FLYING SUZY BLUE PART 5 - 3 Special Events

(Please enlarge all pictures for detail)

Here I am again with 3 very special events that Suzy Blue and balloonist Mickey were able to participate in.

Parachute jumpers LOVE to jump out of balloons!!!! March 31st Mickey allowed 4 young men to participate in this adventure.

Mickey flew 2 of the young men at a time. Which means we launched the balloon with 2 aboard and after they jumped Mickey brought Suzy Blue down and the other 2 young men climbed aboard and they took off for their jump.

The pictures above show them in the basket and ready to launch.

The lower right picture shows Mickey with his parachute on.

Mickey is not a jumper and has never jumped BUT an explanation is necessary here.

The lift and flight of a balloon is controlled solely by the application of the heat from the burner and wind direction. There is no steering wheel!!!!

The skill of the balloonist is of utmost importance.

The other factor in ballooning is the weight that is being carried in the basket.

When you take off with 3 people in the basket and 2 of them proceed to jump out

the balloon immediately skyrockets upward from the loss of the weight.

Mickey had the parachute as a safety precaution in case he lost control of the balloon and needed to jump. He did not!!!!

These pictures show the parachutes as they were floating toward ground and 2 of 4 very happy and ecstatic jumpers.

The event was a total success for all involved.

A wedding in Suzy Blue!!

On June 1st we had this privilege as Dale Bagby & Tammy Robinson were married.

The event took place from Veterans Park in Tulsa.

The guests were all seated in lawn chairs on the grass. The top left picture shows Tammy walking toward the balloon with her bridesmaid, the best man, the groom and preacher waiting outside the basket. Mickey, dressed in a suit, is already in the basket of the inflated balloon.

The lovely bride and handsome groom are helped into the basket.

The bridesmaid, best man and preacher remain outside the basket

and the wedding vows are exchanged.

Just as the preacher pronounced them Man & Wife, Mickey applies the heat to the balloon and they begin to rise and fly away.

At the time we had a horn on Suzy Blue Chase Vehicle that played various tunes---

one of which was the wedding march. As they are flying away the wedding march is being blasted from the chase vehicle.

The bottom two pictures on the left were taken at the end of the hour flight.

Mickey is toasting the new couple after landing the balloon

As I post this I realize that this young couple would have celebrated their 25th anniversary this year!!! WOW, how times flies. We kept in touch with them for several years and when their first child was born we took over a little Suzy Blue T-shirt for the baby. Wish I could give you current information on them but we lost track of them after we moved to Albuquerque in 1984.

Live radio broadcast from Suzy Blue !!

This event took place on July 21st. I hope you will enlarge and read the letter from the Tulsa Park & Recreation Department giving us permission and explaining the event.

Be sure not to miss the C.S. (cheap shot) at the end of the letter!!!!

John Erling had the morning radio show on KRMG for years in Tulsa and was, and still is, quite the Tulsa celebrity.

We felt honored to be chosen to participate in this event.

Thanks for sharing in these 3 very exciting fun times with us.

There are still some REAL adventures coming up--so stay tuned!!