14th Balloon Meeting
and
5th Model Balloon Meeting at Landshut

After we had had quite some rain on the weekend before at Bad Griesbach, one week later, just in time for the Landshut Balloon Meeting, summer had returned. 22 hot air balloon teams and 9 model balloonists were looking forward to a joyful weekend.

The model balloons did the pre show for the big balloons' night glow on Friday evening.

As you can see on the photo above, the Penguin and the Mole really like each other :) ... and that's not only true for the balloons, but also for their teams - and even part-time team members ;) Sounds strange? Maybe, but it's true.

The night glow, coreographed with beautiful music, became a true highlight for thousands of spectators just like the year before.

Early on Saturday, the first competition flight for the model balloons took place - not a fox hunt, but a mole hunt was called out that morning. The cute model balloon of the Knechtel family from Dresden luckily got out of this alive - the cat of Werner Schlegel missed him for almost 42 meters.

Meanwhile, the big balloons rose through scraps of mist, which had come floating over the woods from the nearby river Isar... an enchanting view.

The Penguin watched the balloons enviously. Or was he just a bit hungry? Well, we don't know.

The crew tasks, for which the Landshut Meeting meanwhile is quite famous for, had to be solved again on Saturday afternoon. The balloonists had to follow a show-jumping course (blindfold!), solve a riddle, and - as seen in the picture - burst a balloon filled with water, which had been tied to a bar high over a trampoline, by use of a helmet with a nail on.

On Saturday evening, yet a new model balloon was introduced: Wasti Michel, youth balloonist of the Balloon Club of Landshut, had built an envelope together with his brother and mother - and as he hadn't had the time to build a basket as well, Matthias provided his penguin basket to make the first flight possible.

This was the model balloons' evening flight from the view of one of the big balloons - many thanks for the photos go to Thomas Laux, Herbert Hangöbl and Louise Knechtel!

As the weather forecast had predicted rain for Sunday, the morning flight was cancelled. We noticed, however, that we would have been able to fly nevertheless...

...but our red vine party on Saturday evening and the long sleep on the morning after was not too bad, after all ;-)

For the award ceremony, everyone was lively again - and Karsten Knechtel (in the middle) received the winner's trophy from Matthias (left) and Wolfgang Schwarz (right).
And now, everyone is already looking forward to next year's meeting :)

The ranking of the 5th Model Balloon Meeting at Landshut: