After the succesfull
balloon flight over Mt. Kilimanjaro,
Karel Abbenes and his Dutch balloon team invited Mosses and Tonino for
a flight over Arusha town, on February 26th 2003.
At 6.30 am we arrived at Arusha National Stadium, which the mayor
kindly allowed us to use for take-off. The bag on the picture
contains the balloon and weighs 200 kgs.
The basket is put upright and the burner installed on top of it.
Mosses, who only agreed to join the flight under slight
pressure (he didn't sleep that night), keeps a close eye on
everything.
The balloon is unfolded over the football field.
Cold air is blown into the balloon with a giant ventilator.
The air inside the balloon is heated with the burner, to erect
the balloon. Now it starts getting exciting. Take care not to
burn the balloon!
No way back anymore. Mosses is the first one to climb into the
basket.
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There we are. Still not very confident.
7.30 am.
JMT is airborne. Doesn't seem to be that dangerous after all.
