Competition Ballooning – Fly In
The rule (or information) for this task is set out in Chapter 15 of the Event Rules
This task can be really enjoyable and also distinctly challenging. It requires the same skills to set your track as those for the pilot declared goal (see previous article). However rather than setting your goal out from your take off point you are working in reverse and drawing your track back from the fly in target. The target is almost always placed on the common launch point and the minimum and maximum distances from ILP (individual launch point) to goal/target is usually a minimum of 2km (occasionally 1km) and maximum about 5km.
The fly in is very popular as a morning task at competitions on the continent and in the US and Japan. The idea is that with balloons taking off from multiple areas the competition field is spread out and you are not all flying together in a pack from the common launch point. It is also possible in those countries as they have huge areas where you can lay out and take off without entering a farmer’s field. The rule for take-off in this situation is related to rule 9.2.2 that states you need landowner’s permission before driving onto, or launching from, any land which is enclosed or cultivated or apparently private or used for agricultural purposes. Additionally Section II of the competition details states that: Public areas, such as public parks, squares and river side’s, are considered as places without need for permission for take-off and landings. Furthermore a take-off without permission may be made from minor roads or tracks, if the balloon envelope can be laid out in the adjacent field provided, it is freshly harvested and/or not cultivated and no damage is done. The road traffic may not be blocked.
This is more difficult in the UK as there is very little common land and it is not very friendly to be knocking on doors at 6.00am to ask permission. So in this country it is mostly reserved for evening tasks.
At the task briefing you will be given adequate time to find a launch site so that you can take off within the launch period. That sounds easy; at times it is not. In the morning with stable winds and a good upwind area you will decide on a point to drive out to, often with some of your fellow pilots you team up with. A quick piball should confirm the winds, you select a lovely grass or stubble field off from the roadside with no intervening hedge and you are all ready to launch. When everything is not so easy you find the area you have selected to have narrow roads and fields enclosed by barbed wire fences; not only that but you have 30 balloon vehicles all trying to drive around the same area. This happened at the Europeans in Luxembourg in 2000 when the whole pack of balloon vehicles went down a narrow dead-end lane hoping that it was surrounded by open land. It was all fenced by barbed wire with nowhere to turn round and little room to pass. It was a complete log jam as the time for the launch approached. Luckily it was foggy and as it did not lift the flight was cancelled – much to everyone’s relieve; apart from Jan Fokken from Holland who had managed to take off in a separate area and we heard pass overhead, but never seen. The jam was resolved by Bob Wickens who as an observer opened up one gate so we could all turn round and go home. It is even more disconcerting when you and those in your group arrive at your intended launch area to find no other balloon in the vicinity. This happened in Turkey at the World Air Games; the whole British team took off alone and as we climbed into the air we found the rest of the competitors coming in from the opposite side. We had taken the high wind to come in and after 30 minutes went passed the target to descend into the low level track meeting all the others; it did work out in the end but we could have made it easier for ourselves. However at the next World Air Games in Spain we joined the rest relying on the low level wind. It turned dramatically so we all flew away apart from a handful pilots who had used the upper wind!
An evening fly in is what we have nicknamed the headless chicken task. You arrive at your predetermined launch area, set off a piball to find the wind has changed 20o. You move on to that area and set off another piball to find that either the wind has moved back or further round. Time to the end of the launch period is fast running out. After 2-3 moves and time dictating you throw everything out into a suitable area and take off to do your best. It is even livelier when, as in England, you have to get permission to use a field. Often by the time you get permission you find the wind has change so you then have to move on.
The last straw is when you notice the task data sheet gives you more than one take off attempt. It could be unlimited but that is very rarely the case these days; it is usually one. The most I have managed to get in is three but the crew then usually revolt and you have to pack the balloon up and carry it back to the site yourself.
Once in the air, especially in the morning flights when there is plenty of steerage, you will see balloons taking off from a large arc around the fly in target and most if not all will converge over the cross. Here you have to try and set yourself up so you are on track at a low height and therefore have right of way over balloons above you. On too many occasions I have found myself set up on the approach but need to descend into the ground wind to find a balloon directly below. On one occasion, when it was a gravity drop, all I could do was drop the marker as we crossed the target. It landed on Lindsay Muir’s balloon directly below. I screamed into the radio for Lindsay to dump hoping she would think it was some kind of emergency. She complied, the marker dropped through the parachute into the basket and she then dropped it overboard – some meters passed the target but better than nothing.
So there is the fly in; often a truly challenging task where a well-trained crew can be invaluable.
British pilots deciding whether this would be the take off point, Brissac 2013. By Karin Bareford
A gusty evening take off for a fly in, Luxembourg 2011. By Karin Bareford
David Bareford ready for take-off Poland 2012. Where are all the other balloons? By Karin Bareford
Written by David Bareford
