Burners Off

Well, another Lift Off Levin just flew by over Easter, and what with the Twitter feed, the Facebook page and keeping the website updated, there wasn't an awful lot of time for the blog here. So now, a week later, it's a chance to sit back and reflect a bit more on the event. The photos are starting to flood onto the flickr group, attesting to the fact that there were plenty of photo opportunities, with once again flying on every single day of the event. We've said it before, but this little plain between the ranges and the sea offers some great flying conditions, and this year even offered some new flying options, with some different and interesting new launchsites to take advantage of some very different wind patterns. All the events were flown to showcase pilot's skills, with real competitiveness, but in a spirit that said that the results didn't really matter too much, only to provide bragging/debating rights over a hearty breakfast.

Lift Off Levin relies hugely on the community to help it run successfully, from volunteer crew to traffic management and funding, particularly this year, when we were able to offer a free Nightglow thanks to the assistance of the Horowhenua Community Trust and the Horowhenua District Council. Going by a quick hands-up poll at the Nightglow (nicely done Denis), this also attracted many people from out of town, which of course has the downstream effect of benefitting the town greatly (I can vouch for this personally as we tried to get accommodation on the Saturday night and everything was booked solid). Everyone pitched in as always and that left the balloonists and crew to do their thing and entertain the crowds morning and night. 

Highlights? Where do we start? The Mass Ascension worked well, with the balloons taking off in a steady stream across the town into the southeast corner - not a common flight path, so many of the residents of that area were out in their pyjamas to witness the flying giants passing over their houses. The Nightglow was spectacular as always, with many spectators taking the opportunity to crowd the infield and check out the flames up close and personal. This creates issues with crowds around the balloons limiting space, but pilots, crew and volunteers worked together to safely inflate with minimal disruptions. Being able to do this is a vital part of our event, as it is the only opportunity amongst all the balloon events in New Zealand for people to get close to these massive aircraft. Another highlight was watching the balloons prep and fly out of the picturesque Kimberly Reserve.

My highlight pick however would be the "Regatta" event at Lake Horowhenua, where balloonists competed in two events, the now-traditional "Bump the Blimp", where pilots aim to hit a bunch of helium balloons suspended over the lake, and a new twist, where a small boat is towed across across the lake for the longest possible time without being lifted from the water. Conditions conspired to allow a very gentle breeze across the lake to give some pilots over an hour of boating time as they themselves sailed above the water to the far side, much to the delight of those gathered at the shore. Not only that, but the upper wind allowed those who wished to try the opportunity to fly back over the lake and have another go (and in one case even a third attempt) at improving their boat-towing skills.

All in all, another fantastic event. But we are not ones to rest on our laurels. Time and money colluded to not allow us to run Balloons at the Basin this year, but it is certainly on the agenda for '11. If you have any ideas or comments to make about improving the event, what we did right, or even where we went wrong, please comment below.