Great Forest Park Balloon Race

Just a random update this week. The turn out from Thursday's LSA Wings program was much better than I had anticipated. I wrote a preview about it last week, and there were a lot of great questions asked, and answered. Hat's off to St. Charles Flying Service for hosting this event. There was quite a bit of interest in the Remos, and Light Sport Aviation in general.

Interest in the Remos, means more work for me, and I love it, but this weekend's work was the Great Forest Park Balloon Race. These guys really know how to put on a major show, and I've been fortunate enough to be a part of it for the past 15 years. My job? I'm the air traffic liaison to the race. Due to Forrest Park's proximity to Lambert International Airport, Busch Stadium, and Scott Air Force Base, some years the wind direction requires me to work harder than others. This year, the Cardinals were playing, and Scott was having their big airshow, and the wind was from an absolutely perfect direction to avoid any conflicts of an air traffic nature. Unfortunately, although the weather was practically perfect all day, rain moved into the area just before race time, and about half of the balloons opted not to go. The remaining still managed to WOW the crowd. This year was also the Energizer Bunny's 20th Birthday. Here's a Bunny quiz, to test your trivia knowledge.

1. The Statue of Liberty, Base to tip of torch stands 152' tall. How tall is the Energizer Bunny Balloon?

A. 106'
B. 126'
C. 146'
D. 166'

2. The Bunny's Ears are as tall as:

A. The wing span of a Remos GX.
B. George Washington's head on Mount Rushmore.
C. A fully grown Giraffe.

3. The double burner output for the Energizer Bunny Balloon is,

A. 300,000 BTU/Hour
B. 3,000,000 BTU/Hour
C. 30,000,000 BTU/Hour
D. 300,000,000 BTU/Hour

Here's the answers.

If you've had enough trivia, go here to play the Energizer Bunny Drummer Game.