Solo hopper balloon flt

Comment by Rick Kauffman on January 19, 2012 at 1:41pm

31000 CF AX-3 Hopper in Orlando FLA.  first flight. too cool !!

Comment by Daniel Salters on January 22, 2012 at 12:42am

Thanks for sharing. Looks like a blast. I noticed that balloon didn't last long on the for sale sites. Looks like you were the lucky buyer!

Comment by Rick Kauffman on January 22, 2012 at 11:37am

Hi Daniel,

yea, i think i called within a few minutes of the posting.... great timing !! i had the balloon in storage for 4 months and did not see the balloon until that morning when i flew it.... you should have seen the hairs standing on my arms.. woo-hoo..... everyone that saw it was amazed ...... i flew for almost an hour on less than 8 gals of fuel,, standing up, reseating the top, tether for a few minutes and a basic test flight of high altitude (2500 ft) and tree-top, several times which used a lot of fuel... my mentor and flight instructor said that i have a Ferrari of a balloon, ... while i was at a 200 ft descent, i gave a 3 second burn with the T-3 and found myself in a 200 ft ascent within 4 seconds,,,, talk about immediate reaction... excellent balloon.

Comment by Adam on January 30, 2012 at 1:52pm

Hi rick, welcome to AM.

Nice lokking little balloon.  How much did you pick it up for?

Comment by Rick Kauffman on January 30, 2012 at 2:10pm

oh sorry, that is a secret....

Comment by Daniel Salters on February 1, 2012 at 1:56pm

I look forward to the pleasures of flying a small balloon. You certainly do have a great new hot rod! Thanks for sharing your other recent pictures too. Keep them coming!

Comment by Patrick Smith on February 8, 2012 at 12:17pm

Im in the market if you ever want to sell :-D

Comment by Luke Russell on February 9, 2012 at 6:42am

did you buy that balloon from Mike Emich?

Comment by Rick Kauffman on February 14, 2012 at 2:13pm

Yes i did, nice little system.. Fly’s like a Ferrari drives… fast response.

Comment by Luke Russell on February 15, 2012 at 4:00am

i thought i recognized it i fly with him every once in a while.  that was one of his world record balloons

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