Without question the toughest form of balloon flight is picking a target and then
selecting a launch site from which you are certain you can navigate to that target. The
BFA CD calls these pilot or judge declared goal tasks. If you attend many competitions,
they tend to separate the pilots from the pretenders. Competitions like a hare and
hounds are usually no brainers. Just launch and follow the guy in front of you.
Of course, when faced with a fly-in, PDG or JDG task some pilots still use this
approach. The find a pilot who is consistently a top finisher and try to follow them to
their selected launch site and then on to the target. Every top competitor has been
faced with this at one point or another. Phil Glebe (tiring of these hanger-on) tells of a
time when he secreted his balloon on another truck and purposely sent crew chief Don
Melton off to a location downwind of the target! He laughed all the way to the
target knowing a half dozen of his competitors were upwind laying out their balloons
and wondering why the Pontiac balloon never came out of its chase commander.
Eventually every pilot should learn to plot their own track to the target. Current U.S.
National Champion Pat Cannon wrote this article several years ago for an earlier issue
of Balloon Life. Its lesson is timeless so we reprise it here as an important element in
our discussion of maps and navigation.
Glen Moyer
The purpose of pibal readings is to obtain information to be used in locating a launch site and to evaluate upper level wind direction. Your goal is to identify a pie- shaped quadrant extending upwind from the target. Once calculated you should be able to reach the target from anywhere within the pie boundaries. The more changes in wind direction at altitude the bigger the piece of pie. The trick is in finding jut how much direction change is aloft and at what altitude. It is wise to take readings at the target and then again at your chosen launch site. This should tell you if the winds have changed or if the target area winds may be affected by some terrain feature.
When reading direction to the pibal, you should also be estimating altitude and general track (Figures 1-3). Have a crew member time the ascent and take readings about every 30 seconds. This information can be logged on a form and evaluated after the pibal is out of sight. The bearings recorded to the pibal at given time intervals should produce an educated guess as to its actual ground track (Figure 4). If you know how fast your pibal is rising, the set time intervals will give you an excellent idea of where the directional changes will occur.
In creating your pie-shaped quadrant (Figure 5), you will need a left and a right side in most cases. Your surface direction will probably be one side of the quadrant and should be fairly accurate since it was your first pibal reading. The other side will be your best guess of direction since you were probably taking bearings on a pibal that was tracking away from you and across your sighting direction. As the pibal changes direction it is virtually impossible to stay aligned with its track. However, by taking time readings of bearing to and altitude of the pibal, you should be able to establish the other side of your pie wedge. Once determined, you should mark your map or your compass rose overlay with the quadrant. Once on your map, this establishes both the left and right boundaries of the area which will allow you to track to the target. Note any prominent land features within the quadrant, such as towers, road intersections, buildings, etc. to give you additional steering landmarks once aloft.
Chose your take-off side of the pie that will allow optimal use of the winds. The closer to the edge of the pie quadrant you launch, the more limited your choice of altitudes to correct or bracket your course.
Looking down on the pibal flight profile (Figure 4).
The information will help to develop the pie shapped quadrant below (Figure 5)
