The Balloon Fiesta, held in Albuquerque every year, is a colorful week-long event that everyone looks forward to. The skies around Albuquerque are filled with color and shapes every morning. In our chapter of the Ninety-Nines we have several balloon pilots.  The whole chapter celebrates with them every year.

Our members either fly balloons or join the chase crews of the ones who fly. Among our pilots, we have a celebrity. Barbara Fricke and her partner Peter Cuneo gained fame last year when they won the 2001 America's Challenge Gas Balloon Race. This team had reached Ohio when their chase crew informed them that they were the last team in the air. 

This year, Barbara flew their hot air balloon, Sandia Sunrise, in the fiesta and their gas balloon in the America's Challenge race again. She and Peter ended up in 2nd place and made it all the way to Canada this time. We are very proud of their accomplishments every time they fly!

Here are some scenes from this year's fiesta.

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For more information on Albuquerque's annual Balloon Fiesta, click here to go to their official web site. 

 

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