Rule One: Fly the Balloon! by Joe Zvada/balloonpong.com
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mproving your flying skills will produce larger point gains then any other improvement you can make. Learning the newest mapping software, for example, won’t gain you much if you can’t consistently fly to a target. For most, flying skills are not something that can be parked on a shelf for months without collecting a little dust. Engaging in a constant state of practice and improvement will keep you sharp in the sky. The second you think you’ve mastered the craft is the second you’ll start losing points because of poor flying performance. For the purposes of this article I’m going to focus on a specific routine of basic flying maneuvers I hone in on when either flying a new balloon or knocking the rust off after a long layoff from flying. This season I flew a number of different balloons, and I gained a newfound appreciation for the need to refresh the basic skills that make for effective competitive flying. I refer to it as dialing it in, and the key to the process is an intense focus on the intricacies of flying as a way to identify the smallest of pilot errors like over-burns or overvents. Level Flight I know I’m rusty when I can’t seem
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to keep the balloon level; it is the first skill I dial in on. I start close to the ground using frame of reference cues to know when I need to burn. Then, I move to altitude for practice without the frame of reference, relying more heavily on instrumentation to achieve level flight. Through repetitious practice, the goal is to be able to fly level without using much focus on either the ground or instrumentation instead relying on instinct gained through the practice. This allows my brain to focus on other things like task planning or traffic avoidance. Controlled Descent A well-executed descent into a target can be the difference between throwing from two feet above the ground and 200ft above the ground. The points difference in such a scenario can be staggering. The goals I place on my descent control are two fold; first, safely transition the airspace and stop the descent without any risk of colliding with others or the ground; second, to stop the descent without an over burn that will send the balloon rocketing back up into the sky. The finesse of a proper controlled descent and flare is all the difference in your final score. It is not all about falling fast either. All too often you see pilots descend too fast into the lower wind and cut left of the www.bfa.net