November/December 2005 - Wisconsin Balloon Group

THE VENTLINE
Volume 1, Issue 3
Nov.-Dec. 2005
From the Directors Desk
From The Directors Desk:
We are in the midst of the holiday season
when many of us are spending time enjoying annual traditions with family and friends. Life sure is busy this
time of year. But needless to say, for many Americans
this holiday season will be difficult. As so much of the
southern region of our country diligently works to rebuild itself from the devastation of natural disasters,
it should make the rest of us even more grateful for
what we have.
This time of year also brings about lots of
change. Changing of the colors from green to red and
amber and then to no color at all. Cold, really cold and
then snow, lots of snow and now its 40 degrees and
muddy. Isn’t Wisconsin great? Well, maybe not always
but it is home and before you know it, spring will be
here and we will be back into a busy summer.
As we look back on 2005, Wisconsin ballooning has seen some changes as well. A couple of new balloon events took place this year and there were a number of pilots that completed their check rides. The
WBG also had a few changes; a new editor for the Ventline had taken over the reins and is getting on track
producing a fine newsletter. The leadership members
are working together to build on what the past leaders
have done for over thirty years.
That being said, we all need to take a hard
look at the WBG, what it has done for us lately and
what WE have done for it lately. There are many different attitudes and opinions about the WBG and ballooning in WI. Stepping back and taking a look at these
attitudes and opinions, I see that although there are
some small differences, there is a common denominator.
We all want to promote ballooning, increase awareness
about ballooning, and get more people involved in the
sport.
BALLOONING IS FUN
Let me repeat that for those who didn’t
hear me the first time
BALLOONING IS FUN.
Each and every one of us got involved in ballooning in our own unique way, but we all got involved
because it was FUN. Now your definition of fun might
be different from mine, but I doubt it.
Let’s try to remember that. (Remember
what?) BALLOONING IS FUN.
Now you may be asking yourself, “Why is
Ken telling us what we already know?”
Well, campers, it’s simple. Over the last
few months and maybe even the last few years,
there has been some grumbling and complaining going
on in the background of events and in your own backyards. “Maybe you have heard some of it, maybe you
have said some of it, maybe you have no idea what I
am talking about” I, as the Executive Director of
the WBG and as a balloonist in WI am hereby making
a resolution for 2006 to share the joy and fun of
ballooning with the citizens of Wisconsin. Because
it’s FUN!
The fact of the matter is that each of
you reading this enjoys ballooning and its serenity,
camaraderie, and gracefulness.
Please try in 2006 and beyond not to
forget that.
In the next issue of the Ventline, you will
find the WBG Policies and Procedures. It’s basically
the “WBG By-Laws”. Please, PLEASE, read through
them. Notice the “Mission Statement”. Did you
even know we had a mission statement? Read about
what the purpose of the WBG really is and what
each of the leadership members has volunteered to
be responsible for and understand what the major
functions of the WBG are. Once you go through the
Policies and Procedures, hopefully you will understand what the WBG is and what it means to be a
member of the group. Our function is simple and
straightforward. Have fun ballooning and sharing
the sport with others.
You will notice that many of the terms of
commitments are up for various positions of the
WBG Leadership Members. Take a moment and determine if you or someone that you know may be willing to devote the time to volunteer for a position.
Believe me; the personal rewards are plentiful when
you look at how you can help the group that you belong to.
My term was up this past January and
there were no volunteers or nominees to lead the
group at that time. Throughout 2005 I had contemplated stepping down from the leadership committee. As most of you already know, Kay and I were
blessed with our first child in March. And again as
most of you know, raising children is a
2005 NABA Board Meeting
During the weekend of December 8-9, the North
American Balloon Association (NABA) held an Executive Board meeting along with a meeting of the
Rules Committee. The meeting location was in
Massillon/Canton, Ohio. NABA Board Members in
attendance included WBG Members Tom
Sheppard, Allen Yost (IL) and David Lowe (now living in Tucson).
The agenda was varied. It included confirming
the location of the 2006 NABA Nationals. Despite
the upheaval caused by Hurricane Katrina, Baton
Rouge, Louisiana is prepared to host the 2006
NABA Nationals. Participants will have another
chance to enjoy southern hospitality and southern food.
NABA will again pay prize money to the pilots who have flown a minimum of (10) NABA sanctioned tasks during the year and are ranked in the top 30.
Maury & Lynn Sullivan hosted the meeting at their newest restaurant, Kozmo's Grille. If you are in the area,
the food and service is excellent.
Submitted by: Debbie Spaeth
From the Directors Desk: continued
huge commitment in itself. Kay, Jack and I decided that I would continue on as the Executive
Director of the group until the next term is up, which would be January 2007. However, if there is a member
or members reading this that has a nominee in mind for any of the positions, including Executive Director,
please let us know. Change is good and I am always willing to do what’s best for the group.
As I have said in this column many, many times before……
Remember this is YOUR Wisconsin Balloon Group. Each member is a vital part of making our group
successful. Volunteer, help out and get involved.
On Behalf of all of the leadership members of the WBG and my family, I extend
our warmest holiday wishes and greetings for the New Year.
Ken
Page 2
Volume 1, Issue 3
THE VENTLINE
Page 3
Events—2006
February 3-5, 2006
Hudson Hot Air Affair
Hudson, WI
March 11, 2006
29th Annual Midwest Balloon Continuing
Madison, WI
Education and Safety Seminar
Holiday Inn & Suites
June 2-4, 2006
Manitowoc Air Show Balloon Rally
Manitowoc, WI
June 10, 2006
Elgin Community College Charity Fundraiser
Elgin, IL
(See page 10 for more info)
June 14-18, 2006
Monroe Balloon Rally featuring the
Honda World Grand Prix
Monroe, WI
July 7-9, 2006
Wausau Balloon Rally
Wausau, WI
July 14-15, 2006
American Air Show Featuring the
Thunderbirds, Milwaukee Lakefront
Night Glow and Tether
Milwaukee, WI
July 21-23, 2006
12th Annual Waukesha Skyfest
Waukesha, WI
August 4-6, 2006
Seymour Balloon Rally and Hamburger
Fest
Seymour, WI
August 11-13, 2006
Hartford Family Fest Balloon Rally
Hartford, WI
August 25-27, 2006
Wisconsin Rapids Balloon Rally
Wisconsin Rapids, WI
Page 4
Volume 1, Issue 3
2006 Wisconsin Balloon Group Leadership
The common theme seems to be change in this issue. We are currently a bit behind on some issues, including our
election of leadership members. Every January brings some changing of the guard in the WBG leadership members.
Soon you may be notified to call to serve the WBG. The nominating committee is currently searching out members who
are willing to step up and lead the organization.
All of the Regional Directors and the Social Director positions will be changing by next spring. The Membership Coordinator position is also open at this time. Please refer to the WBG Policies and Procedures located elsewhere in this
issue for details of the positions.
Please fill out the following form and send it in to one of the nomination committee members.
Nomination Committee
Member Nomination Form
Ken Walter – Executive Director
Nominee: ___________________________________________
John Ross – Fox Valley Regional Director
City:
Debbie Spaeth – Original Member Advisor
Position: ____________________________________________
___________________________________________
Phone:
____________________________________________
Email:
_____________________________________________
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THE VENTLINE
Page 5
2005 Motegi International Balloon Championship –
Pre-World Event
By Debbie Spaeth
The 2005 Motegi International Balloon Championship in Motegi, Japan was the Final Round of the World
HONDA Grand Prix, the Final Round of the Japan HONDA Grand Prix and the Motegi Championship. But it was
also the pre-World Championship.
The 17th FAI World Hot Air Balloon Championship will be held in Tochigi, Japan, from November 18-26, 2006.
Tochigi is actually the prefecture name (comparable to our states). It is located approximately 90 km north of
Tokyo. While the Twin Ring Motegi grounds will be the event headquarters, the World event will actually be
hosted by multiple towns and sponsors around the area. The 2005 event was a chance to try out new meeting
locations, new target sites and other new logistics in anticipation of using those sites for 2006.
Mother Nature, the number one factor at all balloon events, was very kind to the Motegi event. Competition
tasks were called for ALL nine competition slots. At the conclusion of the event, 32 tasks had been flown.
This consisted of (20) PDG or Fly-on tasks, (6) JDG tasks, (4) Fly-in Tasks, (1) Gordon Bennett Task and (1)
Hesitation Waltz (MJDG).
Wisconsin was well represented at the event. This included –
Debbie Spaeth, Deputy Event Director
Tom Sheppard, Steward
Jim Dieball, Debriefer
David Ross, Debriefer staff
Georgene Voutila, Observer
Margie Groom, Observer, and
Kathy Lester-Ross, Observer.
