Still waiting...

There's a lot of "nervous energy" and impatience in the air.

At 8:30pm, everyone got tired of waiting for the online scores, which the competition director explicitly said would be updated at 8:00pm, exactly the same time as they're posted at the Competition Center. Everyone is driving up to the Competition Center right now to figure out what's going on. I suspect that the German team will be there as well..

UPDATE 10:10PM - Still no word or updates. I won't be checking again until about 4:30am, but maybe you can find out sooner from the official site: http://www.balloon2006worlds.com/results/HABWC06index.html

The waiting is the hardest part...

At tonight's briefing, they said that the latest scores would be posted online at 8:00pm. It's now 8:15pm, and still no update. Everyone is literally bunkered in a room clicking the Refresh button every 5 seconds:

The glow

Tonight there was a balloon glow on the front stretch of the Twin Ring Motegi oval track:


Special thanks to Andrew Nels for his help:

Task 28

Saturday evening, the last competition flight: a single JDG fly in from individual launch points in the flatlands west of Motegi

Nothing unusual, a typical evening fly in with light and shifting winds. Paul took off earlier than the rest of the Americans, primarily to assist the others with picking their launch sites. He ended up missing the field to the right, but many others did as well. However, Nick, Joe, and Johnny all scored on the field, so perhaps it worked.

Still no scores from this morning. They indicated that the next update would be at 8:00pm local, or 6:00am Michigan time. I'm guessing that will include this morning's tasks, but not this evening's. They'll probably wait until tomorrow's rewards to reveal the winner.

The balloon glow on the race track starts in about 45 minutes. We stopped by a convenience store on the way back to the hotel and spent 11,000 yen (about $100) on various beverages.

Just one picture tonight:

Your next World Champion?

Tasks 24, 25, 26, and 27

Saturday morning: PDG (pilot declared goal), JDG (judge declared goal), JDG (judge declared goal), FOT (pilot declared fly on) from a common launch site in Motegi

Preface: In an attempt to deal with the 4 or 5 pilots who have caused the incidents this week, the event director instituted a 600ft/min vertical speed limit for all pilots. Any excess of this limit over 30 seconds in length would result in a "reckless flying" penalty. Penalties for incidents that necessitated this limit have varied from 150 to 500 points.

Translation of preface for non-balloon people reading: Congratulations for making it to the last 20 laps of the Daytona 500. Because a couple drivers have caused accidents, for the first time ever we'll be enforcing a 55 mile per hour speed limit for all of you. We realize that you all qualified for this event by performing in a certain way, and that it was your understanding that you'd be able to continue under those parameters. We also understand that only a small percentage of you are having difficulty operating safely. However, rather than deal with these exception drivers appropriately on a case-by-case basis, we have no choice but to develop a policy that will be applied to all. Now let's go out there and see who the world's best driver is!

The winds this morning were very light. It took many pilots over an hour to go 3000 meters to their first pilot declared goal. By the time they got into the valley for the first of the judge declared goals, the winds had light and variable. Some pilots were able to salvage a good score (word is that Johnny did well), but many had to drop several hundred meters out in an effort to continue working on the other goals. The second judge declared marker had coordinates for the fly-on included, so recovery of that marker was crucial. That meant that some (including Paul) sacrificed any sort of maneuvering toward a very unlikely southern goal in favor of getting a recoverable marker on the ground and making some progress toward their final goal. Compounding all this was the time factor - most flights were 3.5 to 4 hours long, and goals closing was a motivating factor for many.

It's the kind of morning when median scores for some targets could be in the hundred or thousands of meters. That means that, as always, it's impossible to make any projections.

The briefing for the final flight is in 2 hours. Most likely it will be a 2 part task in the western flatlands. After that, we have a balloon glow on the race track and the Sionara Party. I'll certainly get an update posted before I go to bed, but it might not be right after the flight.

A BIG day...

Saturday brings the last day of competition for the event. This morning's flight will be big. Only 650 points separate the top 5. Less than 1000 points separate positions 6-10. And while the names in the final top 10 are probably relatively set, there's lots of opportunity for any individual pilot to gain (or lose) 1-3 positions based on today's results. The consensus is that we'll see 4-5 parts this morning and 2 parts this evening. There also some agreement that ending a world championship on an evening flight isn't the preferred method.

Everyone in our room was in bed by 9:00pm last night.

