United states National Championship
Battle Creek, MI usa
August 24 - 28, 2010
Nationals Wrap
Wow. It seems a bit crazy to be sitting here writing about the 2010 National Championship that is already in the books. It seems like the competition season and our site just got going a few weeks ago. Nevertheless, with the major U.S. events now complete we'll turn our focus to some regional races and get geared up for the World Championship in October, but before then, lets take one last spin around the 2010 U.S. National Championship...
First, we would like to again thank Lindstrand Balloons USA for stepping up and supporting BalloonPong's coverage of the Championship. Without their help we wouldn't have had some of the equipment that helped bring videos and pictures to the site. Next, hats off to the organizers of the National Championship. Derrick Jones and his Holiday Ballon Fest staff did an excellent job once again in hosting the Championship. He and his staff had every detail covered from the complimentary snacks at every briefing, to top notch pilot packs, to a great week-ending awards banquet. The entire Holiday Balloon Fest staff should be commended for their efforts. Event Director, Maury Sullivan, and his staff worked tirelessly to call, score, and officiate a first class National Championship. The entire group was a pleasure to work with and it was obvious they took the lessons learned from last year's National Championship and built upon the success this year. Great weather allowed Maury to call 22 competitive tasks! David Levin will take over task calling starting with next year's 2011 U.S. National Championship/ Pre-Worlds event.
Oh and what about the event itself? We kicked it off the right way with our first annual BalloonPong Pre Nationals Party in the atrium at the McCamly Plaza. As for the flying, Nick Donner again proved to be the best in the field as he routinely topped the task score sheets and overcame a mistake or two along the way to earn his fourth BFA U.S. National Championship (he also has a NABA National title to go along with it). Second place went to former World Champion Johnny Petrehn and Third was held by Chase Donner in his highest Nationals finish to date. Stay tuned to BalloonPong for our upcoming coverage of the World Championship as the finishes of the American pilots will determine how many bids the U.S. will receive when the World Championship makes its return to the States in Battle Creek, MI in 2012. We hope you enjoyed our coverage 2010 U.S. National Championship presented by Lindstrand Balloons USA! As always feel free to email us your ideas for coverage, criticism, or comments.
First, we would like to again thank Lindstrand Balloons USA for stepping up and supporting BalloonPong's coverage of the Championship. Without their help we wouldn't have had some of the equipment that helped bring videos and pictures to the site. Next, hats off to the organizers of the National Championship. Derrick Jones and his Holiday Ballon Fest staff did an excellent job once again in hosting the Championship. He and his staff had every detail covered from the complimentary snacks at every briefing, to top notch pilot packs, to a great week-ending awards banquet. The entire Holiday Balloon Fest staff should be commended for their efforts. Event Director, Maury Sullivan, and his staff worked tirelessly to call, score, and officiate a first class National Championship. The entire group was a pleasure to work with and it was obvious they took the lessons learned from last year's National Championship and built upon the success this year. Great weather allowed Maury to call 22 competitive tasks! David Levin will take over task calling starting with next year's 2011 U.S. National Championship/ Pre-Worlds event.
Oh and what about the event itself? We kicked it off the right way with our first annual BalloonPong Pre Nationals Party in the atrium at the McCamly Plaza. As for the flying, Nick Donner again proved to be the best in the field as he routinely topped the task score sheets and overcame a mistake or two along the way to earn his fourth BFA U.S. National Championship (he also has a NABA National title to go along with it). Second place went to former World Champion Johnny Petrehn and Third was held by Chase Donner in his highest Nationals finish to date. Stay tuned to BalloonPong for our upcoming coverage of the World Championship as the finishes of the American pilots will determine how many bids the U.S. will receive when the World Championship makes its return to the States in Battle Creek, MI in 2012. We hope you enjoyed our coverage 2010 U.S. National Championship presented by Lindstrand Balloons USA! As always feel free to email us your ideas for coverage, criticism, or comments.
Saturday AM
Competition Director Maury Sullivan called a three part task this morning for the final flight of the US National Championship. About forty degrees of steerage with a fast 40kph at around 400 feet created very difficult flying for pilots hoping to make their final moves in the standings.
Congrats to Champion Nick Donner for winning this year's US National Championship, his second in a row, Johnny Petrehn finished second, and Chase Donner moved up to third. Head to the BFA website for overall scores. We will have more updates as we recover and travel home from the long week of competition.
