At some point in your piloting career, everyone comes to the point where just getting in the balloon and riding along until a field suitable for landing appears below you is not enough. At some point you really want to fly the balloon, to pilot it. In essence what you are asking yourself is "how do I make this balloon go where I want to go, not where it wants to take me?" To do that, you need the obvious requisite piloting skills, you need to be able to recognize and steer into or out of shifting winds, and you need to know where you are and where you are heading in relation to where you were and where you have been. In simple terms, you need to understand maps and basic navigation.
With an understanding of maps and navigation you will soon learn to fly your balloon along a predetermined course. Why is this important? If flying in competition, how can you select a pilot declared goal if you don’t know where you will go after launch? If flying rides, how can you be sure you’ll make it to that choice landing spot? If pleasure flying, how can you be certain of avoiding that nasty landowner and their big, wide PZ? No matter the type of flying you enjoy, map reading is an essential skill for the true pilot.
There are three steps to understanding and navigating with maps. They
are:
Map Selection
The best possible map is one that provides good detail, is oriented to magnetic north, and has a consistent scale throughout. Unfortunately balloonists are rarely provided with any map that meets all three of these criteria. Aviation sectional charts have a consistent scale, are aligned to magnetic north but provide poor detail simply because their scale is too large. Still you should always have a sectional for the area you are flying in. It provides important information about the airspace and most importantly, the magnetic declination (variation) of the area. Since most road maps and survey maps are aligned to true north you cannot properly orient either without knowing the local magnetic declination. More on that later.
Many states produce their own aviation sectional charts. These one state maps are similar to the FAA chart but usually offer more local information. Among these additional features that may be found are photos of state attractions, airport directories with runway diagrams, density altitude charts, a listing of AM radio stations and AWOS locations with their phone numbers and more. The scale of these maps may be larger or smaller than the federal charts so their value as a navigational aid has to be evaluated on an individual basis. Also, these charts may only be printed every few years, thus the information on them could be dated.
A topographic chart prepared by the U.S. Geological Survey show the greatest detail. Not only roads, streams and buildings, but vegetation, contour lines for ground elevation and more. A local outdoor outfitter, sports or hiking store can usually supply topo charts. Again beware the date of publication as some of these maps may be nearly 30 years old.
The highway or road map is typically the balloonists map of choice. Provided from any number of sources, AAA, Rand McNally, state highway and transportation departments among others. County road maps are often the most accurate of this type of map. When designed for a specific area they usually show all roads, including the surface type (asphalt, gravel, dirt) as well as local landmarks like schools, cemeteries, churches, stream, etc. All of these can be valuable visual landmarks for navigation purposes.
Another source for maps in this Information Age is the variety of computer software mapping programs that promise to deliver the very latest in roadway detail. Not a bad idea if you can access one of these but not every balloonist carries a portable computer and printer while on the road.
Orienting the Map
Before you begin you will need the following materials:
1. Marking pen - most road maps are printed in either blue or black so you may want to use the alternate color. Also, additional colored "highlighter" pens are helpful.
2. Straight edge - an aviation plotter works well but don't leave it in the sun!
3. Compass rose - the one available fro the BFA is suitable but a bit small. However, it gets high marks in convenience for its easy "peel and stick" application. You may find a larger plastic overlay style at an office supply store. Using this, with appropriate transparency material, you can then use a copy machine to create compass roses of various sizes. Be sure to check these for any distortion created by the "enlarge or reduce" cycle.
4. Compass - the surveyor’s sighting type compass is best. With these you sight your pibal using a guideline on the compass and then read its magnetic heading. Suunto is a popular manufacturer of this style compass. You should expect to pay $50 to $100 or more for this type compass. However, other styles are suitable and cost much less. Again an outdoor outfitter store will often stock a variety of compasses ranging in price from as little as $3.95 to more than $100.
5. Inclinometer - this is an instrument similar to a compass in looks but instead of reading a heading, it reads angles of elevation. This would be a required instrument if you’re planning to use one of the varied computer wind reader programs now available. For the purposes of this article, it is mentioned for information only. Chances are if you’re using one of those programs, you’re well educated in map work anyway.
6. Pibals - the 11 or 14 inch diameter seem to be most stable and will rise at a more constant rate of climb. Black is an excellent color for ease of visibility. Lighter colors are more difficult to track against the sky.
7. Helium - required for the pibals. If you’re just starting out and cannot or do not wish to invest in an expensive helium tank set up, try a Sam’s Club or similar warehouse outlet. They usually stock a small disposable (non-refillable) helium tank that comes complete with about 24 balloons and the filling nozzle for around $20. The balloons are far from top quality but the cost is reasonable.
8. Watch - one with a sweep second hand or a stopwatch to be used for timing your pibal readings.
9. Log sheet - not a formal business form, just something to record your readings on.
Equipped with these tools a first step is to mark the map. For this your colored highlighting pens come in handy. Most events will provide a master map showing red zones (PZs) and sensitive zones. These are typically marked in red and yellow. Locate the main festival site and mark it. If fly- in tasks are expected you might scout the area and choose to make other potential launch sites as well as landing sites. These you might mark in green. How far you go in marking your maps is a personal decision. Many serious competitors will also mark major roads, visual landmarks, potential targets, powerlines, even waterways (streams, creeks, rivers, lakes) in the flying area, using a different color for each feature.
Whatever method you settle on be consistent. Bill Bussey tells of always marking his own maps for the U.S. Nationals, using blue to identify water. Once he purchased pre-marked maps from an outside source. These maps used blue to mark powerlines. On a pilot declared goal task, Bussey declared a goal by what he thought was a stream, but it was a powerline. The penalty points he received for calling a target too close to a powerline were enough to cost him the national championship!
Next you want to find magnetic north. Don’t just line up your compass rose north with the north indicator on the map. Odds are the map reflects true north, not magnetic and you could plot a course as much as 15 off! And, it’s not enough to find the magnetic north declination and correct your compass rose accordingly. Even with a rose oriented for the magnetic declination you could still be wrong. Your map is not correctly oriented until it is aligned with your compass! To do this find a straight stretch of road, preferably near the launch field. Using your compass, take a bearing on this road (on the actual road, not on the map). Don’t stand too close to your chase vehicle or under powerlines as these may deflect your compass reading. Now, take your compass rose and lay it over the road on the map and align it with the bearings you read on your compass. You now have located magnetic north on your map as read by your compass. Also remember to take all pibal readings with your compass, don’t rely one someone else’s information. Their compass could be several degrees off from your and using their readings will again send you off course.
Next, you may choose to draw two or three concentric circles on your map. Use the center of the launch field, or the location of the on field target if there is one, to draw circles indicating one, two and three mile distances. If fly-in tasks are called you can readily see how far you need to go from the target to find a launch site.
Using the map In-flight
Your final step is to put this carefully prepared map in a place where you can use it. Don’t leave it in the chase vehicle. Some pilots chose to ask a passenger to hold their map, others fold the map and stuff it in an onboard pouch or into a corner of the basket by a tank, anywhere that it will be easily accessible. A step better than this is to build or buy a map board that can be attached to the basket. A map board allows instant reference to the map when needed and you can actually mark your track in grease pencil as you cross over identifiable landmarks below. This can be especially helpful if you have some distance to travel to the target, if it is obscured by trees or other obstacles, or if visibility is limited by haze.
The ability to pre-plan your track and then use precision navigation techniques and piloting skills can make the difference in your consistently reaching that goal, whether it is a target worth thousands of dollars or a favorite landing site.
