hot Air, Wings and Flying things
Glen Falls - Adirondack Balloon Festival
The 36th Annual Adirondack Balloon Festival (Glens Falls/Queensbury, NY) had excellent weather with balloons flying four out of four opportunities on Friday evening, September 19 through Sunday morning, September 21. The wind direction wasn’t ideal, however. Much of the time there was too much of a southerly component heading toward the balloon unfriendly Lake George and forested mountain ridges on its eastern shores, although a steep climb to higher altitudes would usually result in a northeasterly drift toward more abundant fields in the direction of Fort Ann.
All 82 balloons flew the Saturday and Sunday morning flights from the Floyd Bennett Memorial Airport, but only 50-70 flew the Friday and Saturday evening flights as winds did not die down until less than an hour before sunset. (Several balloonists were chastised for flying as late as 20 minutes after sunset on Saturday evening.)
Crowd pleasing special shapes included the two Bee balloons (they “hold hands” during the first part of each flight); “Beagle Maximus”, an orange, white, and black beagle; a new polar bear balloon; and a new ladybug balloon.
