Field of Flight - Council Bluffs, IA
by Jason JONES
The Field of Flight event was once again a huge success at Ditmar's Orchard just west of Council Bluffs, IA. Friday evening brought a nice crowd for an evening that was to breezy to fly, but a show was put on none the less with a glow. Saturday morning proved to be unflyable with a 40 knot wind sheer just off the surface.
Saturday evening event director, Matt Fenster, decided to call a task and get the championship underway. A double hare and hound was the call. There was nice steering for an evening flight. Both hare balloons landed at a local airport which provided a great target area and landing opportunities. Balloons that launched in the second half of the field found the winds more challenging and did not score as well on the targets as the early balloons off the launch field.
Sunday morning brought light winds and a three part task. Two Judge Declared Goals and a Fly in Task were called. The JDG's were both road targets that made the morning both fun and challenging. Scoring was only allowed on the traveled portion of the road on both targets. The other challenge presented besides the narrow scoring area was the second JDG was an east/west road. The balloons were traveling east to west and baggies were being thrown over the road from both sides.
In the end Cory Bloom won the first task of the event and the event itself. Jeremy Rubin was second followed by Todd Isley. Ditmar's Orchard deserves a big thanks for their continued support of the event.
The Field of Flight event was once again a huge success at Ditmar's Orchard just west of Council Bluffs, IA. Friday evening brought a nice crowd for an evening that was to breezy to fly, but a show was put on none the less with a glow. Saturday morning proved to be unflyable with a 40 knot wind sheer just off the surface.
Saturday evening event director, Matt Fenster, decided to call a task and get the championship underway. A double hare and hound was the call. There was nice steering for an evening flight. Both hare balloons landed at a local airport which provided a great target area and landing opportunities. Balloons that launched in the second half of the field found the winds more challenging and did not score as well on the targets as the early balloons off the launch field.
Sunday morning brought light winds and a three part task. Two Judge Declared Goals and a Fly in Task were called. The JDG's were both road targets that made the morning both fun and challenging. Scoring was only allowed on the traveled portion of the road on both targets. The other challenge presented besides the narrow scoring area was the second JDG was an east/west road. The balloons were traveling east to west and baggies were being thrown over the road from both sides.
In the end Cory Bloom won the first task of the event and the event itself. Jeremy Rubin was second followed by Todd Isley. Ditmar's Orchard deserves a big thanks for their continued support of the event.
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