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May 2018
AeroStats
Volume 20, Number 5
The Monthly Newsletter of theWillamette Aerostat Society
AeroStats May2018•Volume20,Number5 Page2
2018 WAS OfficersPresident:Shari [email protected]
Vice President:Matt [email protected]
Secretary/Treasurer:Dale [email protected]
Others
Newsletter Editor:Shari [email protected]
Activities Director:Pasha [email protected]
WAS website:http://www.wasballoon.info
Table of Contents
• Hanger Demolition Page 2
• Sec/Treas Report Page 3
• Happenings Page 4
• Earth Day Flight Pages 5-6
• Ron Grove Pages 7-8
• Tulip Flight #2 Page 8
• 7th Heaven Ad Page 9
• Skew T Log P Pages 10-11
• WAS application Page 12
Please support your local ballooning community.
Join the Willamette Aerostat
Society today!
There is an application on page 12.
Is WAS Being Bulldozed?
Not Exactly!The Aurora Jet Center has over
the years generously allowed us to hold our meetings in their buildings. The May 12th meeting will be our last chance to use Hanger Alpha. It will be torn down soon after. As our VP Matt Webster has said, “This is not a very subtle way to evict us!”
In actuality the Jet Center is in the process of building a big new facility on the other side of the park-ing lot.
Please come to the May meeting in order to bid farewell to the old building. See you there.
The May WAS Meeting will be held on Saturday, May 12, 2018, at 1:00 PM.See page 8 for a few more details.
AeroStats May2018•Volume20,Number5 Page3
Secretary/Treasurer’s Report Willamette Aerostat Society
Willamette Aerostat Society General MeetingSaturday, April 14, 2018
Present: Shari Gale, President & Newsletter Editor Matt Webster, Vice President Dale Justice, Secretary-Treasurer Pasha Luber, Activities Director and 16 additional members and 1 guest.
1. Call to order at 1:10 p.m. by Shari at Aurora Airport Jet Center in Aurora, OR.After introductions, potluck was started.
2. Minutes of the February 17, 2018 meeting were moved by Pasha and seconded by Edie Stoaks to be approved with corrections (not as printed in the March, 2018 Aerostats newsletter). Motion passed.
3. Treasurer’s report — from Dale, as of April 13, 2018. 2018 Members 74 Checking $ 1559.52 Savings 105.00 Cash 7.00
Total $ 1671.52
4. Announcements — Carmen Blakely — Sandy Grove told Carmen that Ron Grove passed away last Sunday, April 8, 2018, Sandy’s birthday. Justin Luber read a nice poem. Matt announced that he will be working on his pilot certificate this summer (applause).
5. Correspondence — None.6. News — None.Regulatory — No news.
Event Reports — Pacific NW Safety Seminar was held in Yachats on March 17. A report was made by Shari. Wooden Shoe Tulip Festival — Open until early May. Only limited balloon activity so far due to poor weather. Jefferson Mint Festival — The festival is cancelled, but Marianne LeDoux will be arranging for a balloon fly out on those dates, July 21-22. The launch will be from behind the grandstand in the school complex. There will be a group picnic after the flight. Tigard Festival of Balloons, June 22-24 — Shari and Marilyn Barnhart reported — The crew school will be held the preceding Saturday, as usual; contact Marilyn. Cindy Murphy
and Kristin Romelhart are in charge of the balloon activities. National Night Out — Shari — First Tuesday in August. Tim Gale and Dale plan to do a night glow in Tualatin.
7. Old business — Business cards — Shari got the cards printed. They are available now. Those at the meeting were supplied with some.
Web Site — Shari has learned how to maintain the web site. She is now the webmaster. Moved by Pasha and seconded by Marilyn to reimburse Jess Lundie (through Shari) $142.00 for web design and security support. Discussion. Motion passed.Moved by Shari and seconded by Jody Johnson to buy a backup service for the web site. Motion passed.
8. New business — Moved by Cheryl Isaacs to support a full scholarship of $450.00 to BFA Junior Balloonist Camp for Grace Ingram (Koh Murai’s granddaughter). Seconded by Carmen. Discussion. Motion passed.