Pilots on the podium at the end of the event were:
For the 2005 Motegi HAB International Championship –
Winner of 800,000Yen (approx U$7,000) - Nick Donner
For the 2005 World HONDA Grand Prix –
Picture of ASIMO Balloon-The Honda “Lifelike” robot.
Left: Debbie Spaeth, Deputy Event Director
Middle: Gabby Slavec (Brazil) Debriefer
Right: Hiromi Furukawa (Japan) Chief Observer
Final event after rounds in Monroe, Wisconsin and Echternach, LuxembourgWinners of 5Million Yen (approx U$43,400)
- Xtreme Racer Team – Joe Heartsill & Peter Dankerl
For the 2005 Japan HONDA Grand Prix (Total of 5 events held around Japan)
Winner of 2Million Yen (approx. US$17,400) – Masahiko Fujita
If you are interested in more details of the 2006 World HAB Championships, add the following URL to
your Favorites list.
http://www.balloon2006worlds.com
Page 6
Volume 1, Issue 3
Steve and Judy Woller’s Sea Fantasy
New Name is:
Sea Fantasy 1st flight in WI was 12-7-05. It was built July
2002. It was showcased in ALBQ/under Octopus Garden. It
was even on back of the Jacket ALBQ had that year for pilots.
Built in Brazil by Aeromagic/it is a 105.
Weight about 420-30 lbs just fabric. Kids and people who have
seen it here have said they love it.
Our second flight was a great one. It was mine and Steve's
20 year anniv. on Dec. 20th. I stayed on the ground cause I
wanted to get pictures of the first flight. Katie and Jane
went with Steve for the 1st flight. Steve, Nancy and I went
on the second flight. It should easily take up to 3 plus pilot.
In winter there is no room for all the boots and snow pants. I can't wait to go to a few more schools with it. It
seemed to hold all of the kids attention a little longer than just a regular shaped balloon. Our baskets are also
rated for this new balloon.
Lift-off Bill took this picture.
Steve and Judy celebrated their 20th Wedding Anniversary
with this flight. It was Judy's gift to Steve to do a balloon
flight and show off to some kids at a school. Normally a wife
wants to go out for a warm romantic dinner by a fireplace
but.....The fire was above our heads......and I did get a dinner
out ......and also the fireplace was running at home when I
finally got done with some more Christmas shopping.
PS: Steve got Judy jewelry!
THE VENTLINE
Page 7
Brad Temeyer - Weather
National Weather Service Interactive Forecasts
Over the past few years, your local National Weather Service (NWS) office implemented a radical
change in the way they prepare and issue forecasts. This new process does not change the way they still look
at the various models and take into account ongoing weather; but rather the new process allows for a much
more precise forecast for any point across the country out through seven days.
The “zone forecast” has long been a staple of the NWS, providing a brief text forecast for the next
few days over a multi-county area. With the new digitally based graphical forecast, a more precise forecast
can be provided over a distance as small as a few miles.
The new forecast system allows for more weather elements than are available in the zone forecast.
The forecasted variables include: maximum temperature, minimum temperature, hourly temperature, dewpoint, wind direction and speed, weather conditions, sky cover and precipitation probability and rain/snow
amount through the next seven days. You can access the graphical forecasts for the entire country by visiting
http://www.weather.gov/forecasts/graphical/sectors/index.php. Click on the region of the country you are
interested in, and a zoomed map will appear with forecasted parameters over as short as one hour time. The
online forecasts (see figure 1) have a looping feature where you can see changes in any of these parameters at
various time intervals over the next seven days.
Figure 1. An example of the graphical forecast displaying high temperatures for October 1, 2005.
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Volume 1, Issue 3
If you prefer a text based format where you can view many of these quantities more precisely, you
can visit the “interactive” portion of the new system at http://www.weather.gov . Once there, click on the
portion of the country you are interested in. After clicking there, a new map will appear displaying the local
forecast office’s domain. From that page, click on your location of interest for a specialized text forecast
for that specific site. Forecasted variables include: temperature, dew-point, wind speed (miles per hour),
relative humidity, precipitation probability, sky cover (represented as a percentage in coverage), and precipitation type. If you prefer to view the forecast in a graphical format or in a tabular format (see figure 2),
scroll to the bottom of the page and choose the format you prefer. With these latter options, you can
choose to only view specific parameters for the location you are interested in at as small as one hour intervals.
