Lift Off

This was taken at the Colorado River Crossing.
The Colorado River Crossing Hot Air Balloon Festival is presented by the Caballeros de Yuma. It... more

by Robert Bales

Title

Lift Off

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-Franois Piltre de Rozier and Franois 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.

Uploaded

December 17th, 2013