Canowindra International Balloon Challenge – April 2019

I was lucky enough to escape some commercial duties during April to be a part of the SupaGas Canowindra International Balloon Challenge. Canowindra is located 5 hours from my home in the Hunter Valley and 4 hours from Sydney and is commonly known as the home of Australian ballooning. The area provides fantastic flying conditions for both competition and fiesta flying with large open landing fields and lots of friendly landowners.

This year’s festival was set to be one of the biggest with the addition of major sponsor Supagas and also some government grants as a premier regional event in the state.

Each of the mornings began with a briefing for both competition and fiesta pilots including weather reports and any new PZ’s that had arisen from the previous flights. Due to Australia being in the worst drought in 100 years the event committee put in large efforts with local farmers to continue the event. A farmer draw for every location launched or landed was place in the draw for a pallet of dog food, a much needed resource in tough times.

4 Single Hoppers and 2 Duos were present – Nathan Allen Cameron Superlight O-31 VH-WNA, Steve Griffin Homebuilt 42 with Cameron Millennium Unit VH-LNE, Kevin Cooper Ultramagic Lightweight H-31 VH-IXW, Barb Smith Homebuilt 31 VH-BOX, Steve Campbell Homebuilt 60 with Bonanno Duo VH-XBI, Kevin Cooper Kavanagh 65 with T&C Duo VH-IXU

Day 1

Day 1 was met with a long wait for winds to drop and competition balloons to clear the area which allowed for some social time on the launch field. Finally, we were given the green flag, a southerly track had us heading away from town away from the heavily cropped areas. We were treated to some lovely steerage winds which made it easier to follow my hare balloon as I had travelled solo to the event, I needed to hitch a ride with Barb Smith. After a nice 4 knot landing, we headed back to the local park for champagne and a catch up with lots of friends from around the country.

Day 2

Day 2 we were joined by a local news reported who joined Steve Campbell in the Homebuilt 60 Duo. After some instruction we had the reporter buckled in, airborne and drifting north of town. This was a relatively short flight as we tried to stick together so the cameraman could get some balloon to balloon footage. The segment was featured later that night on the local news and was lots of fun to be a part of.

https://www.facebook.com/WINNewsCentralWest/videos/2353784878174183/

Following the afternoon briefing I found my self talking to Steve Griffin who as the Safety Officer couldn’t fly in the mornings when competition flights were being held and kindly agreed to crew for him. We quickly grabbed his gear from a nearby shed and made our way to the launch field. We experienced some light thermal activity but a lovely launch before we headed out of town on the chase. Steve travelled a short distance before landing with a lovely landowner who kindly opened and closed every gate for us after telling a few ballooning tales. A fantastic social afternoon on the ground for a change.

Day 3

Day 3 had the fiesta balloons launching south of town and with a gusty surface breeze we had some fun inflations amongst the hoppers. Big thanks to Steve Griffin who showed up to help each hopper get away without issue. We tracked to the southwest and were met by a myriad of paramotors who had come to follow the balloons. The wind was slowly increasing as the inversion disappeared past the river in which I was lucky enough to land reasonably soon adjacent to the paramotor airfield with a sportier 6 knot landing. Steve Campbell flew past moments later in the Duo 60 and had a lovely drag landing a few kilometres away.

Later that afternoon with some free time and light winds we decided to inflate another of Barb Smiths homebuilt balloons VH-BOX Deramecourt 31 in the camping area of the house backyard much to the delight of passing locals who flocked in to the see the little balloon up close and glowing. This made for some fantastic photos and a lot of fun for those involved.

Day 4

Day 4 was my last morning at the event and started with the daily flight briefing with coffee in hand. Event directors and weather officials advised of a significant wind band pushing through and advised pilots to make use of the early morning inversion. We promptly made our way to the main launch oval and got airborne. Much to our surprise we were treated to some lovely box winds over town and the launch oval making a great show for the spectators. Barb Smith flying the Duo 60 and myself climbed up and tracked to the east for around 20 mins before landing and being met by some amazing farmers who enjoyed some short tether rides in the Duo 60.

Following this I had to rush back to pack up, a quick few goodbyes and make the drive back home ready to go back to work. All this way done was a massive smile as it had been a fantastic 4 days of flying and socialising with likeminded balloonist.

As the Canowindra event continues to grow along with Australia’s cloudhopper base I hope to see more international pilots make the pilgrimage to the home of Australian ballooning.