Date
09/
30
10/
01
Hour
09
Temp
56 60 63 66 70 71 73 74 76 74 72 67 65 63 62 61 60 60 59 58 58 57 57 59
10
PoP
0
0
11
0
12
0
13
0
14
0
15
0
16
0
17
0
18
0
19
8
20
8
21 22 23 00
8
8
8
8
01
8
02 03 04 05 06 07 08
8
8
8
8
8
7
7
Sky(%) 12 13 17 24 28 28 27 26 25 23 22 19 18 18 20 23 24 26 29 30 30 29 29 30
WDir
SS SS SS SS SS SS SS
W W W W W W W
S
S
S
S
S
S
S
S
S
S
S SSE SSE S
WSpd
13 14 15 15 15 15 15 15 14 13 10
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
7
7
7
GSpd
S
S
S
8
8
9
23
Figure 2. An example of a tabular forecast valid for Des Moines, IA on September 30th through October 1st, 2005.
Another valuable facet of this system is the feature called the weather planner. Using the weather
planner, you can chose a specific range in any of the weather parameters for a particular location (using latitude and longitude), and the database will search the seven day forecast and display the blocks of time in
which those parameter line up. For example, say you have a fairly elderly couple that calls you for a balloon
flight, but the potential for a rough landing is a concern. You could spend hours researching the weather
trying to figure out if/when you could get the couple in the air over the next seven days, or you could just go
into the weather planner and specify wind speeds below a certain threshold coinciding with precipitation
chances less than 10 percent, and the database will flag those times when that occurs for your location. Or
maybe you live in a metropolitan area, and flying certain directions are not as favorable as others. You can
go in and specify a preferred wind direction, and the database will let you know when that is expected to
occur over the next seven days. To try out the weather planner, go to http://www.weather.gov, and click on
the portion of the country you are interest in. Once you have done this, the local office’s web page will appear. From there, select the weather planner link on the left hand side of the local office’s page.
So exactly how is this digital database created? The meteorologist on duty can look at the
various forecast models and determine which model or combination of models they prefer. Then, one
Page 9
Volume 1, Issue 3
Weather con’t
parameter at a time, they take forecasted parameters and adjust them in a geographical format. Any
model output, previous forecast, or observations can be chosen as a foundation to build a forecast. The meteorologist can then change any of the parameters by making adjustments to the base forecast. The database
allows the meteorologist the freedom to forecast at time intervals as small as one hour, allowing forecasts in
the new digital era to be more precise than ever before.
The possibilities with this interactive system are really endless. Being prepared for the expected
weather conditions prior to a flight is an intrical part of flying safely, and using this system allows users to
access the data in a format you are comfortable with.
**Brad Temeyer is a regular contributor from the National Weather Service and has graciously agreed to
share articles he has written pertaining to ballooning in the Midwest. If anyone has a particular weather topic
or question they would like addressed just let me know and I will pass it along to Brad.
Pulling the Line - Mary Jo O’Brien
The Fall dinner was a great success in that it provoked lively discussion about the direction and purpose of the
WBG. For those who were unable to attend, Ken has highlighted the issues in his column.
The next issue will include the Policies and Procedures of the WBG. Everyone should keep a copy of this for
future reference.
I hope everyone had a safe and healthy Holiday season and I know we are all looking forward to a great ballooning season!
HAPPY NEW YEAR
Elgin Community College Charity Fundraiser
Elgin, Illinois
SATURDAY AFTERNOON ONLY
June 10, 2006
5:00 PM Registration/mandatory briefing
6:30 PM Mass ascension
8:30 - 10 PM Balloon glow on campus
Sunset 8:25 PM
Live music
Big crowds
Complimentary food on site, pilot and crews
Propane filled after glow
Page 10
Free lodging Saturday night for pilots living more
than 75 miles from Elgin.
NO paid rides (crew rides OK)
NO sponsor rides
NO targets
Maybe prizes
$450 expense stipend each balloon (must show up, good or bad
weather)
$50 entry fee (refunded at propane)
More details are in planning
MARK YOUR CALENDARS FOR THIS EVENT
June 10, 2006
25 balloons maximum
HAPPY NEW YEAR
Jim Neill
Volume 1, Issue 3
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Volume 1, Issue 3
THE VENTLINE
W4824 South Long Lake Road
Waupaca, WI 54981
Phone: 715.256.9773
Fax: 715.256.9101
Email: Melloon@msn.com
We’re on the Web!
www.wisballoongroup.homestead.com