Check out all of Trace Christenson's coverage for the Battle Creek Enquirer here
More pictures from the whole week available on hotairballoonphotos.com
Congrats to Champion Nick Donner for winning this year's US National Championship, his second in a row, Johnny Petrehn finished second, and Chase Donner moved up to third. Head to the BFA website for overall scores. We will have more updates as we recover and travel home from the long week of competition.
Check out all of Trace Christenson's coverage for the Battle Creek Enquirer here
More pictures from the whole week available on hotairballoonphotos.com
Impromptu Pong photo shoot at 3000ft over Battle Creek during the final flight of the US Nationals.
Friday PM
Friday night featured two additional tasks called at the National Championship. Task 18 was a Fly-In North of town and Task 19 was a Hesitation Waltz with three goals, but most pilots opted for the closest goal to the Fly-In. In order to get to both targets most pilots had to climb to about 4,000 ft MSL (3,100 AGL) to get into a Northwesterly wind. Approaches to both targets were from a few thousand feet so the results aren't quite as good as the morning tasks we've seen. Still, pilots managed as many as 10 scores inside the legs of the X at both targets. Scores should be out relatively quickly. You can check them out at the BFA site here.
Onboard with Joe Zvada
Friday AM
Friday morning brought more good weather and another four tasks for competitors at the U.S. National Championship. The tasks were a Fly-In, Judge Declared Goal, Maximum Distance Double Drop, and Land Run. In the picture to the left you can see a good majority of the pilots launched from the same field just Southwest of the Fly-In goal. Results for the Gravity Marker Drop on the Task 14 Fly-In were incredible. All 50 pilots managed to put a baggie in the field and Gary Haynes took first place with a drop of .05m. To give you an idea of how good the scores were a 5 meter result put you somewhere on the second page (30th place +). Task 15 again saw good results as nearly all of the field was able to Gravity Drop their marker within the scoring area, Nick Donner won with a .07m drop. Task 16 was a Maximum Distance Double Drop and instead of dropping two baggies in one field as most are familiar with on a MXDD Maury Sullivan traced two shapes roughly on the wind line and pilots had to record track points in the shapes and the greatest distance between the GPS track points will be declared the winner for the task. Results for Task 16 are pending. Finally Task 17 was a Land Run. Pilots were given a center point and a 3 Kilometer radius for a scoring area on the Land Run. Point A for the Land Run was your entry point, Point B was the furthest distance you were from a line between Point A and Point C, your exit point. The catch was you had to stay in the shape until you were ready to make your final point for the Land Run. In other words pilots were attempting to make the largest Traingle within a 3 km Circle. See picture below for additional reference. It looks like Nick Donner will move back into the lead overtaking Joe Heartsill this morning. No results are yet official and you should check the BFA site here for details.
| task14_prov.pdf |
| task15_prov.pdf |
| task16_prov.pdf |
| task17_prov.pdf |
Onboard with Nick Donner
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Onboard with Joe Zvada
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Onboard with Nick Donner
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Thursday PM
Director Maury Sullivan called a two part task tonight at the US Nationals, FIN and WSD. A Fly in Task was located at a school north of the city, and Meteorologist Brad Temeyer flew the hare balloon for the Watership Down Task. Only a few scores tonight as shifting winds made it difficult for pilots to get a baggie on the ground.
Scores through Task 10 are posted on the BFA site. And new videos are posted below from this morning.
Scores through Task 10 are posted on the BFA site. And new videos are posted below from this morning.