Of course, everyone wants to finish as high as they can as a personal achievement, but there's also a broader context to place today in. The results from this event will largely determine how many American positions are available for the 2008 Worlds in Austria. A 1-2-3 finish here by Team USA would allow something like 10 US pilots to make the trip in 2 years.

Imagine being Joe Zvada or Al Nels today. Joe was the 2006 BFA US National Rookie of the Year, finishing 5th in this year's Nationals. He's also here crewing for Paul Petrehn. Al is already a 2-time World Champion, finished 4th at this year's Nationals, and is the team manager ("coach") for this year's team. By and large, today will determine whether or they'll go to Austria and fly in the next Worlds.

Also, I'd again like to thank everyone for all their comments and feedback regarding my posts. I never imagined that the scope of the audience would be this large. The blog was conceived as a way to keep my family updated on what was happening here. As many of you know, I have 2 small children and a saint of a wife who actually encouraged me to make this trip. Google Talk has been a great tool, but the 14 hour time difference can make it hard to connect. The posts have allowed me to both relay practical information and feel like I'm sharing this experience with them in some fashion. It's worked quite well, and the fact that so many others are enjoying it is truly icing on the cake.

Like I said, today is a big day...

Thanksgiving in Japan

Tonight Al arranged for all the Americans here (pilots, crews, observers, and officials - over 40 people total) to have an "American" dinner and a local restaurant called Raimu. The menu included:

• Chicken
• Mashed potatoes
• Stuffing
• Macaroni and cheese
• Pizza
• Calamari
• Salad
• Ham sandwiches
• Beer

It was a great meal. Many pictures were taken, but none with my camera. When I get my hands on some, I'll post them.

Results thru task 23

Here are the top 10 after tasks 1-23 (with total points included):
1 PETREHN, John USA 17866
2 HEARTSILL, Joe USA 17814
3 DONNER, Nick USA 17484
4 SCHNEIDER, Uwe GER 17235
5 MIZUKAMI, Takao JPN 17216
6 KOSTIUSKEVICIUS, Rimas LTU 16214
7 BOLZE, Stephane FRA 15808
8 MESSINES, Francois FRA 15782
9 PETREHN, Paul USA 15487
10 ENDO, Mamoru JPN 15299

For complete results: http://www.balloon2006worlds.com/results/HABWC06index.html

Miscellaneous photos

With a little time to spare before our Thanksgiving dinner, here's some random pictures from the past week.

First by popular demand, some more of Al Nels (Team Manager) and his group:



Next a couple of Maury Petrehn sumo wrestling some Japanese baseball players:


And finally, here's a homeless Johnny Petrehn and Nick Donner (their teams had to switch hotels multiple times this week as well) hanging out in the lobby waiting for the evening briefing:


I can't help but wonder if the participants in the World Poker Championship have to spend their time between games sitting on a hotel lobby floor checking e-mail and Skype'ing because they're changing hotels for the 3rd time...

Scrubbed

Friday evening's flight was cancelled due to surface winds that were forecast to be 15 knots at sunset. For the first time this week, Al and his gang relaxed:


Joe checked the scores:

But the results of morning's flight still haven't been posted.

There have been a few mid-air incidents this week, including one that resulted in significant envelope damage. No one was hurt, and none of the US pilots were involved in any way. However as a result, the event director has indicated that the remaining flights will likely bring an absolute limit on ascent and decent rates (possibly 600 ft/min) to be enforced using data from the GPS loggers. Pilot opinion is falling on both sides of the issue, with some being more vocal than others regarding the possible new rule.

Tonight all the Americans are going to a belated Thanksgiving dinner at a local restaurant here in Motegi.

Tasks 20, 21, 22, and 23

A four part task from individual launch sites in the Motegi area was presented for Friday morning: FIN (judge-declared fly in), JDG (judge-declared goal), FON (pilot declared goal), FON (pilot declared goal)

Nothing tricky about the tasks or planning on this one. However the winds above were on the quick side (40 kmph+), so coming over the ridges and into the calmer winds in the valleys presented some challenge. Each member of Team USA dropped in the measured areas of the first 2 tasks, and all markers were recovered (important because of the provisional coordinated written on the tails). We only had to go tracking through the bamboo for a couple. Some other teams are going to have problems this morning though, as many were still searching when we left. On the way to find one of Johnny's markers on a thick bamboo-covered hillside, we saw at least 4 other markers dangling in trees and bushes.

