Warren County Farmers' Fair Balloon Launch

Posted by Betty (Phillipsburg, United States) on 8 August 2009 in Transportation.

The balloons were inflating right in front of us!

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Comments (10)

Judy from Brooksville, Florida, United States

It surely takes a lot of work to get these 'gentle giants' off the ground.
This is a wonderful capture, Betty!

8 Aug 2009 12:19pm

Chris from South Jersey, United States

looks like hard work - love all those colors....

8 Aug 2009 12:35pm

MJ from Delaware, United States

Great colors, and you can feel the action as you see each running in a different direction ... great action shot...beautiful colors

8 Aug 2009 1:46pm

john4jack from Corvallis, Oregon, United States

Cool colors. Love the guy holding the line.

8 Aug 2009 3:33pm

Viewfinder from Bradenton, FL, United States

I always like watching these crews get their balloons ready, then as the launch happens it's so amazing how light and graceful they are. Nice shot.

8 Aug 2009 4:42pm

Earnest from Oklahoma, United States

Another great picture, Betty. We are all still waiting for one from inside the basket when in the air.....

8 Aug 2009 4:55pm

rem_la from villiers, France

une belle envolée !

8 Aug 2009 7:27pm

Richard Irwin from Belper, United Kingdom

Well cool, did you get to go for a balloon flight?

8 Aug 2009 10:48pm

@Richard Irwin: No, I didn't get to ride this year... but I have gone up twice before from the fairgrounds. It was the best! So peaceful and calm just floating along! Some of my previous photos show the last ride in 2007.

Barbara from Florida, United States

It takes some manpower to get up but to see them floating effortlessly once up is stunning.
I've seen them fly low overhead but have never been up close like this. Wonderful capture.

9 Aug 2009 1:44pm

Robert Smith from Phillipsburg, United States

Cool shot. Reminds me of when I helped with the launch of one. The best part was when I was holding the balloon open and he hit the fire to it and it burned the hair off my arm. It sounds painful but the heat was so intense and fast that it didn't hurt.

9 Aug 2009 2:56pm

@Robert Smith: I never helped to launch one, but my friend held the balloon open like that. It's amazing the way they inflate and actually take off! The hardest part of the ride is climbing in and out of the basket! :-)

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