Moved by Tim Gale that WAS organize and run next year’s safety seminar. Seconded by Dale. Discussion. Motion passed. Tim volunteered to be in charge. Mark Trujillo and Marianne are checking availability of possible sites.
9. Program — Shari Gale led a discussion on Ground and Crew Safety. She used Dave Wakefield and Mark Trujillo’s outlines as a starting point. The object is to have a list to post on the WAS web site. A number of good ideas were offered.
10. The next regular meeting is Saturday, May 12, at 1:00 p.m. at a location to be determined. Tim Gale will present a discussion on Propane Safety.
11. The next meeting will be in October. Date, location and time to be announced in the newsletter.
12. Meeting adjourned by Shari at 2:37 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,Dale Justice, Secretary/Treasurer
/signed/dtj/04-24-2018
AeroStats May2018•Volume20,Number5 Page4
Event information in this newsletter is not to be considered as an endorsement by WAS, its officers, or its members.
Happeningsin the Pacific Northwest and beyond
March 23-May 6, 2018Wooden Shoe Tulip FestWoodburn, ORhttps://www.woodenshoe.com/events/tulip-fest/
May 12, 2018, 1:00 PMWAS MeetingAurora Jet Center, 14357 Keil Rd NE,Aurora, Oregon (it’s a potluck!)
May 18-20Winnemucca Balloon FestivalContact Jeff [email protected]
June 1-3, 2018Balloon & Kite FestivalGrants Pass, ORhttp://gpballoonfest.com
June 22-24, 2018Tigard Festival of BalloonsTigard, ORhttp://www.tigardballoon.org/#about
June 28-July 1, 2018Teton Valley Balloon RallyDriggs, IDMargaret Rose [email protected]
July 5-8, 20185th Annual Freedom AloftPrineville, ORContact: Greg Miller503-510-7835
August 24-26, 2018Northwest Art & Air FestivalAlbany, ORhttp://nwartandair.org
August 29 - September 2, 2018Spirit of Boise Balloon ClassicBoise, IDFor more information http://spiritofboise.comThis is a “By Invitation Only” rally
September 7-9, 2018The Great Reno Balloon RaceReno, NVFor more information: http://www.renoballoon.com
September 28-30, 2018The Great Prosser Balloon RallyProsser, WAFor more information: http://www.prosserballoonrally.org
October 17-21, 2018Walla Walla Balloon StampedeWalla Walla, WAFor more information: http://www.wallawallaballoonstampede.comThis is a “By Invitation Only” rally
The Wooden Shoe Tulip Fest dates have been extended until May 6, 2018. Here’s hoping we get another gorgeous
weekend to go out and play in the flowers!
AeroStats May2018•Volume20,Number5 Page5
The Perfect Way To Celebrate Earth Day! by Shari Gale
We’ve been patiently waiting for a chance to fly this spring. Back before the tulip festival even started this year we went out to the Wooden Shoe Bulb Company fields hoping for a flight. We were going to be crewing for Koh Murai. Nothing went as planned and the flight was called off before Koh even left his place. The message didn’t come through in time for us to turn around and drive home. Oh, well. It gave us a chance for an early morning breakfast in Woodburn.
A few weeks later, just as a few of the tulips were in bloom, we tried again. This time we brought out our balloon, Knight-N-Gale. We knew there was a huge “if” surrounding this flight. Mother Nature was our “if” factor. As we drove up Meridian Road we saw a flag out in someone’s yard waving an unwelcome greeting to us. We knew then our chance for a flight was looking bad. When we stepped out of the truck to greet our fellow balloonists my hair started to blow around wildly. The decision was instantaneous. We did not even take time to wait to see if the conditions would improve. We knew they wouldn’t. Instead we made the sensible decision to go out for another early morning breakfast.
We waited patiently for the weather to finally improve. Third time was the charm. On Earth Day, April 22, Mother Nature decided to reward us with a marvelous day for flying.
The tulips were in full bloom.
The sun was rising behind Mt. Hood. It was beautiful. The scene was breathtaking.
As we drove to the back parking lot I noticed a huge scrum of photographers all in one spot taking photos of the sunrise. I knew those photographers would be focusing in on the balloons before long.
