and gold, breaking over the Sandia Mountains. Flying OIS from the dark into the light is a beautiful and challenging JE experience. DEBER Ken O’Connor and Ron Thornton never dreamed UL how this wonder of the night would evolve. Over the A years, the Dawn Patrol slowly evolved into an integral O: P T part of Balloon Fiesta and now includes the Dawn PHO Patrol Show, a coordinated ascension set to narration and music. Guests are delighted by the sight of the balloons ascending into the early morning dawn sky and majestically soaring over the still-shadowed fi eld. Pilots watch the Dawn Patrollers closely and gratefully for a fi rst indication of the winds they can expect when they ascend after sunrise. Kenny O’Connor is no longer with us – he passed away several years ago -- but Ron Thornton is still fl ying. He 2016 Dawn Patrol fl ight; note the aircraft warning lights still participates in the Balloon Fiesta from time to time, hanging below the baskets. and when he does still fl ies the Dawn Patrol. In the pre-dawn, chilly darkness, the pilots infl ated the PHO balloons and attached the new aircraft warning lights. T The passengers climbed aboard: Tom Christopher, a O: P A crew person and later a longtime Balloon Fiesta launch UL offi cer, aboard as navigator since he was familiar with the DEBER local area, and Bill Tracy, a TV news photographer. Tom Christopher, in his account of this historic fl ight, JE described– although not intended as such – what was OIS likely the Balloon Fiesta’s very fi rst Balloon Glow: “…when [the pilot heats] the balloon with its burners, the balloon lights up like a low watt light bulb, on a tremendous scale … [the] results are spectacular.” Aloft in the darkness, O’Connor and Thornton and their passengers were awed by an incredible vista seen only by those lucky enough to fl y the Dawn Patrol: the ground fading into oblivion under the balloon, pierced only by a glittering panorama of city lights, and the growing dawn, in shades of gray and pink To watch a video of the fi rst Dawn Patrol fl ight, scan the QR code. OFFICIAL PROGRAM 71