They're saying the weather looks good for the rest of the event. There's 3 more competition flights left (tonight, Saturday morning, Saturday evening), then a separate "prize flight" on Sunday. There's an optional glow on the race track tomorrow (Saturday) night, and believe it or not we actually signed up for it. They pay 2,000 yen to glow (about $200), but the real reason is that Joe gets to drive our chase vehicle around the track.

Because we had to check out of our temporary hotel this morning:


We're now homeless until after this evening's flight. They're VERY strict on check-in times here. A posted time of 3:00pm does not mean 2:30pm or even 2:55pm. It's not so bad though, because we need to leave Motegi by 1:00pm or so for the 2:00pm briefing in Haga Town. It will be nice to get up tomorrow morning at a leisurely 4:15am and only have to drive 5 minutes to briefing.

Results thru task 19

Here are the top 10 after tasks 1-19:
1 DONNER, Nick USA
2 PETREHN, John USA
3 HEARTSILL, Joe USA
4 SCHNEIDER, Uwe GER
5 MESSINES, Francois FRA
6 MIZUKAMI, Takao JPN
7 BOLZE, Stephane FRA
8 KOSTIUSKEVICIUS, Rimas LTU
9 PETREHN, Paul USA
10 GIBBS, Paul AUS

For complete results: http://www.balloon2006worlds.com/results/HABWC06index.html

These include all the tasks we've flown so far. Not a significant shake-up like I'd thought, but more shifting around of the same names. The top 4 have separated themselves from the rest by 1000 points or so.

Today looks like another decent morning.

Results thru task 14

Here are the top 11 after tasks 1-14:
1 DONNER, Nick USA
2 PETREHN, John USA
3 HEARTSILL, Joe USA
4 MESSINES, Francois FRA
5 MIZUKAMI, Takao JPN
6 BOLZE, Stephane FRA
7 SCHNEIDER, Uwe GER
8 KOSTIUSKEVICIUS, Rimas LTU
9 FUJITA, Masahiko JPN
10 GIBBS, Paul AUS
11 PETREHN, Paul USA

For complete results: http://www.balloon2006worlds.com/results/HABWC06index.html

Keep in mind that there are 5 tasks that were flown today that are not yet included in these totals. My guess is that there will be some significant shake-up once those post.

Video from task 19

Shawn has outdone himself. He put together a video montage of Team USA's drops on the minimum distance target from tonight's flight. They take place in the order listed below:
Joe Heartsill / Nick Donner / Johnny Petrehn / Paul Petrehn task 19

Task 19

A minimum distance task with a common launch point was called for Thursday evening. Essentially each competitor had to fly for at least 20 minutes, then drop a marker as close to their take off point as possible. This meant taking off to the southwest, climbing to 2500+ feet to "back up" to the northeast, then descending to make a gravity marker drop a target back on the launch field. Here's Erica and Chase Donner cheesing it up before the flight:


It was a great evening for the crowd, as they got to see balloons launch, then throw on the target, and then land nearby. Several balloons disappeared into the clouds at altitude; we'll see how the event director chooses to handle that. It's different here in that there doesn't appear to be the air law restrictions that we usually fly under in the US. For example, many markers landed among the spectators, and several pilots made low flights (under 25') or radical descents over the crowd. So maybe IFR flights aren't a big deal.

It was an good evening for Team USA. It was hard to tell from the ground exactly how far each of them was from the target, but Joe looked like he was within a meter, and I don't think any of them was outside of 20 meters. Remember, those are gravity drops. Paul strung it out the longest of any competitor, coming across about 15 minutes before sunset (over an hour after he launched) with a drop of about 5 meters.

Here's a shot of a Kubicek XR racer:

Even among all the racer balloons here, it looks very skinny.

Tomorrow is going to be a very long day. First we have to check out of our cool Chase Commander hotel and drive 45 minutes to a briefing and flight in Motegi. That means we'll all be up at about 4:00am. And we can't check in to our new hotel in Motegi (the same one we were at earlier this week) until after the evening flight, which is 30 minutes west in the flatlands. Tonight after the flight we had to drive 45 minutes back to Motegi to drop the observer and refuel, then 45 minutes back to our hotel. No event that I've attended before can compare to the amount of driving around they make us do here. It's literally hundreds of miles a day. Nothing beats the competition at a Worlds, but this really makes me appreciate the well-structured, pilot-oriented events that I get to attend back home.

