October 20th - Generator Fuel Leak and Generator Door Latch Fixes

Applying Permatex gasket sealer to the fuel pump fitting on the generator did not solve the fuel leak problem. My mechanic friend, Danny, felt that there had to be a crack in the fitting on the fuel pump since it just started leaking after all this time and suggested I take the fuel pump off and inspect it closely. I took the fitting off and inspected the female fuel pump connection closely. I couldn't find any crack in it. I then got the idea of getting a new fitting to see how it would screw into the fuel pump. My hope was that a different fitting could have been machined a little different and would tighten up in the position I needed it to. I purchased a new fitting for $4.00 and dry fitted it. It was going to tighten up in the correct position, unlike the old one. I installed it, ran the generator for an hour, and NO LEAK.  Here is a picture of the new fitting installed. Dry as a bone.

The brass fitting in the picture looks identical to the old one but obviously it was machined just a little different allowing me to tighten it in the correct position to connect to the fuel line. The leak was fixed for $4.00. I also slightly adjusted the governor and after putting various loads on the generator it did not surge one time when the load was changed multiple times. I am a HAPPY CAMPER!!!  We don't use the generator that often but when we do we need it work properly.

Another maintenance issue in the generator area was the left generator door latch wasn't locking. I noticed this in Albuquerque but needed to wait to get home to order a new one. Today upon trying to take the lock off to get its size for a new one I noticed that it was working properly, it just wouldn't stay tight. Here is a picture of the other generator door latch that works correctly.

This is a picture of the latch which was loose and not locking.

The black rubber washer was missing on this latch. This caused the latch to not fit tightly and thus not lock. I made a rubber washer and reinstalled the lock. Problem solved at no cost. Here is a picture of the repaired lock.

(I should have cleaned all my fingerprints off the door before taking the picture.)

I winterized Marge yesterday in case we get a long cold snap before we head to Florida in December. Better to be safe than sorry.

I also winterized Homer yesterday and put him back in storage. I pulled out his batteries and have then in the garage on smart chargers. He should be good to go in the spring.

October 16th - 17th - Flying Video and Generator Fuel Line Leaks

Yesterday our pilot, Brian, posted a video he took of my flight last Wednesday. He took it with a camera attached to the basket. It is a totally different perspective than my video. It starts with the basket laying down on its side which is the way the pilot gets in and then gets pulled up by the balloon as it rises.

Click on the link below to highlight the video, then click on it again to open it.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=share&v=yWZvXFoCTRE

There may be a better way to post a YouTube Video. I am learning about posting videos so bear with me.

While unloading Marge when we got home on Tuesday I noticed a wet spot under the generator. When I opened the door I found that the fuel line from the tank to the fuel filter had a hole in it and was leaking pretty badly. The leak was at a spot where the fuel line had a pretty hard bend in it. I cut a short piece of the line off and reattached it. That seemed to solve the problem. Here is a picture of it fixed. If the bend wears a hole I will have to do some rerouting of the line and filter.

There is still a fuel leak where the fuel line comes out of the top of the fuel pump. It is a slow drip from the threaded fitting and I think it has vibrated loose after six years. We have used the generator more this year than all the previous years with our trip to Newfoundland and this two week boondocking trip. Here is a picture.

Since both fittings are threaded I will have to take it apart and put some gasket sealer on the threads going into the fuel pump and hope that stops the leak. Because of the threaded fuel line on the left going into the carburetor the fitting has to stop tight at a certain spot to match up. That is my project for today. Wish me luck.

October 12th - 14th - Final Days of Fiesta and Trip Home

Our pilot, Brian, wanted to go up Saturday morning but the wind conditions did not cooperate. He left Saturday afternoon after the Award Ceremony because he had to be back at work on Monday in Missouri. Crew members, Jane and Tom, who worked every day, did not get to go up. I hated that. They worked hard and were looking forward to it.

We decided to leave on Sunday morning rather than Monday as previously scheduled. Sunday morning was the last "Mass Assention" and it was great because the wind blew the balloons over our campground and the field behind us.  Here are some pictures.

 

One balloon was only about twenty feet over the top of Marge on its way to land in the field behind us. Here is a video of one landing.

We left the RV park about 8:30 a.m. headed for Amarillo. Bob had told us that we needed to see Palo Duro Canyon in Palo Duro Canyon State Park and camp there if we could. We got there about 4:00 p.m. but there were no campsites available due a bike race going on. We were directed to the Paul Duro Zipline place next door that had full hookups. They had a site so we hooked up and dumped our black and gray tanks, which needed it after twelve days of boondocking. The sites were level but the campground was pretty crappy. We then headed to the park for a drive through it. I had no idea anything like this existed in Texas. Here are a couple of pictures.