Onboard with Joe Zvada
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Onboard with Nick Donner
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Thursday AM
After last night's cancellation competitors were eager to take to the air again to continue the pursuit of a National Championship. Again, Maury Sullivan called a five part task featuring these tasks: Pilot Declared Goal, Gordon Bennett Memorial, Hesitation Waltz, Hesitation Waltz, and finally a 3-D task. Sullivan required pilots to make their declaration for the PDG and 3-D Task at the site of the Gordon Bennett, which was in line with the wind so it wasn't far out of the way for the teams. There was a good amount of steerage this morning as much as 100 degrees depending on time and location. For the most part there was a 50 degree turn to the left on the deck and pilots continued to use the winds Thursday morning to post very impressive scores. Task 7 (first one Thursday AM) the PDG, should be interesting to score because so many pilots were so close to the center of the intersection. Sounds like GPS variation will go a long way to determining who wins the PDG. Task 8 was GBM with two large triangles on the outer edge of a baseball field and one smaller square where the best result could be achieved. Almost all scores were recorded in the sqaure. Both Task 9 and 10 (Hesitation Waltz tasks) had three targets to choose from. Because of having to declare the center point of the 3-D task before the flight pilots generally knew which Hesitation Waltz they were planning on going to and for the most part pilots stuck to this flight plan because the winds cooperated and remained relatively predictable. The final task, a 3-D task was interesting as most pilots didn't have time to maximize their score. The best result is the pilot who can accumulate the most distance within a given area during the scoring period. In the task this morning Sullivan used a Birthday Cake shape where each layer was 1 KM smaller than the one underneath (3 km, 2 km , 1km) and you received more points in the smaller areas, which were generally harder to hit. Basically the idea would be to zig zag all over the shape collecting as must distance in your track points as possible. In the picture above you'll see one of the tracks from this morning and a visual of the scoring area. Should be interesting to see how scores turned out. The earlier pilots certainly had the advantage on the last task. We'll continue to update the site and post scores as we receive them.
Trace Christenson writes locally for the Battle Creek Enquirer and did a great piece on Pong. Check it out here.
Trace Christenson writes locally for the Battle Creek Enquirer and did a great piece on Pong. Check it out here.
Onboard with Joe Zvada
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Onboard with Nick Donner
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David Troutman's view approaching Task 8 (GBM)
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On board with Nick Donner
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David Troutman's view of task 10
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Wednesday PM
Winds gusting up to 20kts have cancelled the evening flight tonight at the US Nationals.
Below are more pictures from this morning and scores are posted through task 5. We have yet to post task 6 as we await some changes to the posted scores.
Below are more pictures from this morning and scores are posted through task 5. We have yet to post task 6 as we await some changes to the posted scores.
Wednesday AM
Great morning for flying in the Battle Creek, MI area. We had a total of five tasks as the Nationals got going in a big way after last night's single task flight. Maury Sullivan called a Fly-In, Judge Declared Goal, Hesitation Walz, Hesitation Waltz, and Fly On. The winds were pretty quick above 500 ft but allowed for roughly 50 degrees of steerage throughout the flight. All of the tasks this morning were Gravity Marker Drops except for the 2nd task of the morning. Impressive results are already coming in as 49 of 50 pilots scored on the Fly-In where a 10 meter drop was good enough for roughly 600 points. The scoring was tight.
Check results on the BFA's site here.
Check results on the BFA's site here.
| task_1.pdf |
| task_2.pdf |
| task_2a.pdf |
| task_3.pdf |
| task_4.pdf |
| task_5.pdf |
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The below videos are on board with Nick Donner.
The below videos are on board with Nick Donner.
Tuesday PM
Pilots at the US National Championship flew a one part Pilot Declared Goal tonight in Battle Creek, MI. Very light winds influenced by thick overcast clouds made declaring a goal very difficult. Pilots launched from a common launch point and flew in almost every direction trying to attain their goals. Many pilots had close scores, but a late wind shift left a lot of the field salvaging all they could get. This was a task scored by GPS loggers so it is impossible to know who did well until scores are posted. Scores will appear here as soon as they are posted by the event officials.
Enquirer article on this evening's flight here
Enquirer article on this evening's flight here
Tuesday AM - First Competition Flight
Fog and low ceilings forced the cancellation of the first scheduled competition flight in Battle Creek, MI at the 2010 U.S. National Championship. Event Director, Maury Sullivan had called a three part task that would originate at a Common Launch Point in the event that the fog and low celings lifted but unfortunately the weather did not cooperate. The planned tasks were Judge Declared Goal, Judge Declared Goal, and Hesitation Waltz. All were to have been Gravity Marker Drops (GMD). As of 9:30 AM local time the ceilings still haven't quite lifted. Pilots and crews will be heading out to the Binder Park Zoo from 11 AM to 2 PM for a welcome party put on by event organizer, Holiday Balloon Fest, and their sponsors. Looking forward to a good lunch! The next briefing is at 5:30 PM this evening. Stay tuned to Twiitter for live updates.
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Trace Christenson is reporting on the Championship for the Battle Creek Enquirer. Check out his latest article here
The below pictures are from the Zoo Party Tuesday afternoon.
