National Balloon Classic
Indianola, IA usa
2010
Heartsill Wins in Indianola
Joe Heartsill's gravity drop from Task 13, 3.25 meters
The final scores are in from the National Balloon Classic in Indianola, IA. It is Joe Heartsill who came from behind on the last day to claim the victory. Joe flew well all week, but really put the pressure on the leaders the last couple of days and made the final pass Saturday Morning. The lone international pilot, Michael Suchy, spent most of the week in the top three and finished second, and Maury Petrehn charged up to a third place finish.
Congrats to all! Complete scores can be found here.
Congrats to all! Complete scores can be found here.
Below are the final two tasks and the overall scores from this week in Indianola. Congrats to Joe Heartsill on his win. His name will go on the wall in the Pilot Compound with all the past winners from one of our oldest competitive events.
| final_standings.pdf |
| nc_regionals.pdf |
| task15.pdf |
| task16.pdf |
Saturday AM
Pilots had two tasks this morning to wrap up competition in Indianola, IA. Task 15 and 16 were both Hesitation Waltz's. Pilots had three options to choose from on task 15 and two additional options on task 16. Complicating matters on the final morning was a low level jet that brought winds of nearly 40 mph down to 800 ft above the ground. In the end there were 15 scores on each task as quite a few pilots opted not to fly and sit out and watch the contenders duke it out. In the end it was Joe Heartsill taking home his first National Balloon Classic championship besting the lone international competitor in the feild, Michael Suchy. Suchy, a Czech Republic native led the feild of close to 100 balloons heading into the final flight window and finished second. Third place went to former Classic champion, Maury Petrehn.
Final standings
1) Joe Heartsill
2) Michael Suchy
3) Maury Petrehn
North Central Standings (earn automatic bids for the 2011 National Championship)
1) Benji Clemons
2) Harold Graves
3) Jeremy Rubin
We'll have more updates as we receive them. Looks for pictures, and scores later tonight.
Pilots had two tasks this morning to wrap up competition in Indianola, IA. Task 15 and 16 were both Hesitation Waltz's. Pilots had three options to choose from on task 15 and two additional options on task 16. Complicating matters on the final morning was a low level jet that brought winds of nearly 40 mph down to 800 ft above the ground. In the end there were 15 scores on each task as quite a few pilots opted not to fly and sit out and watch the contenders duke it out. In the end it was Joe Heartsill taking home his first National Balloon Classic championship besting the lone international competitor in the feild, Michael Suchy. Suchy, a Czech Republic native led the feild of close to 100 balloons heading into the final flight window and finished second. Third place went to former Classic champion, Maury Petrehn.
Final standings
1) Joe Heartsill
2) Michael Suchy
3) Maury Petrehn
North Central Standings (earn automatic bids for the 2011 National Championship)
1) Benji Clemons
2) Harold Graves
3) Jeremy Rubin
We'll have more updates as we receive them. Looks for pictures, and scores later tonight.
Friday AM
Another good morning in Iowa. Classic Director Bill Clemmons called a three part task:
Task 12 - Fly in Task
Task 13 - Multiple Judge Declared Goal with two target options for pilots
Task 14 - Multiple Judge Declared Goal with three target options for pilots
The targets were set up on roughly a 330 degree line, however, there was not a direct wind that could be used to obtain all three. Pilots had to climb to about 1000ft to use a southerly wind and time their descent to use an east northeast wind on the surface. Pilots had to do the same cycle for each of the three targets. Combine the challenging wind directions with a low level wind shear and gravity marker drops and it turned out to be a very challenging morning for competitors.
Early reports from pilots in Indianola are calling for shakeup in the scores. We will post all scores as soon as we have them.
.
Another good morning in Iowa. Classic Director Bill Clemmons called a three part task:
Task 12 - Fly in Task
Task 13 - Multiple Judge Declared Goal with two target options for pilots
Task 14 - Multiple Judge Declared Goal with three target options for pilots
The targets were set up on roughly a 330 degree line, however, there was not a direct wind that could be used to obtain all three. Pilots had to climb to about 1000ft to use a southerly wind and time their descent to use an east northeast wind on the surface. Pilots had to do the same cycle for each of the three targets. Combine the challenging wind directions with a low level wind shear and gravity marker drops and it turned out to be a very challenging morning for competitors.
Early reports from pilots in Indianola are calling for shakeup in the scores. We will post all scores as soon as we have them.