Derek and Chris Hancock were out inflating their big ride balloons on the dusty parking lot. Eventually, Rod Purdum, Carmen Blakely, Drew Brown joined us in the grass fields for a launch. We had lots of crew. Best of all our passengers were there greeting us with big smiles and warm hugs. We were going to take our granddaughters up for their very first flight.
Now came my big decision. Stay with the balloon, do my crew chief job, sending the girls off with kisses and hugs, or take a quick hike down to the tulip growing area and wait for the balloons to come my way. I decided to position myself for the best photo opportunities possible. I started hiking.
First Rod took off. He immediately went high and stayed a little bit north of the tulip area. Carmen and Tim watched what happened with his launch and decided to abuse the
crew by asking them to walk the balloons over closer to the tulips. Carmen came over the field first. She stayed low which makes all the photographers happy. Next Tim followed Carmen in. He more or less followed her track. In fact, he tried to eclipse Carmen but she was too wily for him. She popped up high enough so she was still in the photo frame. (Good job, Carmen!)
Tim did admit to me later that he saw a large group of young women posing for photos out in the field. He dropped in right behind them and mugged for the camera. I doubt they expected to be photobombed in quite that way.
A little later Drew came over the tulips. This was his first time ever flying at the tulip festival. His wife, Robin, told me they had never
While Rod Purdum was crossing over the tulips a 1913 Russell steam tractor made a trip through the fields. The tractor was moving faster than Rod at that moment, which complicated the chance to get the perfect photo framing. Photo by Shari Gale
Continued on page 6
AeroStats May2018•Volume20,Number5 Page6
flown in such a gorgeous place before. I have the feeling this won’t be the only time they drive all the way from Medford to fly in the Woodburn area.
Finding landing areas at this time of year in the Willamette Valley can be challenging. There are a lot of tender crops coming up. Tim
Tim seemed to be determined to eclipse Carmen from view, but Carmen was on top of the situation!Photos by Shari Gale
managed to land in a large triangle of land near some farm buildings. Part of the land was covered with irrigation pipe and farm implements. There was still a big area covered in good old weeds, but best of all, there weren’t any blackberry vines and there was a farm road leading right to it.
Our granddaughters enjoyed the flight enormously. The six-year-old said she felt like a butterfly. I thought that was the perfect way to describe a balloon flight.
Earth Day 2018 will be one of the most memorable flights for both of our granddaughters and for us.
Earth Day FlightContinued from page 5
AeroStats May2018•Volume20,Number5 Page7
Ron Grove lost his long battle with cancer on April 8th. He was born January 10, 1948, the son of George and Kathleen Sperry. Ron is survived by his wife Sandy (Brown), Frisco, TX, daughter Angela (Jeff) Lapin, Plano, TX. Granddaughters Jasmine, Alexis, and Isabella called him “Poppa”. He is also survived by sisters LuAnne (Roy) Preuninger, Pat (Alan) Danielson and brother Rich, brother-in-law Calvin Brown and numerous nieces, nephews and cousins.
Ron, aka “Captain Ron,” known for his gentle, calming personality, loved sharing his
passion of hot air ballooning with everyone. He started flying in 1974. Ron and Sandy ordered their first balloon system from Raven Industries in Sioux Falls, SD. Their first balloon was an AX-7, named 7th Heaven. Years later they upgraded to an AX-8, but kept the original balloon name.
Ron had many, many memorable moments in ballooning including a TV Commercial for Kodak with actor Michael Landon, three proposals and three weddings in the balloon and hundreds of first flight or “bucket list” flights. Watching passenger and spectator reactions during their first flight and promoting ballooning brought him great joy.
March of 1978 found Ron at the controls of Goodyear Airship Columbia. He flew his hot air balloon to 16,700 feet later that year. He waited until 1982 before he co-piloted the “Destiny” gas balloon during the Gordon Bennett Gas Balloon Race. He flew 194 miles from Los Angeles Basin to Needles, CA in 13.5 hours.
In 1989 the French Government paid all expenses for Ron to participate in Fraternite’ 89 in Metz, the 200th anniversary of the french revolution. The anniversary celebration was done again in 1991, Ron attended this also.
