After 20 years of lobbying Ballonstartplatz 'Gladbeck' finally opened yesterday. 10 Gasballoons - among which one from Belgium and one from the Netherlands - were present to take off for the very first time from this beautiful spot.
Unfortunately the weather gods were not good-tempered. In the morning they treated the Ruhr region on rain and the predictions for the evening were not good either so the fox hunt was canceled.
Because the organisation wanted to give the invitees a bit more than an empty launch field to look at, they decided to inflate the 500 m3 D-OEIM.
Then suddenly all the rain showers disappeared from the radar, but by then it was too late to inflate the 10 gas balloons for the fox hunt. Finally 5 balloons took off for a free flight, accompanied by ten hot air balloons.
The brand-new Warsteiner D-OWBO (3rd flight) claimed the honour to be the first balloon to be inscribed in the logbook of Startplatz 'Gladbeck'.
The evening ended with a cosy 'walking diner' and a nice cold beer.
Gluck ab