Below are pictures from the Friday evening practice flight
Monday AM - Official Practice Flight
This morning Event Director, Maury Sullivan, called a three part task for pilots to get some last minute practice and fine tuning in. The tasks were Pilot Declared Goal, Hesitation Waltz, and 3-D Task. Pilots drove out into the countryside on the first task to meet up with event officials to make their declarations out near where they would be picking goals. By the time we arrived at the Declaration Point some low level clouds rolled in and briefly limited the ceiling to roughly 600 feet AGL. About 30 minutes later the ceiling began to lift and clear skies returned to Battle Creek for roughly 45 minutes before another low cloud layer rolled in. The Hesitation Waltz was won by Johnny Petrehn, who chose the Western most target of the three options given to pilots. The 3-D task was shaped like a donut, where the center or hole of the donut was 1.5 Kilometers across and was not counted as part of the scoring area. The outer ring of the donut shape was used for scoring and pilots tried to accumulate the greatest distance inside the ring from the surface up to 5,000 ft. MSL. Results for all tasks aren't available yet but we'll pass them along as we receive them.
BalloonPong Pre-Race Party
Thanks to everyone who joined us in the McCamly Plaza hotel's atrium last night for a night of fun, pizza, and games. It took us a while but we were finally able to get the BalloonPong banner hung over the escalator, see picture. The hotel bar supplied the drink specials, a few different pilots brought corn hole and kan jam, and Pong added a cake and pizza. Overall the event was a great way to take a break from Nationals stress, socialize, and relax with friends before the start of an eventful week. Thanks again for coming out and we're already making plans to do it again next year.
2010 U.S. National Championship Event Preview
It all comes down to this. A week from now we'll have a good idea of the first half of qualifiers who will get the opportunity to represent the U.S. in the World Championship when it returns to American soil in 2012. Pilots and officials have been prepping for months to ready themselves to compete for the National title.
A new feature we will be unveiling for the event is a daily live chat. Click on the link here to go join in on the daily chats from 12-1 pm EST. We'll also be chatting live from the Master Briefing Monday afternoon at 4:15 pm EST. We'll be letting you know what issues are discussed and answering your questions live.
The event gets kicked off Sunday night with the first annual Balloonpong party hosted by the McCamly Plaza. The party will run from 6-10 pm and will feature a host of games and prizes. If you're in the area we would love for you to stop by. The first official practice flight is slated for Monday morning follwed by the Master briefing Monday afternoon. The first official competition of the Championship will be Tuesday morning and flights will continue morning and afternoon through Saturday morning. There are a total of 9 flight windows and the HACD and Holiday Ballooon Fest should be commended for their work in extending the event by one day from last year's schedule.
The field features most all of the top pilots in the U.S. The favorites look to be defending National Champion , Nick Donner, former National Champion Paul Petrehn, and former World Champions Johnny Petrehn and Joe Heartsill. The four pilots have combined for 11 BFA National Championships and 2 World titles. Needless to say their achievements speak for themselves. Other pilots to note are the 2009 Rookie fo the Year Jeff Pestun and Balloonpong's favorite to take home this year's Rookie of the Year crown, Rhett Heartsill. Rhett returns to Battle Creek, the site of his first win in this year's Field of Flight festival, with high hopes. Pilots will be vying for a total prize purse of $14,400.
Some of the newsworthy items concerning this year's National's are the rule changes. Pilots will now be allowed to use thier personal (approved) GPS as the primary logging device given it meets the criteria set forth in the rules section 6.9 through 6.13 and also II.17. The HACD should be commended for proactivley addressing the ever changing GPS issues. The new rules have had a positive reception by most pilots.
It is probably too early to call and Balloonpong would hate to be blamed for jinxing the event, but as of now the weather is looking promising.
A new feature we will be unveiling for the event is a daily live chat. Click on the link here to go join in on the daily chats from 12-1 pm EST. We'll also be chatting live from the Master Briefing Monday afternoon at 4:15 pm EST. We'll be letting you know what issues are discussed and answering your questions live.
The event gets kicked off Sunday night with the first annual Balloonpong party hosted by the McCamly Plaza. The party will run from 6-10 pm and will feature a host of games and prizes. If you're in the area we would love for you to stop by. The first official practice flight is slated for Monday morning follwed by the Master briefing Monday afternoon. The first official competition of the Championship will be Tuesday morning and flights will continue morning and afternoon through Saturday morning. There are a total of 9 flight windows and the HACD and Holiday Ballooon Fest should be commended for their work in extending the event by one day from last year's schedule.