Ron flew over the Cascade Mountain Range in Oregon in October 2010.
In 2009 Ron started to coordinate the Landowner Appreciation Flights for the Willamette Aerostat Society. In 2011 Ron received the WAS Aeronaut of the Year Award, which was quickly followed by the BFA Directors Award in 2012. In 2014 during the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, Ron was the 23rd person to be presented with the prestigious “Ed Yost Master Pilot Award” for 40 years of accident free, safe flying.
Ron was so much more than these facts. Everyone who met Ron wanted to spend more time with him. He had a way of making everyone feel important. His love for life was contagious.
Ron will be missed by so many people here in Oregon and in so many other places.
In Memory of Ron Grove
Ron made a speech after receiving the Ed Yost Master Pilot Award at the annual BFA meeting in Albuquerque in 2014. Sandy, as always, was proudly by his side.
Ron loved to fly and share time in the air with first time riders.
In 2011, then WAS president Chris Whitfield presented the WAS Crew Member Award to Terri Miller. Ron Grove was named the Aeronaut of the Year.
AeroStats May2018•Volume20,Number5 Page8
Ron hugging Sandy and their good friend Laura Hancock.
I Am FreeDon’t grieve for me, for now I’m free,I am following the path God laid for meI took his hand when I heard him call,I turned my back and left it all.
I could not stay another day,To laugh, to love, to work or play.Tasks left undone must stay that way,I found that peace at the close of the day.
If my parting has left a void,Then fill it with remembered joy.A friendship shared, a laugh, a kiss,Ah, these things I too will miss.
Be not burdened with time of sorrow,I wish for you the sunshine of tomorrow.My life’s been full I savored much,Good friends, good times, a loved one touched.
Perhaps my time seemed all too brief,Don’t lengthen it now with undue grief.Lift up year heart and share with me.God wanted me now, he set me free.
To live in the hearts we leave behind is not to die.
Robert M. Burcham
This is Ron’s favorite poem. It seems very fitting right now.
Flying Emerald Over The Tulips
...The Next WAS Meeting!Saturday, May 12 at 1:00 PM
Hey! Join Us For...
Aurora Jet Center, 14357 Keil Rd NE,
Aurora, Oregon
It’s
a p
otl
uck
!P
leas
e b
rin
g a
dis
h t
o s
har
e
See
You
Th
ere!
Photos by Shari Gale
There’s a new balloon in “town!” Willamette Valley Balloons has a new Ultramagic balloon using shades of green and black. Fittingly, it is named Emerald.
On Wednesday, April 25 Emerald flew right over the tulip fields and then did a splash ‘n’ dash in the pond across the road. This is only the second flight for this new balloon. Both flights have been during the tulip festival. Those are two initial logbook entries that will be hard to beat.
AeroStats May2018•Volume20,Number5 Page9
7th Heaven Is For Sale!It is time for 7th Heaven to help create memories for a new owner.
For Sale: Complete system ♦ Aerostar “Raven” 105,400 cu. ft; inflator fan, and trailer for only $6,000!
Envelope ♦ 7th Heaven, an Aerostar “Raven” AX-8. S60A, 310 hours since 100% rebuild. Last annual 10/1/2016, not flown since then due to illness.
Gondola ♦ Aerostar CWS stretch basket, with new vinyl bolster cover. SN194, date of manufacture 6/19/85. 280 hours at last annual, excellent condition. 2-point attachment to enve-lope. New floor installed upon our purchase.
Instruments ♦ Ball variometer, Digatron DT-21A pyrometer, and standard altimeter.
Burners & Fuel System ♦ Dual HP2D double gimbaled, dual electric blast valves with remote push button cord. Two 20 gallon lay down tanks, padded covers with electric tank heaters. Fuel hoses were replaced on 6/5/2013. Tanks were recertified on 6/5/2013.
Fan ♦ Controlled Air Stream 24” fan. Secure wall mounts to trailer.
Trailer ♦ Custom made trailer built for this system. Burners do not need to be dis-mounted. Trailer height is 8’9”. Two storage shelves along the front wall. Two sliding windows. “Bull Dog” style trailer hitch. Dual axle with electric brakes. Exterior spare tire mount. 2 rear doors.
