OK, so there I was minding my own business trying to figure out how to convert over AVI files from my Canon Sureshot S230 Digital ELPH camera, when over the Simpsons on SKY TV I hear this loud "Whoosh" sound. I said to myself, "My that sounds remarkably like the sound of a gas jet on a hot air balloon!" I looked out the window and I saw this enormous yellow globe flying by! Are we being invaded by beer-giving aliens? No, its a balloon!
Grabbing my camera, I ran outside and snapped this movie:
Running back inside and getting my stuff together (i.e.
shirt and
shoes), I ran outside and down to the
landing site to see what was up. When I arrived I saw this: the Dinkel Acker
Märzen Balloon had landed in a clear spot of land on Robinson
Barracks here in Stuttgart. Having had a balloon land on our farm
in Wisconsin when I was a kid, I was eager to help out. Upon
arriving at the scene, I discovered that the balloon had attracted
quite a crowd of children and adults who had come to see the thing land.
The crew of the balloon consisted of 4 personnel: the pilot, a representative of Braürei Dinkel Acker, from here in Stuttgart, and 2 passengers. They had taken off from a Sommerfest downtown in Stuttgart, and had flown along for a while on the currents until they discovered bad weather approaching in the direction of Ludwigsburg. Deciding discretion was the better part of valor, they decided to land their noble craft rather than see it dashed upon the ground with them in it. Robinson Barracks looked inviting and available.
I introduced myself and mentioned that I had worked with balloons before. I offered to help with collapsing the balloon. They held the balloon steady for a time while people climbed in and out of it and chattered excitedly.
I shot this film as the envelope was allowed to collapse:
Now came the process of fully deflating the envelope and packing it and the gondola away:
The envelope was first deflated and pulled out into a long thin strip, then carefully packed away in a large storage bag and placed in the trailer.