The field features most all of the top pilots in the U.S. The favorites look to be defending National Champion , Nick Donner, former National Champion Paul Petrehn, and former World Champions Johnny Petrehn and Joe Heartsill. The four pilots have combined for 11 BFA National Championships and 2 World titles. Needless to say their achievements speak for themselves. Other pilots to note are the 2009 Rookie fo the Year Jeff Pestun and Balloonpong's favorite to take home this year's Rookie of the Year crown, Rhett Heartsill. Rhett returns to Battle Creek, the site of his first win in this year's Field of Flight festival, with high hopes. Pilots will be vying for a total prize purse of $14,400.
Some of the newsworthy items concerning this year's National's are the rule changes. Pilots will now be allowed to use thier personal (approved) GPS as the primary logging device given it meets the criteria set forth in the rules section 6.9 through 6.13 and also II.17. The HACD should be commended for proactivley addressing the ever changing GPS issues. The new rules have had a positive reception by most pilots.
It is probably too early to call and Balloonpong would hate to be blamed for jinxing the event, but as of now the weather is looking promising.
Nationals Rules Require Months of Preparation
The starting point of any championship event are the rules. The rules serve as the guide for competitors and staff at comp events. While they can sometimes be confusing, they are necessary to preserve and regulate the integrity of our game.
The rules for the US National Championship are based on the most recently approved AXMERG rules, which are published by the CIA. The CIA, while not as important as the government agency of the same name, does seem as secretive to the common balloonist. The CIA is the ballooning commission of the international air sports sanctioning body, the Federation Aeronautique Internationale. The FAI is a non-governmental and non-profit organization whose main objective is to ratify world records and organize international competitions.
"Those rules form the shell and the Event Director makes the needed modifications." 2010 US Nationals Director Maury Sullivan explains.
The rules approved by the FAI CIA allow events some flexibility in adjusting the policies and rules to any particular event. Sections I and II specifically, are home to the rules that can be tailored to an event.
For the US National Championship the HACD focused in large part on the GPS logger management rules that are located in Section II. As discussed previously on this site, the HACD approved that the competitor must supply the primary logger and the event logger is now the back-up. The thought of this change is to allow competitors to see the GPS they are going to be scored with while flying 3D or logger tasks.
"We (HACD) have also added Appendices to provide information and guidance to competitors on various technical issues," Sullivan continues. " In some rare cases, we (the HACD) just didn't agree with a particular rule (contained in the AXMERGs) and made the decision to keep our rules the same as the previous year in that matter."
The HACD must approve Sullivan's final copy of the rules. Once the board has given its final blessing on the proposed rule book, they are posted on the BFA web site and competitors are notified that they are available for downloading.
Now that the rules are approved, Sullivan knows the parameters of the tasks he can call. From here he can really start to see the event taking shape.
"I firmly believe that I have to prepare a general plan before arriving at the event."
Sullivan will develop a number of morning and evening task strings and run them by staff to get their thoughts on any issues involving their area of expertise: scoring, personnel, software issues, and competitive potential of the tasks.
"The plan is pretty well tweaked by the time the staff arrives."
No matter how good the plan is, Sullivan understands that the weather can really throw a wrench in the gears.
"Wind directions affects the ability to call the task given the constraints of the map and related PZ (prohibited zone) areas."
During a high profile event like the National, Sullivan always has a backup plan.
"I always have at least two planned task strings that I just hope the weather allows for a proper execution."
In the two hours before briefing, Sullivan will take his task strings to his staff where they will discuss any final issues for this particular flight. They will decide on the option that best fits the conditions to be safe and competitive. Between development and approval of the rules, and the task deliberations, competition planning for the Nationals can take months of advance work.
The rules for the US National Championship are based on the most recently approved AXMERG rules, which are published by the CIA. The CIA, while not as important as the government agency of the same name, does seem as secretive to the common balloonist. The CIA is the ballooning commission of the international air sports sanctioning body, the Federation Aeronautique Internationale. The FAI is a non-governmental and non-profit organization whose main objective is to ratify world records and organize international competitions.
"Those rules form the shell and the Event Director makes the needed modifications." 2010 US Nationals Director Maury Sullivan explains.
The rules approved by the FAI CIA allow events some flexibility in adjusting the policies and rules to any particular event. Sections I and II specifically, are home to the rules that can be tailored to an event.
