Last weekend (3rd-5th September) BUHABS attended the Westcountry Balloon Fiesta in Tavistock, Devon. On Friday afternoon, myself, Anna, Alex and Rhod, our pilot and organiser for the weekend, drove down to Tavistock with the BUHABS balloon ('Eric') in tow. We arrived at the fiesta launch site to find it somewhat gusty. After a lot of standing around and discussion amongst the balloonists present, the evening slot was deemed flyable. A few balloons went ahead with flights, but BUHABS decided to stay on the ground for this slot, partly because all the waiting around meant that sunset was fast approaching, so the flight would be rather short!

Despite a forecast for showers closer to midday, Saturday morning brought good flying weather. Anna, Alex and I had a fairly long flight with Rhod from the fiesta launch site to a field littered with hay bales in the village of Lifton. We were followed the whole way by a low band of fluffy white clouds; flying parallel to them made for a spectacular sight! For the retrieve, we borrowed our very own newest pilot John from duties with his father's balloon, and Steve, the chair and senior PuT of Loughborough University's hot air balloon club. John and Steve executed a perfect retrieve, arriving at the entrance to the field exactly as we landed. They were duly rewarded with huge fried breakfasts from the surprisingly good café in the Tavistock branch of Morrisons.

In the afternoon we were joined by secretary Martin, and we headed to the fiesta site for the 'public participation' event. This involved us and a number of other balloons setting up our baskets and allowing the public attendees to wander round, have a chat about ballooning, and hop in for a closer look. Come the evening flying slot, after waiting what felt like an age for the big rides balloons downwind to take off, Eric was the last balloon to fly out of the launch site. Rhod flew Martin, Anna and Alex northwest, landing in a stubble field near Milton Abbot, while I did a solo retrieve. We made it back to the launch site for refuelling in time to watch the fiesta nightglow.

We woke on Sunday to the sound of rain hammering down on our tents. Rain means no flying, which means a lie-in! After eventually getting up and packing away our soggy tents, we headed back to Morrisons for breakfast, then to the launch site one last time for a balloonists' barbecue, then back up the M5 to Bristol. A great time was had by all, and flying two out of four possible slots was a good result, given how borderline the weather had looked earlier in the week!

The summer isn't over yet, and BUHABS is attending another ballooning event this weekend (10th-12th September), the Grass Roots Meet at Sackville Lodge, Bedfordshire. If you're interested in coming along, check your recent emails and get in touch with Ellie Fearon ASAP.

Soft Landings,

Will

BUHABS PuT