Minimum Distance Double Drop

Competition Ballooning – Minimum Distance Double Drop

The rule (or information) for this task is set out in Chapter 15 of the Event Rules

As the first sentence in the task data information states, competitors have to drop two markers in two different scoring areas at their closest point. When it was originally set, and occasionally now, the scoring areas were two separate areas of the map bounded by roads some distance apart and one had to navigate between the two closest points as shown in the illustration. The tarmac surface of the roads is usually defined as out so the marker has to drop on the verge as close to the opposing scoring area as possible. It has also been used at road junctions where the opposite sides of the road junctions are the defined score areas. Increasingly it is being used as a variation of a judge declared goal where the competitor flies into a goal to find the minimum distance double drop laid out as extended tapes of the arms of the target with the opposing areas being the score areas. In this situation it becomes more of a throwing competition and the most skilful or luckiest competitor wins. The task has often been set also with a minimum scoring area of something like a 50m radius so you have the chance of not getting either marker in the scoring areas. In the second task of the British National Championships only four out of the 16 pilots managed to score in the MDDD with about six of the remainder only getting one marker in a correct area. The alignment of the tapes defining the two opposing scoring area in relation to the wind direction should be set by the director such that it allows you the best chance of dropping two markers in the correct areas. This can be difficult as the low wind may shift such that you are flying parallel to one of the tapes. That means that if you are further away than your throwing distance your track will never take you over the second scoring area. If you are skilful enough to pass directly over the centre of the cross then you have to take into account the time taken for the marker to fall to the ground. Looking straight down it is often very difficult to judge your exact height and with speed, the marker can drift some distance. There have been other frustrations with this task. I remember following Uwe Schneider into an MDDD; his first marker dropped close to the nearest point and then he went on to drop the second marker in the opposing area close to the tape. Unbelievably it hit a small tussock of grass and rebounded across the tape to produce a no score.

This task set as a cross in a field has been amended recently by some competition directors to allow more competitors to achieve a score. Outside the 50 m marker measuring area the lines are extended on the map so that those outside the marker scoring area have a chance to pass through two opposing scoring areas and can achieve a result by the track points identified on their GPS loggers.

This task suffers, as do several others, with defined scoring areas where IN gains points whereas OUT means losing most. I was told by a previous world champion who was also a career statistician that competitions with so few scoring opportunities should not define skill by whether you are in or out of a score area. In tennis where an average game will involve over 200 scoring opportunities this method is valid whereas in ballooning where the average is closer to 3 to 4 in tasks set with scoring areas, statistically, this is a poor method of measuring skill. Maybe we need a discussion about the validity or scoring methods using limited score areas in balloon competitions but that is for another day.

What is important in this task therefore is a precision drop (or throw) to the closest point of the scoring area whether it is the verge of the road or the convergence of tapes laid out over the cross in the middle of a field. That means getting your final approach correct at low level to pass over the closest points in both areas. Logic states that you should play safe and make sure your markers land in each scoring area but when approaching the edge of the scoring area to see a bunch of markers at the closest point one is always tempted to go for broke.

Example of a MDDD with the two scoring areas some distance apart. The competitior has positoned him/herself so that they pass over the closest point of both areas at low level.

A Minimum Distance Double Drop task at the European Championships, Spain 2011

A Minimum Distance Double Drop task at the British National Championships, Pidley 2016

Written by David Bareford