For the US National Championship the HACD focused in large part on the GPS logger management rules that are located in Section II. As discussed previously on this site, the HACD approved that the competitor must supply the primary logger and the event logger is now the back-up. The thought of this change is to allow competitors to see the GPS they are going to be scored with while flying 3D or logger tasks.
"We (HACD) have also added Appendices to provide information and guidance to competitors on various technical issues," Sullivan continues. " In some rare cases, we (the HACD) just didn't agree with a particular rule (contained in the AXMERGs) and made the decision to keep our rules the same as the previous year in that matter."
The HACD must approve Sullivan's final copy of the rules. Once the board has given its final blessing on the proposed rule book, they are posted on the BFA web site and competitors are notified that they are available for downloading.
Now that the rules are approved, Sullivan knows the parameters of the tasks he can call. From here he can really start to see the event taking shape.
"I firmly believe that I have to prepare a general plan before arriving at the event."
Sullivan will develop a number of morning and evening task strings and run them by staff to get their thoughts on any issues involving their area of expertise: scoring, personnel, software issues, and competitive potential of the tasks.
"The plan is pretty well tweaked by the time the staff arrives."
No matter how good the plan is, Sullivan understands that the weather can really throw a wrench in the gears.
"Wind directions affects the ability to call the task given the constraints of the map and related PZ (prohibited zone) areas."
During a high profile event like the National, Sullivan always has a backup plan.
"I always have at least two planned task strings that I just hope the weather allows for a proper execution."
In the two hours before briefing, Sullivan will take his task strings to his staff where they will discuss any final issues for this particular flight. They will decide on the option that best fits the conditions to be safe and competitive. Between development and approval of the rules, and the task deliberations, competition planning for the Nationals can take months of advance work.
Sullivan and Staff in Final Nationals Prep
Event Director Maury and wife Lynn Sullivan
The nation's top pilots will travel to Battle Creek, MI next week for the 2010 National Championship. Fifty pilots will compete for the title of National Champion and for one of the few spots on the 2012 Worlds Team. While many pilots have just recently begun to think about their preparation, the event staff has been working toward this one week for the past year.
The Nationals would not happen without a dedicated group of volunteers, led by Director Maury Sullivan.
"The Event Director for the US Nationals is blessed with the greatest [staff] talent available." Sullivan Says
A good staff starts with a good Assistant Director, and this year that is David Levin. Levin, a former Nationals and Worlds Director, has certainly proven that he knows how to challenge competitors and will work together with Sullivan on the task calling for each flight.
The Safety Officer, Bob Zanella, will be in the field observing balloons from launch to landing and will be in constant communication with Sullivan.
"Reporting back on a continuing basis throughout the flight is critical to the success and management of an event" Sullivan explains.
Weather at a National Championship depends on an accurate forecast as pilots can be flying until late morning, almost 5 hours after Sullivan and his staff formulate their task plan. This year Sullivan has chosen professional meteorologist and US World Team Manager, Brad Teymeyer, as the Meteorologist for the event.
"A professional meteorologist who understands micro-meteorology and ballooning is worth their weight in gold." Said Sullivan, "A good Weather Officer makes everyone look smart."
The rules and logger policies at the championship this year are extremely technical and can sometimes be confusing. It will take a scoring team led by Mike Gilligan and Lynn Sullivan to handle the challenge of scoring what will hopefully be more than a dozen tasks.
Sullivan credits his wife Lynn as being the glue that holds the entire organization together.
"Without her to keep my head screwed on straight and not be afraid to challenge the task plan with an eye to safety and the staffs' and competitors' ability to execute, I couldn't be successful in this endeavor."
It is important to remember that the entire staff is made up of volunteers who take time out of their lives to help our sport continue to grow and be successful. After these first few top members, there are countless others who work behind the scenes to make the event flow smoothly. Chief Measurer, Jim Dieball, will manage the scoring teams as they measure at remote targets. Bob and Dottie Humbert will manage the loggers as they will need to be downloaded and analyzed after each flight. Just to name a few.
During the week of competition, staff will get 3-4 hours of sleep a night and only a small nap during the day if they are lucky. But that doesn't include the all-nighters performed by a few staff members last year.
"Success in this business comes with surrounding yourself with the very best staff," Sullivan goes onto explain, "one that is not afraid to challenge the leader."
An Event Director will never be able to make everyone happy, and Sullivan understands this. He is confident that he and his staff have a good plan and process in place to make the 2010 National Championship a great success.