.
| task7.pdf |
| task8.pdf |
| task9.pdf |
| task10.pdf |
| task11.pdf |
| task12.pdf |
| task13.pdf |
| task14.pdf |
| standings_after_14.pdf |
Thursday AM
Weather in Indianola finally cooperated with reliable winds allowing a five part task to be called. The pilots were greeted with great weather this morning as well as six baggies. Generally speaking pilots had as much as 100 degrees of steerage within 500 feet of the ground. Sounds like it must have been a fun one.
Task 7 was a minimum distance double drop where one triangle was placed at the location of the Fly-in for Task 8 and the other was a triangle at the Judge Declared Goal in Task 10. Task 8 was a Fly-in as previously stated located behind a house with a couple of ponds which made it a bit more difficult to locate on approach. Task 9 was a Judge Declared Goal located in the Pickard Park area with softball and baseball diamonds nearby. The scoring area was limited to the pavement only. Task 10 was a Judge Declared Goal located in a hayfield and finally Task 11 was a Watership Down where Event Director Bills Clemons was the Hare balloon. The Hare took off from The Judge Declared Goal in Task 10. As you can see below pilots really took advantage of the steerable winds for some great scores.
Pilots and crews had to work together this morning as the local area has seen 2-3 inches of rain in recent days and dry spots were hard to come by.
We'll get scores posted just as soon as we can. Stay Tuned.
Weather in Indianola finally cooperated with reliable winds allowing a five part task to be called. The pilots were greeted with great weather this morning as well as six baggies. Generally speaking pilots had as much as 100 degrees of steerage within 500 feet of the ground. Sounds like it must have been a fun one.
Task 7 was a minimum distance double drop where one triangle was placed at the location of the Fly-in for Task 8 and the other was a triangle at the Judge Declared Goal in Task 10. Task 8 was a Fly-in as previously stated located behind a house with a couple of ponds which made it a bit more difficult to locate on approach. Task 9 was a Judge Declared Goal located in the Pickard Park area with softball and baseball diamonds nearby. The scoring area was limited to the pavement only. Task 10 was a Judge Declared Goal located in a hayfield and finally Task 11 was a Watership Down where Event Director Bills Clemons was the Hare balloon. The Hare took off from The Judge Declared Goal in Task 10. As you can see below pilots really took advantage of the steerable winds for some great scores.
Pilots and crews had to work together this morning as the local area has seen 2-3 inches of rain in recent days and dry spots were hard to come by.
We'll get scores posted just as soon as we can. Stay Tuned.
.
Team USA members, pilot Joe Heartsill and manager Brad Temeyer, with a little help from Maury Petrehn and Rhett Heartsill do a little disco in the pilot compound to raise money for the World Team Fund. The four busted moves until $750 was raised. I hope somebody has a video of this!
Team USA members, pilot Joe Heartsill and manager Brad Temeyer, with a little help from Maury Petrehn and Rhett Heartsill do a little disco in the pilot compound to raise money for the World Team Fund. The four busted moves until $750 was raised. I hope somebody has a video of this!
.
The below pictures were taken at Task 9 in Pickard Park. Courtesy of Carol Harris
The below pictures were taken at Task 9 in Pickard Park. Courtesy of Carol Harris
.Wednesday AM
The weather won again today in Indianola. The Midweset and Iowa was drenched with lots of rain overnight last night and into the morning hours. Some locations are reporting 3 inches of rain since the first of August. Rain may continue through this afternoon.
On a positive note, the weather for Thursday - Saturday looks really favorable. Pilots are expecting some excited task calling from Director Bill Clemons and staff.
Below are the scores from yesterday and the overall standings through task 6.
| task3.pdf |
| task4.pdf |
| task5.pdf |
| task6.pdf |
| standings_after_6.pdf |
.
Tuesday AM
Much to the surprise of most at the National Balloon Classic, the weather opened up long enough for a flight this morning. A four part task was called: Task 3 - Minimum Distance Double Drop, Task 4 - Fly in, Task 5 - Judge Declared Goal, and Task 6 - Multiple Judge declared goal. Tasks 4,5, and 6 were all gravity marker drops which requires the pilot to drop the marker straight down. A penalty is applied should the pilot throw his marker.
Task 3, the minimum distance double drop, consisted of two triangles, one was located at Task 4 and the other was located at Task 5. The objective was to get a baggie in each triangle. The best result would be the least amount of distance between two baggies placed in separate triangles.
Task 4 was a standard Fly in and Task 5 was a Judge Declared Goal located at the main field. Pilots had to throw a baggie at the X and in a triangle at both of these locations.
Task 6 was a Multiple Judge Declared Goal. This task gave pilots two target options to fly to and achieve a result.