System flown gently in Southern California and Western Oregon.
Seller is motivated! Contact: Sandy Grove, [email protected]
AeroStats May2018•Volume20,Number5 Page10
In recent years we’ve been offered another weather product depicting the atmosphere above, both as measured and forecast. It’s available via the web and from several portable device formats. The format is graphical in nature, although there is a tabular form
normally available with a click. With that, what’s this all
about? The atmosphere is not a homogeneous mass and varies with location, altitude and time. The graph is not linear and there are several features for reference. The freezing line starts at 0 along the lower x axis and aims to the right and up to represent the freeze reference, it follows an isotherm, or line of equal temperature. There are horizontal isobars or lines of equal pressure. The uppermost isobar
represents a pressure of 12 millibar (mB). On this chart, that corresponds to nearly 100,000 ft of elevation. The elevation and pressure are not always the same ratio due to density and pressure variations. When the chart format is read, the altitude will represent the dimension above mean sea level.
There are dry adiabat curves every 10° Celsius that are slightly curved and lean to the left as they rise. They represent the change of temperature of a dry air parcel rising or falling without adding heat. There are saturated adiabats at 2° Celsius that represent the change in temperature of a saturated air parcel rising or falling without adding heat. Another set of lines are for the mixing ratio where they are labeled on the bottom of the diagram in grams per kilogram of water vapor. They extend only to 200 mb and the spacing between them decreases as their values increase.
Temperature Curve (red) This is the plot of the temperature measurements that were taken from the rawinsonde as it was increasing in height. This curve will always be to the right of the dewpoint curve as you are facing a Skew-T. Then there is the Dewpoint Curve (blue or green) a plot of the dewpoint measurements increasing with height. This curve will always be to the left of the temperature curve as you are facing a Skew-T.
In this simple description of the curve, there are several key relationships to recognize: Is it going to get wet? That will come from places where the red and blue lines are on top of each other. The same can also bring condensation, even without precipitation. Be especially careful when the two lines are very close for a range of altitudes.
Wind is shown along the right
Skew T Log P charts, Oh my!
Continued on page 11
Initial screen
Forecast in Skew T Log P format.
Clicking on Value button on above screen brings you to this numeric table.
by Tim Gale
AeroStats May2018•Volume20,Number5 Page11
side. There are barbs along the Y axis showing velocity (speed and direction) with various pressure altitudes. The blue line further to the right is the velocity. On this chart, the values near the surface are quite low while near the top (outside of our world of experience) it hits 75 knots (kts).
The above represents a short-term forecast, the information most useful while considering a flight in the launch field. There’s another version that’s basically the same yet represents observed conditions and is only available at 0000 & 1200 UTC and at only selected locations. Here in Oregon, we only get them from Salem and Medford. On the observed package, there’s also a track of the sounding on a polar plot showing where the balloon went off the vertical axis directly above the launch point.
ChartsContinued from page 10
DUATS will be discontinued after May 16On March 13 the FAA released this notification:
“Flight Service Transitions to Leidos Pilot Web Portal“The FAA will discontinue the Direct User Access Terminal Service
(DUATS II) Program, effective May 16, 2018. Internet services, including access to weather and aeronautical information, flight plan filing and automated services will remain available at no charge to pilots at www.1800wxbrief.com.
To continue to receive free services, users are encouraged to register with www.1800wxbrief.com. Over the [following] days, the FAA will work with current DUATS II providers on transition activities, including conducting pilot outreach, establishing commercial interfaces, and providing user migration assistance.”
Please contact FAA Flight Service at their customer feedback website if you have any questions: www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/ato/service_units/systemops/fs/contact_us.
If you want to comment to the FAA, on the above feedback website, select the link: “Contact the FAA concerning future Flight Service changes” (the last one on the list) and select the service change that you are commenting on as DUATS II.
The radiosonde trajectory from vertical axis. Observed data from radiosonde in Skew T Log P format.
Here’s a great idea!Join WAS (your Pacific Northwest balloon club)
AND...Attend the May WAS Meeting(Saturday, May 12 at 1:00 PMSee page 8 for more details.)
