Balloons Getting Ready
by Robert Bales
Title
Balloons Getting Ready
Artist
Robert Bales
Medium
Photograph - Photo
Description
This was taken at the Colorado River Crossing.
The Colorado River Crossing Hot Air Balloon Festival is presented by the Caballeros de Yuma. It is one of Yuma, AZ's premier annual events. The festival attracts some of the most colorful and unique balloons from the West and Southwest. Staged over three days in November, with mass ascensions on Friday, Saturday and Sunday mornings, the festival uses the Colorado River and the Sonoran Desert as its backdrop. The highlight is the Desert Balloon Glow that takes place on Saturday night at Yuma's Desert Sun Baseball Stadium where tethered balloons fill the baseball field and with their burners firing at full blast, the balloons to glow brightly in the dark desert sky, The entire pageant is set to music. Prior to the glow there is a tissue balloon launch featuring miniature balloon constructed by local Yuma area students.
The hot air balloon is the oldest successful human-carrying flight technology. It is in a class of aircraft known as balloon aircraft. On November 21, 1783, in Annonay, France, the first untethered manned flight was made by Jean-Fran�ois Pil�tre de Rozier and Fran�ois Laurent d'Arlandes in a hot air balloon created on December 14, 1782 by the Montgolfier brothers. Hot air balloons that can be propelled through the air rather than just being pushed along by the wind are known as airships or, more specifically, thermal airships.
A hot air balloon consists of a bag called the envelope that is capable of containing heated air. Suspended beneath is a gondola or wicker basket (in some long-distance or high-altitude balloons, a capsule), which carries passengers and (usually) a source of heat, in most cases an open flame. The heated air inside the envelope makes it buoyant since it has a lower density than the relatively cold air outside the envelope. As with all aircraft, hot air balloons cannot fly beyond the atmosphere. Unlike gas balloons, the envelope does not have to be sealed at the bottom since the air near the bottom of the envelope is at the same pressure as the surrounding air. In today's sport balloons the envelope is generally made from nylon fabric and the mouth of the balloon (closest to the burner flame) is made from fire resistant material such as Nomex. Beginning in the mid-1970s, balloon envelopes have been made in all kinds of shapes, such as hot dogs, rocket ships, and the shapes of commercial products, though the traditional shape remains popular for most non-commercial, and many commercial, applications.A hot air balloon consists of a bag called the envelope that is capable of containing heated air. Suspended beneath is a gondola or wicker basket (in some long-distance or high-altitude balloons, a capsule), which carries passengers and (usually) a source of heat, in most cases an open flame. The heated air inside the envelope makes it buoyant since it has a lower density than the relatively cold air outside the envelope. As with all aircraft, hot air balloons cannot fly beyond the atmosphere. Unlike gas balloons, the envelope does not have to be sealed at the bottom since the air near the bottom of the envelope is at the same pressure as the surrounding air. In today's sport balloons the envelope is generally made from nylon fabric and the mouth of the balloon (closest to the burner flame) is made from fire resistant material such as Nomex. Beginning in the mid-1970s, balloon envelopes have been made in all kinds of shapes, such as hot dogs, rocket ships, and the shapes of commercial products, though the traditional shape remains popular for most non-commercial, and many commercial, applications.
Uploaded
December 1st, 2013
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