It was a 10% grade to drive down into the canyon. It was a beautiful day so we had a picnic lunch in the park. It is a large park and several places on the roads it indicated areas that flash flood. There were flood marker signs in feet posted nearby. It had obviously flooded not too long ago because in many places the mud was still on the road. Here is a picture of one such place and a pile of dirt pushed up off the road nearby.

We really enjoyed the stop even though we couldn't camp inside the park.

Our final stop on the way home was at the Quapaw Casino RV Park. We stopped there on the way out. Because we now had a "Players Card" for the casino we were able to stay one night for free. It was a nice evening so we sat out with a drink and watched the sunset. This Quapaw Casino is in Missouri. I did not know that there was any Indian Reservation property within Missouri. 

The trip across Missouri was an easy and uneventful one (the best kind). Traffic was moderate and we arrived home about 4:00 p.m. and got everything unloaded and the grass cut before eating supper.

The Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta had been on my bucket list for a number of years. I am glad we took the opportunity to go this year. We met lots of nice Boomer Escapees at the RV park and I thoroughly enjoyed crewing even though our balloon only went up three times. It was a great experience.

The only RV issue is I discovered a gasoline leak on the generator fuel pump. It is a threaded fitting so I purchased some sealant. I will have to take it apart and fix it one of these next few days.

Nothing is scheduled now until we fly to California to spend Thanksgiving with the kids and grandkids. We are looking forward to seeing all of them.

 

October 8th - 11th - Balloon Fiesta and My Flight

On the 8th our pilot did not go up due to weather conditions. On the 9th I got to fly. The weather was perfect so we took off from the field and headed out into the desert. Here is a video of me in the basket going up.

Here are a couple of pictures as we lifted from the field.

All the tents are vendors at the side of the field. The field is 57 football fields in size. This is the largest balloon event in the U.S. The pilots are given free hotels, some meals, free LP gas, a gasoline gift card, and an embroidered jacket for coming. Pilots come from all over the world because of the Albuquerque box. The air comes over the mountain and makes a box so that the balloons can fly one way, drop down, fly back, and then up again making a flight box. There are several places in the world that have this phenomenon but Albuquerque is the best.

Here we are going over other balloons.

These pictures are looking back over the field and us going over the river.

Here is a balloon going down in a residential area.

This is us flying over the cul de sac where we took off from two days before. I was shocked to see them inflate in the middle of a lot of trees. It is all about the wind conditions.

Our balloon was "Major Award". It is blue on top, white in the middle, and then red and blue. Here are a couple of pictures the chase crew took of our flight as they followed us.

We landed in a field just beyond a residential area. It was a great landing, touched once and bounced about a foot and we were down. We got the balloon down and in no time the chase crew was there to pack it up.  We flew at about six hundred feet. It is absolutely quiet except for the sound of propane when the pilot hits the burner. I expected to feel a lot of wind but I didn't. We flew about six miles out.

Nobody flew yesterday. Everything was cancelled due to high winds except the fireworks in the evening. Since we had the day off Kelly and I went with our new friends, Jane and Tom, to Sante Fe. Tom and Jane and been fulltiming in their motorhome for a year and we really hit it off with them. On the drive to Santa Fe (about 60 miles from Albuquerque) we booked a "Beer and Art Tour" of the downtown area for the afternoon. While waiting for the tour to start we walked around the downtown area and went through St. Francis of Assissi Basilica. Here are a couple of pictures.

This is the fourth church on this spot. The earlier ones were made out of adobe and the weather did them in over the years. This one is built out of sandstone.  Inside in a side chapel there is a statue of the Virgin Mary that came from Spain in the 1400s via Mexico. In the 1600s a priest from Mexico brought it here. Here are a couple of pictures.

We were the only four on the afternoon tour. We met with our guide at the Upper Crust Pizza Place where we sampled five different local beers. A couple were really good. We then headed down the street to the oldest house in the United States. It dates back to the early 1600s. Here is a picture of the outside. ItT has two small rooms downstairs and two small rooms upstairs. Our guide said nine families lived here. I can't even imagine.

From there we walked across the street to San Miguel Church. It is made out of adobe and dates back to the 1600s as well. Here are a couple of pictures. The first picture is today, the last picture was taken about 100 years ago.

San Miguel (St. Michael) in the middle rather than Jesus, pretty interesting.

From there we walked to the State Capitol Building. It was built in 1981 and everyone thought it was so ugly they planted trees all around it to hide it. Inside and out however are hundreds of works of art by artists of New Mexico. Here is a picture of one outside sculpture.

Inside the walls are lined with many, many works of art, approximately four hundred of differing styles. Very impressive.  From there we walked to a little house that had originally been one of several housing railroad workers. It was now a brew house. There we sampled five more beers. Here is a picture of the beer house, the beers, and us.