AeroStats May2018•Volume20,Number5 Page12
WAS Membership Application
Please use a 2nd page if there are two pilots in the family, or if you have family members with additional information such as cell phone # and/or BFA #’s.
Name: ❏ Pilot ❏ Crew ❏ Interested in hot air ballooningBirthday: Month DayAddress:City: State: Zip:Date Submitted: Home Phone #: ( )Cell Phone #: ( )E-Mail Address: @BFA Membership #:
Pilot/Crew Achievement AwardsBFA Crew Level: BFA Pilot Level:FAA Wings Level: Other:
Family Member InformationName: ________________________________________Birthday: ❏ Pilot ❏ Crew Name: ________________________________________Birthday: ❏ Pilot ❏ Crew Name: ________________________________________Birthday: ❏ Pilot ❏ Crew Name: ________________________________________Birthday: ❏ Pilot ❏ Crew Name: ________________________________________Birthday: ❏ Pilot ❏ Crew
Membership Type❏ Charter ($20 ❏ Single or Family ($20) ❏ Newsletter Only ($10 outside Oregon & SW Washington)
MembershipThe Willamette Aerostat Society publishes an annual membership directory, acknowledges member’s birthdays in the club newsletter, and communicates via e-mail and the website. We recognize and respect our member’s privacy. If you do not wish personal information about you published, please indicate below. Information published on our website is public domain and subject to retrieval via Internet connection. Unless otherwise idicated below, it is assumed it is OK to publish this data in our annual directory:
❑ Do Not publish name❑ Do Not publish address❑ Do Not publish phone number❑ Do Not publish cell phone number❑ Do Not publish e-mail❑ Do Not publish birthday
Mail completed form with fees to:Willamette Aerostat Societyc/o Dale Justice2902 E. 2nd St. Unit 76Newberg, OR 97132
AeroStats May2018•Volume20,Number5 Page13
Waiver
AeroStats is a monthly publication
of the Willamette Aerostat Society.
WAS welcomes you to reprint material from this newsletter
by individuals or balloon club organizations
for their personal or organization use.
We ask that you credit WAS, AeroStats and the author
in any reuse of newsletter material.
Commercial use of material (articles or images)
for any reason is prohibited without the express
written consent from the
Willamette Aerostat Society.
Material to be considered for publication should be
mailed or e-mailed to the Newsletter Editor at
Publication deadline is the 2nd Saturday of each month.
AeroStats reserves the right to deny publication
of submitted material for any reason.
Material published in AeroStats does not imply endorsement
by WAS, its officers, newsletter editor, or its members
of an event. Nor does it imply agreement with
opinions, comments, or endorsement of any product.
To obtain Member Contact information, send an e-mail to the Secretary/Treasurer.
For Privacy reasons, AeroStats will not publish membercontact information without their express permission.
Contact and SubmissionsSubmissions of articles and photographs are encouraged and welcome! The editorial staff re-serves the right to determine the suitability of a submission for inclusion in the newsletter.
Please email your pictures, articles, and comments to: [email protected]
Advertising PolicyClub member’s ballooning related or event information is published on a
space available basis at no charge. Business Advertising by Club members is considered Commercial Advertising,
subject to fees shown below.Material must be submitted in computer word processing format
with pictures in JPG format.
AeroStats reserves the right to decline publishing submitted information.
Commercial Advertisement Space Rates Full Page — $30 1/2 Page — $20 1/4 Page — $15 Business Card — $10Ads will be published for 3 consecutive months, or until withdrawn, for the fee shown above.
The publishing of advertising in AeroStats does not imply an endorsement of the ad or its contents.
Text and images will be printed as submitted by advertisers.
Front Cover Photo: Celebrating Earth Day Carmen Blakely and Tim Gale chose to fly over the 40 acre tulip fields at Wooden Shoe Bulb Company. Photo by Shari Gale
Willamette Aerostat Society Mission Statement
To promote the sport of Hot Air Ballooning To educate new balloonists and the public To embody safety in all aspects of Ballooning To do all we can to support and encourage land owner relations To support our fellow balloonists and crews personally and in our sport
Willamette Aerostat Society