See the published list of staff members in the Competition section of the BFA website on the Nationals page here
The Nationals would not happen without a dedicated group of volunteers, led by Director Maury Sullivan.
"The Event Director for the US Nationals is blessed with the greatest [staff] talent available." Sullivan Says
A good staff starts with a good Assistant Director, and this year that is David Levin. Levin, a former Nationals and Worlds Director, has certainly proven that he knows how to challenge competitors and will work together with Sullivan on the task calling for each flight.
The Safety Officer, Bob Zanella, will be in the field observing balloons from launch to landing and will be in constant communication with Sullivan.
"Reporting back on a continuing basis throughout the flight is critical to the success and management of an event" Sullivan explains.
Weather at a National Championship depends on an accurate forecast as pilots can be flying until late morning, almost 5 hours after Sullivan and his staff formulate their task plan. This year Sullivan has chosen professional meteorologist and US World Team Manager, Brad Teymeyer, as the Meteorologist for the event.
"A professional meteorologist who understands micro-meteorology and ballooning is worth their weight in gold." Said Sullivan, "A good Weather Officer makes everyone look smart."
The rules and logger policies at the championship this year are extremely technical and can sometimes be confusing. It will take a scoring team led by Mike Gilligan and Lynn Sullivan to handle the challenge of scoring what will hopefully be more than a dozen tasks.
Sullivan credits his wife Lynn as being the glue that holds the entire organization together.
"Without her to keep my head screwed on straight and not be afraid to challenge the task plan with an eye to safety and the staffs' and competitors' ability to execute, I couldn't be successful in this endeavor."
It is important to remember that the entire staff is made up of volunteers who take time out of their lives to help our sport continue to grow and be successful. After these first few top members, there are countless others who work behind the scenes to make the event flow smoothly. Chief Measurer, Jim Dieball, will manage the scoring teams as they measure at remote targets. Bob and Dottie Humbert will manage the loggers as they will need to be downloaded and analyzed after each flight. Just to name a few.
During the week of competition, staff will get 3-4 hours of sleep a night and only a small nap during the day if they are lucky. But that doesn't include the all-nighters performed by a few staff members last year.
"Success in this business comes with surrounding yourself with the very best staff," Sullivan goes onto explain, "one that is not afraid to challenge the leader."
An Event Director will never be able to make everyone happy, and Sullivan understands this. He is confident that he and his staff have a good plan and process in place to make the 2010 National Championship a great success.
See the published list of staff members in the Competition section of the BFA website on the Nationals page here
Welcome to the Pong's home of 2010 US National Championship coverage presented by Lindstrand Balloons USA. Over the next few weeks we've got some exciting things planned for this page. We're going to be rolling out features, general information you'll need to know as a competitor, and ways for the every day fan of compeitiive ballooning to follow along as we crown our National Champion.
Just to wet your whistle a bit here are some of the things we've got planned for the event: a barrage of informative articles, entertaining features, and in depth interviews from every aspect of this year's championship. We'll follow the top pilots as they make final preparations and hone their skills at the final events before heading to Battle Creek, MI. Competition will be fierce this year as everyone will by fighting for one of the few spots on the 2012 Worlds Team. .
Below are a few links to get you informed on this year's championship.
Competitor and Waiting List
2010 US Nationals Rules
2010 Schedule
2010 Compeition Map
Just to wet your whistle a bit here are some of the things we've got planned for the event: a barrage of informative articles, entertaining features, and in depth interviews from every aspect of this year's championship. We'll follow the top pilots as they make final preparations and hone their skills at the final events before heading to Battle Creek, MI. Competition will be fierce this year as everyone will by fighting for one of the few spots on the 2012 Worlds Team. .
Below are a few links to get you informed on this year's championship.
Competitor and Waiting List
2010 US Nationals Rules
2010 Schedule
2010 Compeition Map
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Below is the latest update direct from Championship Director Maury Sullivan
Below is the latest update direct from Championship Director Maury Sullivan
| updates_from_the_director.doc |
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Below are the map calibration files and the waypoint files competitors will be using in Battle Creek
Below are the map calibration files and the waypoint files competitors will be using in Battle Creek
| finalnationalsintersections-gdb-0723.gdb |
| finalnationalsintersections-gpx-0723.gpx |
| finalnationalsintersections-list-0723.xls |