After an early morning storm cell dissipated, initial winds were very favorable for competition with lots of steering. However, the winds began to shift after about half the balloons were through the first target and they continued to shift throughout the entire flight. Pilots had to constantly search for the winds they needed to get to the next target. Participating pilots we've spoken with have reported at least three major wind shifts that totally changed how they had to fly to targets. One pilot, Maury Petrehn, climbed to 7,000 feet and found a wind that allowed him to make a second attempt at the final task. Given how the field was scattered with all the wind shifts, scores will be interesting. They will be posted here as soon as we have them so check back later!
.
Tuesday AM
Much to the surprise of most at the National Balloon Classic, the weather opened up long enough for a flight this morning. A four part task was called: Task 3 - Minimum Distance Double Drop, Task 4 - Fly in, Task 5 - Judge Declared Goal, and Task 6 - Multiple Judge declared goal. Tasks 4,5, and 6 were all gravity marker drops which requires the pilot to drop the marker straight down. A penalty is applied should the pilot throw his marker.
Task 3, the minimum distance double drop, consisted of two triangles, one was located at Task 4 and the other was located at Task 5. The objective was to get a baggie in each triangle. The best result would be the least amount of distance between two baggies placed in separate triangles.
Task 4 was a standard Fly in and Task 5 was a Judge Declared Goal located at the main field. Pilots had to throw a baggie at the X and in a triangle at both of these locations.
Task 6 was a Multiple Judge Declared Goal. This task gave pilots two target options to fly to and achieve a result.
After an early morning storm cell dissipated, initial winds were very favorable for competition with lots of steering. However, the winds began to shift after about half the balloons were through the first target and they continued to shift throughout the entire flight. Pilots had to constantly search for the winds they needed to get to the next target. Participating pilots we've spoken with have reported at least three major wind shifts that totally changed how they had to fly to targets. One pilot, Maury Petrehn, climbed to 7,000 feet and found a wind that allowed him to make a second attempt at the final task. Given how the field was scattered with all the wind shifts, scores will be interesting. They will be posted here as soon as we have them so check back later!
.
Monday AM
The weather won out this morning. Rain moved into the area canceling competitive flights. We'll be adding more pictures from Sunday AM soon.
The weather won out this morning. Rain moved into the area canceling competitive flights. We'll be adding more pictures from Sunday AM soon.
Sunday AM
It was the first flight of competition this morning in Indianola, IA. Pilots flew a two part task, Fly In and Hesitation Waltz. Conditions were light and variable making both of these tasks very difficult. Many pilots spent the morning chasing the wind shifts to different launch sites. The FIN saw some very good scores, including a couple of "sweet spot" drops. The HWZ gave pilots the choice of three targets. The variable winds made it difficult to achieve two results. Scores are below.
It was the first flight of competition this morning in Indianola, IA. Pilots flew a two part task, Fly In and Hesitation Waltz. Conditions were light and variable making both of these tasks very difficult. Many pilots spent the morning chasing the wind shifts to different launch sites. The FIN saw some very good scores, including a couple of "sweet spot" drops. The HWZ gave pilots the choice of three targets. The variable winds made it difficult to achieve two results. Scores are below.
| task1.pdf |
| task2.pdf |
| standings_after_2.pdf |
Preview
The largest event in the Midwest - the 41st National Balloon Classic in Indianola, Iowa started on Friday evening and continued Saturday AM with poor weather conditions.
The National Balloon Classic will host over 100 pilots from across the USA and the world. Czech balloon manufacturer, Kubicek Balloons, will also be represented at this year's Classic. Fifty of the one hundred pilots will be flying in HACD sanctioned competitions in the mornings. Pilots come for the tough week long competition. This year's event will feature past World Champion Joe Heartsill, past National Champions Rob Bartholomew and Steve Jones, and multiple Classic Champions Maury Petrehn and Jeremy Rubin, as well as our current National Rankings leader Gary Haynes.
Competition starts Sunday Morning, check back here for scores, pics, and recaps.
The largest event in the Midwest - the 41st National Balloon Classic in Indianola, Iowa started on Friday evening and continued Saturday AM with poor weather conditions.
The National Balloon Classic will host over 100 pilots from across the USA and the world. Czech balloon manufacturer, Kubicek Balloons, will also be represented at this year's Classic. Fifty of the one hundred pilots will be flying in HACD sanctioned competitions in the mornings. Pilots come for the tough week long competition. This year's event will feature past World Champion Joe Heartsill, past National Champions Rob Bartholomew and Steve Jones, and multiple Classic Champions Maury Petrehn and Jeremy Rubin, as well as our current National Rankings leader Gary Haynes.
Competition starts Sunday Morning, check back here for scores, pics, and recaps.
