So today is the last day of the competition and we are driving in from our little houses.
The afternoon flight was canceled yesterday due to high winds and the expectation of them increasing towards sunset. The forecast was for a perfect day of flying today so there were no real grumbles.
An interesting discussion with all of the pilots was held after the briefing to see if there was some solution to the problem of mid air collisions. Collisions seem to have been on the increase in recent years and so far at this event there has been close to ten. In the most serious a balloon was destroyed and the pilot and crew only saved by quick thinking and a bit of luck.
Full details are yet to be released but the report we were given yesterday indicated that in the collision the lower balloon got a major tear in the top and started to deflate in flight - I think at around 1000ft. The pilot dumped three full cylinders from the basket and left two to continue burning all the way to the ground. They were lucky that it was enough ballast to slow them down and that the field under them was clear of power lines or house. In the end they made a relatively soft landing at 200 ft/min.
As far as I know this was the only accident with damage to a balloon but it was a little too close to killing someone.
As a result we were all warned before the flight yesterday morning that one more collision and the maximum rate of climb and descent would be limited. Guess what, yesterday morning there was another major collision at a target, still no one hurt but enough to scare the S&!T out of the observer in the basket and the people on the ground.
So now we are waiting on a determination of what the limit would be. If we had flown yesterday afternoon it would have been 600 ft/min up or down. Considering most competition balloons can comfortably do twice that speed it is a big restriction.
The problem as one French pilot put it is courtesy rather than the speed. Some pilots just don't seem to care. The good pilots go fast in clear air and communicate with the balloons around them when close to a target or making a fast climb. Many do not and will drop into a group of balloons level over a target and barge their way in causing the problems.
One of the American pilots pointed out that in motor sport they get rid of reckless drivers rather than slow the cars down. I have to agree.
We have flown World Grand Prix events here for six years with only one or two minor collisions. The pilots at these events have been mostly the same group of top end guys and girls who not only know how to drop markers but also how to work around a group of balloons. At the worlds we get first timers or pilots with little competition experience thrown into the air with more balloons than they may be used to and national pride at stake. A crazy mix.
Part of the problem also that limiting the speed will not fix the problem. A closure rate of 1200ft/min is still feasible with the proposed limits and that will still tear a balloon in basket to envelope contact. Indeed most of the collisions so far have been at about that rate. Some people have indicated that getting all the pilots to stare at their variometers all flight will also cause a problem. I am not so sure about that but it will be interesting to see the penalty's after the flight today.
I don't know what the solution is but the director is right. We don't want to see someone killed.
The afternoon flight was canceled yesterday due to high winds and the expectation of them increasing towards sunset. The forecast was for a perfect day of flying today so there were no real grumbles.
An interesting discussion with all of the pilots was held after the briefing to see if there was some solution to the problem of mid air collisions. Collisions seem to have been on the increase in recent years and so far at this event there has been close to ten. In the most serious a balloon was destroyed and the pilot and crew only saved by quick thinking and a bit of luck.
Full details are yet to be released but the report we were given yesterday indicated that in the collision the lower balloon got a major tear in the top and started to deflate in flight - I think at around 1000ft. The pilot dumped three full cylinders from the basket and left two to continue burning all the way to the ground. They were lucky that it was enough ballast to slow them down and that the field under them was clear of power lines or house. In the end they made a relatively soft landing at 200 ft/min.
As far as I know this was the only accident with damage to a balloon but it was a little too close to killing someone.
As a result we were all warned before the flight yesterday morning that one more collision and the maximum rate of climb and descent would be limited. Guess what, yesterday morning there was another major collision at a target, still no one hurt but enough to scare the S&!T out of the observer in the basket and the people on the ground.
So now we are waiting on a determination of what the limit would be. If we had flown yesterday afternoon it would have been 600 ft/min up or down. Considering most competition balloons can comfortably do twice that speed it is a big restriction.
The problem as one French pilot put it is courtesy rather than the speed. Some pilots just don't seem to care. The good pilots go fast in clear air and communicate with the balloons around them when close to a target or making a fast climb. Many do not and will drop into a group of balloons level over a target and barge their way in causing the problems.
One of the American pilots pointed out that in motor sport they get rid of reckless drivers rather than slow the cars down. I have to agree.
We have flown World Grand Prix events here for six years with only one or two minor collisions. The pilots at these events have been mostly the same group of top end guys and girls who not only know how to drop markers but also how to work around a group of balloons. At the worlds we get first timers or pilots with little competition experience thrown into the air with more balloons than they may be used to and national pride at stake. A crazy mix.
Part of the problem also that limiting the speed will not fix the problem. A closure rate of 1200ft/min is still feasible with the proposed limits and that will still tear a balloon in basket to envelope contact. Indeed most of the collisions so far have been at about that rate. Some people have indicated that getting all the pilots to stare at their variometers all flight will also cause a problem. I am not so sure about that but it will be interesting to see the penalty's after the flight today.
I don't know what the solution is but the director is right. We don't want to see someone killed.
