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Mark Wunder Male Topeka, KS United States: Share on Facebook Share Twitter

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City, Country:: Topeka, KS USA

About Me:: Been crewing for a little over 7+ years now. Thoroughly enjoy the sport of ballooning and have met lots of wonderful folks. Member of the Great Plains Balloon Club in Topeka, KS. The balloon on the top of the page is the Sunny-D-Lite from Oklahoma City (Ron & Brenda McKinney). I crew for them at Huff-n-Puff and whenever I can at other rallies. At home, I'll crew for any local pilot who asks first!

Website:: http://greatplainsballoonclub.googlepages.com/

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I'm new to this list. I've added some photos of different balloons that are in the Great Plains Balloon Club based here in Topeka OR have been here OR on which I have crewed. I crew most often for the Sunny D'Lite out of Oklahoma City. Ron & Brenda are good folks and I've crewed for them here at the Huff-n-Puff for the past 6 years as well as at rallies in Palestine & Sulphur Springs, TX and Springfield & Joplin, MO. I plan on crewing for them again next year in Sulphur Springs,…

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Posted on December 6, 2007 at 3:56am — 1 Comment

Comment Wall (22 comments)

At 8:57am on December 4, 2007, Michael Scott said…: Hello Mark,

I went to the main member page, clicked on your picture, then clicked add as friend

At 10:35am on December 4, 2007, Danny Mathia said…: Hi Mark, thanx for the invite...if you are in our neighborhood, Carli and I would love for you to come by! Happy Holidays!!!

At 11:15am on December 5, 2007, Tony Goodnow said…: Mark-

I've finally signed up over here now. Not exactly the view of my mom that I want to see!

At 5:08am on December 9, 2007, Tedd Maxfield said…: Hey, Mark!

Thanks for "friending me."

How are things in Topeka? Doing any crewing? I haven't had any flying opportunities lately, my schedule's just been nuts, so I'm not trying to fly right now. It eliminates a lot of pain, watching good weather come and go, and not being able to take advantage of it!

At 5:06am on December 16, 2007, Balloon Society of Kentucky said…: The Balloon Society of Kentucky will be hosting the Balloon Federation of America's National Convention in April, 2008.

For more information and registration, go to www.bfa.net and come visit the BSOK page at: www.myspace.com/balloonsocietyofkentucky

We hope you'll join us!

At 2:24pm on March 3, 2008, Tedd Maxfield said…: Hi, Mark! I had the privilege of staying in the Wunder Suite over the weekend. I found the accommodations to be exceptional!

The safety seminar was very worthwhile, and I dropped my balloon off for annual at the same time. With luck, I can get in the air later this month, or at least in April. It's been a long dry spell!

At 2:41pm on March 3, 2008, Tedd Maxfield said…: I've been in Little Rock for a month, now. I applied for this position in September, interviewed and accepted the job in December. I'll still put on the Nevada event, so don't get yourself rescheduled to help at the K of C event!

I was pleased that the Chamber of Commerce told me that they like the balloon event so much that they would have continued it if I weren't going to put it on, but I don't do too much, just recruit pilots and sponsors and arrange a meal or two, so I can do that long distance!

At 2:08pm on April 27, 2008, Justin Galbraith said…: G'day, you have a photo of someone called connie on top of a balloon with a wooden board. Does this board work well for getting people on top??
Would like to try some thing like it just for fun. Any info you have would be appreciated.
Cheers Justin

At 11:33am on April 28, 2008, Mark Wunder said…: Connie's son, Tony (balloon - Hocus Pocus) would kill me for this, but, from what I've seen, the board works quite well. Connie is herself a balloonist as well as her long time companion, who owns two balloons, including the one Connie was on last summer when the picture was taken.

I've only been in ballooning a few years (as crew) and to my knowledge, only Connie has ridden this board to the top. She's dressed as Santa's helper for a glow (our club does an annual Christmas glow for the community) and I knows she's done it a few other times. I can ask Connie to respond directly to you if you provide me your full email contact information.
Mark.

At 4:13pm on May 6, 2008, Tony Goodnow said…: No killing required Mark, maybe just a new set of eyes for me after seeing a picture of my mom like that, but who am I kidding, it could have been worse.

Actually that board has been used by several people, on several balloons. Mom flew on top several times in years past, Santa was actually Darlene H. on top of Jubilee, but she never made a free flight to my recollection.

In the early '80s it was pretty common to fly on top around here...that I can recall with certainty the list would include not only Mom, Anette Klein (Chuck's wife), Barbra Douglas (Norton's wife) and I'm pretty sure Barbra B (Lana's mom). Which puts women on top of Nautilus, Windbag, Apollo, and Jubilee.

Paul made the board, just as a good solid surface with handholds that made it easier during inflation and deflation. Others just used a thick piece of cardboard to stand on.

If you plan on doing this keep safety in mind. We used a parachute harness clipped into the load ring on calm cool (or cold) days. The rider also needs to have good lungs as it is best to hold your breath on deflation. The sudden blast of hot air coming out of the top can take your breath away.