The tour lasted about an hour and was great fun. From there we walked back to the truck and headed to a Mexican restaurant for supper. Kelly said it was one of the best Mexican meals she had ever had. All of us liked what we ordered. We then headed back to Albuquerque. After being home about an hour and half and the fireworks started. I watched it from the RV park. It was just too cold to walk the mile to the field. They really put on a nice display and it was easily visible from behind our camper.

The temperature dropped significantly overnight as forecast. We didn't have the furnace on and when I got up at 5:30 a.m. it was 52 degrees inside. Our pilot picked us up at the RV park because we were heading North to launch and then fly back to the field to compete. They compete by dropping bags over big white 'X's on the field. They get points for competing and points for getting the closest. We all gathered in a field to await the opening of the field. They can only compete within a limited time frame. As we waited the weather got worse. Here are a couple of pictures I took as we were awaiting our turn to inflate.

This is a picture inside a balloon as it is being blown up by a big fan.

We were last to inflate and by the time it was our turn the wind had picked up too much and the pilot cancelled the flight even though the basket was up and we were ready to pull out the balloon. I was really disappointed for Tom and Jane who hoped to go up today. The last day our pilot is flying is tomorrow. I hope we have a great day so they can go up.

October 5th - 7th - BALLOON FIESTA actually begins!

October 5 – First Day of Fiesta and Crewing

There are over 600 balloons here for the Fiesta, the largest gathering in one place in the U.S. and possibly the world. Balloons come from all over because of the great winds here.

I volunteered to crew and had to find  my pilot. He was located in the W5 section of the launch field. This is at the very opposite end of where you enter. It is well over a half mile walk from the field entry gate. We were told to be there at 6:30 a.m. for the Mass Assention. I met with two fellow crew members in the RV Park at 5:30 a.m. We waited for the bus to pick us up and take us to the launch field which is a mile away from the campground. After waiting for a while we decided to walk there. The car parking lot on the corner for day visitors was already filled. As we arrived at the field entrance gate we had to be scanned and our bags checked. (I wish there was that much security at the Perry County Courthouse.)

We proceeded to the admission gate where our tickets were scanned. It is $10.00 per morning session and $10.00 per evening session to get on the balloon launch field. All crew members get into all sessions free all week. We were admitted and walked through the massive crowd to the other end to meet our pilot. Saturday and Sunday are the busiest days and there are a crazy amount of people on the field. I would have taken a picture of the crowd but it was dark. Last year they say that 860,000 people attended. Seeing the crowds I believe it.

My pilot is Brian Taylor from Columbia, Missouri. He had one crew member with him so he was really relying on us volunteers to help. Before dawn there is a "Dawn Patrol" which is six balloons which launch in the dark to help predict the wind conditions. Brian said the elite of the elite are picked to fly at night. After the Dawn Patrol took off and once it got light out they played "The Star Spangled Banner". On the last note all the balloonists put full fuel to their burners, even if not connected to their balloons yet. It was really cool.  Here is a picture of those near us. 

Due to the huge number of balloons the whole process of launching is choreographed by sections. Pilots are told when they can launch by "Zebras". These are volunteers who are assigned to different sections. Here is a picture of our "Zebra". A super nice guy who enjoyed his job.

They are told by radio from the "balloonmeister" what areas can take off next. 

We started the work of readying the gondola and unfolding the balloon (called the envelope). It is then inflated with a huge fan that is powered by a lawn mower engine. We inflated and were waiting for our turn to launch when out of nowhere the weather changed and a huge morning fog rolled in. Here is a picture of the fog moving in.

After about an hour all launches were cancelled for the day because of it. We then took the balloon down and packed it up. We were done until the evening session. Here is picture of me hanging out by our balloon.

One lady posted later in the day that we witnessed history. In the 45 years she has been coming here fog never rolled in like that before.  

I walked to the other end of the field and stood in line for twenty minutes for a bus ride back to the RV Park but one never came so I walked back. I got back to Marge about 10:00 a.m. and was beat after being on my feet for four hours plus walking over two miles there and back.

We were told by friends that Costco had a ticket sale for members. We could buy four tickets for $28.00. (Normally $10.00 each). I got on line and ordered some for Kelly. I thought we could just use our phones for the bar codes on the tickets but they had to be printed out. Of course we don’t carry a printer with us so we had to hunt up a friend who printed them for us.

At four o’clock there was a meeting and Happy Hour at the Hosts’ rig. After attending it we grabbed a little supper and caught the bus to the launch field. We had plenty of time to get there carrying our bag chairs and backpack.  We got the balloon up and inflated and the glow proceeded. They did long blasts of flames then short blasts. It was really cool. I took a video but it is just too long to download so here is a picture.

We were just all hanging out by the balloon when out of nowhere a blast of cold air came in and blew our balloon off center to the point that it was going down. Brian was in the basket and told us where he wanted to lay the balloon down. We all had to hustle to get chairs and other items out of the way that could puncture the envelope. We then helped guide the balloon down, get all the air out of it, and pack it up. Brian said we all worked wonderfully as a team and prevented a catastrophe. About that time skydivers were dropped up over the field and they were shooting fireworks off as they slowly descended. It was quite impressive but I couldn't get a good picture of it because they were so far away. No pictures of the balloon going down because we were all in panic mode.

The evening ended with a fireworks display. They went off from the opposite direction everyone was expecting. We turned our chairs around and watched. It was a wonderful display. It stopped and all of a sudden fireworks started in back of us, then they started again in front of us. It was like duelling fireworks displays. It was really cool. They had a lot of types of fireworks I had never seen before.  It was a great end of the first day. The line to catch a bus back to the RV Park was huge so Kelly and I just walked back with a couple of fellow Escapee Boomers camped near us.

Sunday Brian wanted us there again at 6:30 a.m. By the time I got a bus and walked there because of the crowds I was late but it didn’t matter because we were the last in the waves of balloons to launch. It was much colder Sunday morning but a beautiful day for flying and hundreds of balloons took off. Many went right over our heads. Brian was having trouble with his burner so decided not to fly and to try and get it fixed for Monday's flight. We were in an area of about six Missouri pilots and the fellow next to us took off. I jumped in with his chase crew. He landed in the field behind our RV Park so I could help with the balloon and also get a ride back.  Because of the crazy amount of traffic the cops only allow traffic to go in one direction. Even though we were a chase crew we could not go the direction we needed to go to pick him up. We had to drive miles around in a big circle and come in the opposite side of the RV Park. When we found him he already had the balloon down and deflated thanks to some kids who were watching nearby. He said he let them help because they were local kids and had crewed before. There are lots of rules about how you handle the envelope so that you don't damage it. We got his rig packed up and loaded and I walked back to Marge which was only about a thousand feet away. Kelly watched all of them landing from Marge and said one came over only about twenty feet above Marge. Pretty cool.

Sunday we had a Happy Hour at 4:00 p.m. at the campground. My pilot did not inflate Sunday evening and we did not go back to the field to watch. I watched the fireworks from the campground.

Monday morning I was up on time, made coffee and headed to catch the bus. The weekend was over so the crowds are way down. The bus came immediately, there was no line at the admission area and no crowds walking to the other end of the field. I ended up getting to the balloon at 6:02 a.m. I was glad I made some coffee to bring and my chair to sit in. I watched the "Dawn Patrol" take off once again.

When everyone arrived Brian told us he would be competing today and we would not take off from the field but would find a place in town where to launch from. He would then fly the balloon back to the field to try and toss a bean bag close to a marker to get points.  We all took off with the other Missouri pilots to find a place to launch. We ended up on a cul-de-sac in a subdivision. All the residents came out to watch as we set up the balloons one at a time. Our biggest problem was keeping the balloons from catching on the chain link fence. We all helped out. Here is a picture of one balloon getting inflated.

This cul-de-sac was half the size of the one I live on in Perryville and we were all on the left pushing the balloon away from that fence. Brian was the last to go up so we pretty well knew what to do at that point. All the residents and kids on the street were out taking pictures. I told one kid he was going to be late for school and he said "you bet". He was having a ball. I couldn't get any pictures until Brian took off with one crew member.  Here is a picture.

They pushed the basket off that bush as they went up. Here they go on up from the launch site.

We then piled into the van and started the chase. We knew the direction he was headed but needed to try and keep him in our sites. As you can see there were dozens of balloons in the area at the time. The winds did not cooperate and Brian couldn't compete because he didn't make it back to the field. He landed in the field behind our RV, literally about 1000 feet from Marge. Here are a couple of pictures as they came down as we arrived.

We got the envelope deflated and everything packed up until tomorrow. I am hoping the weather is good tomorrow and that I will get to go up! Brian is going to compete again tomorrow. The flight today was about 45 minutes. Perfect weather.

After eating some lunch we headed to the Petroglyph National Monument and learned about all the petroglyphs in the area. All sites had about two mile trails in so that was out for us.

)Our Escapees Boomers group is going to a big winery for supper. If we hadn't signed up to go I would go back to the field tonight to watch them launch "gas balloons" which will leave and compete for distance they can go. Some have gone as far as South Carolina from HERE. Crazy stuff.

I can't get a picture of the size of this event from the ground. Here is a picture someone posted from the sky. It gives you a little idea of what a big deal this is in the world of ballooning.

Here are a couple of pictures of the "shape balloons". Jesus was twice as high as any others. I would say at least ten stories high.

Totally cool!!!!!!!!!