But as long as we have 4-5 tasks in the morning and a couple in the evening, it will all be fine.

Tasks 15, 16, 17, and 18

Thursday morning brought a JDG (judge declared goal), ANS (angle), FOT (pilot declared fly on), JDG (judge declared goal) from a common launch point. It was an interesting call because the final JDG was 25 miles east of the flatlands area where the first 3 tasks were. And given that 1 was an angle task, that means that balloons were headed into the mountains after flying for 2 hours and making at least 1 good ascent and 1 good decent. Even in a 56 with 60 gallons of fuel, Paul landed pretty empty.

Most balloons were forced to throw their final marker well short of the target due to the 10:00am close of the scoring period (Paul was about 8000m out). However, some (including all 4 Americans) were able to get near perfect scores of 180 degrees on the angle, so once again it's hard to tell what it all means.

Joe Zvada took a major one for the team today, wading through waist-deep water to identify and ensure the mark (by another observer) of Paul's marker for the angle task.

Here's some pictures from the first JDG this morning:


And here's Paul coming in:


And once again courtesy of Shawn Raya, here's the video of that approach and drop:
Paul Petrehn task 15

That's Johnny's voice over the radio letting him know not to drop it in the nearby river.

Happy Thanksgiving

It's Thursday morning in Japan, and the weather looks good again. If we can get 5-parters in on the morning flights and a couple in the evenings, we could be looking at 30-35 tasks total for the event, which wouldn't be bad.

I think I'm going to be short on t-shirts for the trip, which means I either need to find a laundromat or go buy more.

Al Nels has been working on a special Thanksgiving meal for the American team. He said turkey is impossible to get, but that he might be able to score some other homemade "American food" like hamburgers or pizza. Al's like a celebrity here, and has all the connections. I'm sure he'll put something great together. Otherwise we're pretty sure that the KFC in the parking lot of the new hotel has whole turkeys for 5500 yen (about $50).

Results thru task 12

Here are the top 10 after tasks 1-12:
1 DONNER, Nick USA
2 HEARTSILL, Joe USA
3 PETREHN, John USA
4 MIZUKAMI, Takao JPN
5 MESSINES, Francois FRA
6 BOLZE, Stephane FRA
7 PETREHN, Paul USA
8 SCHNEIDER, Uwe GER
9 KOSTIUSKEVICIUS, Rimas LTU
10 FUJITA, Masahiko JPN

For complete results: http://www.balloon2006worlds.com/results/HABWC06index.html

Again, theses are for tasks 1-12. As of 11:40pm here, provisional results for tonight's tasks (13 and 14) are also available on that page, but the overall scores haven't been updated to include those. I'm sure many people have already done the math themselves, but I've got an alarm set for 4:00am (5 hours from now), so I'm going to bed.

Let's hope for another pile of markers in the morning...

The roads

So it's been requested that I post more pictures. Here's some photos of the roads we've been on:


Keep in mind that these are actual roads on the competition map. In the old days, we'd be able to declare goals on these. I can't help but wonder what would happen if you got a task sheet that said "water surfaces are out of bounds" (like they all do here) and you declared a goal on this road:


Despite all the technology we're using, some things haven't changed. Just because it's on the map doesn't mean you should be driving on it. Remember Ft. Custer on the old Battle Creek maps?

New hotel

We just checked in to the hotel that we'll be at for the next 2 nights. It's the Hotel Route Inn in Mooka. It's different in that it's a more traditional Japanese hotel, although not entirely. We still have regular beds, but each of us has our own room. That's a change from 5 of us in one room in Motegi. The rooms are small; in fact, my first impression was we're staying in a Chase Commander:


But it's very nice, and there's a plasma TV in the room. Another great thing about the hotel? There's these awesome carbonated fruit drinks (lemon and grapefruit) in the vending machine for only 200 yen (under $2). The funny thing is that they're 7% alcohol. It's like drinking Kool-Aid. And there's a grape one called a "sparkling chardonnay" that's essentially wine in a can. We figured that's one step below wine in a box. Here's Erica enjoying hers:

We've already cleaned out all the lemon flavored ones.