Drones and Hot Air Balloons over Vegas Valley
In July of 2015, I revisited the hot air balloons I had photographed in a big festival in 2013. The festival is covered if you scroll down to the bottom of my ‘Sky Page’ at 
Balloon Festival October 25 – 27, 2013
Vegas Hot Air Balloons has their main launch point next to a hospital. As an interesting aside, the doctors apparently love the ballooning, feeling that the colorful early-morning launches act as therapy for patients.
These crews are skilled in the way NASCAR crews are. No wasted motion, gear quickly rolled out of the trucks, assembled, tested. Then the big bags are inflated.
By 5:45 A.M. or so, it is time to fly! Everything depends on the wind. Twenty mile gusts can cancel the entire day, and I saw another day scrubbed because the helium test balloon they released headed right for the restricted airspace over our big airport.
Flying the drones up with the balloons is a blast for me, and I hope that thrill communicates itself to visitors to my site.
