX 77056
713-622-9074
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Schedule of Events 2006
Barney sent me a nice list of events we will include in the
next letter… I hope.
Note from the Editor-with-help,
I want to thank everyone who
contributed to this newsletter. The newsletter does not happen without your
input.
SO ok… why the silly stick
figures? File issues. The normal newsletter is about 300-400 Kilobytes in size.
When I formatted this issue I inserted the word document that was sent to me
‘as is’ and them just adjusted the size of the last to photos to fit side by
side in Microsoft Word 2002. The size
right off the bat was 17000 Kilobites. The issue was
the photos as they seemed to be of very high resolution. I tried taking the
photos out of the word document into Photoshop to adjust the resolution.
Problem was they were in a native format to an embedded MS Word document and
fell apart when imported into Photoshop so that did not work. I converted to
Black and White but the file size remained the same.
So I tired sending the
newsletter via Gmail vs
NMSU mail thinking the file size might work better there but no luck. In the
end I ‘reformatted’ the photos to a more primitive form and got the file size
back to a reasonable size.
In the future I would like to be
able to include Photos and in color BUT I need to have the photos NOT imbedded
in a work processor and sent to me as jpegs of gifs or some standard photo format
so I can manipulate them. ( resolution of more than 220 lines/dots per inch is
useless for a zeroxed newsletter and anything more
than 72 not much use for viewing on a computer/web etc. (unless you are trying to zoom in and read someone’s watch in
the photo). This would make file size a lot smaller. I can reformat to the
lower resolutions for you but it has to be in a standard photo format.
So after all that here’s this
issue after a lot of experimentation and the next one should follow soon. I
hope.