They always say leaving is the hardest part, and whoever they is is right. The last few days were filled with celebrations and packing.

Shipping a hot air balloon is not an easy task. Usually, it's easiest to pack the entire thing down into the basket if possible. This is easier said than done, but we managed with the help of various Team USA members.

After the ceremonies and banquet, Landon and Team Heatwave dropped me back with Joey's group. I flew out on Saturday so I could fly direct, while the rest of the team flies out Sunday. 

We left Joey's rental house at 5 AM headed for Krakow. After a quick stop at Starbucks, we headed to the airport. After TSA (ask Joey how that went...) we grabbed a bite and explored the airport a bit. I have to say, for a relatively small airport there was a lot going on inside. 

The flight itself was... long. Not much else to say, relatively standard. I had the beef dish, which I think was chopped beef and mushrooms with some sort of potato dumpling. Fairly good. 

After we landed, Natalie's dad picked us up and we drove home. It made for a long day, but we are back now.

For our last dinner out in Poland (the rest of the meals were provided from this point on) we wanted to finally find some Polish food. This was a challenge because after the flight nothing was open. Landon eventually found Restauracja Karpackie Smaki, which turned out to be an amazing restaurant.

All of the food was amazing. I had the Jewish Style Liver (not sure what animal it was from) and the Fuczki. Fuczki are pancakes made by frying sauerkraut and various ingredients together.

The liver was very good. If I had to describe the flavor, I would say it tasted like ground beef in the most ground beef way possible. Almost like it was 100% lean. I will say, because of the way that organ meat tends to be, it was very dry. I think a sauce would have made it a 10/10.

The Fuczki were also very good, with the sauerkraut being very subtle. I think that often people associate sauerkraut with a very strong tangy flavor, but this was much closer to a potato pancake with more moisture. This was also very good.

The trip started with a rental car cancellation. I was to drop Brad off at Joey’s rental house. So leaving the airport in a rental car and Brad as my copilot. On the freeway driving 140k in Poland oh my. Then we got off the freeway and started on the back roads to the rental. This was my first experience on the back roads of Poland. Very narrow and no straight paths. Little did I know this was a great drive.  Now I have Andrew with me heading for the airport to meet the rest of the team to pick up the balloon. Then off to our air B&B. 

Andrew was my team partner. His knowledge of the tasks and with navigation was a great asset to the entire team. We would drive by an old building or sight and he would have all the history and narrative description. Very helpful with the local fair.

Up early for a practice flight, the take away is the even narrower roads and refueling at the gas station. The landing was down a road, I would call it a lane in the middle of corn and soybeans. I felt right at home. They have vehicles that run on propane so you can get it at the service stations. 

The evening flight I got in the basket and got my 15 flight. In the blog you will be able to pick out my part of the flight. Level and low, but check the box. 

The first morning of the competition lead car I’m driving and Andrew is helping with computer stuff. We will go to the first target and help with wind readings. The winds here are always changing +/- 20 deg. The flight was long. Last target ended at 9:00 am. On this chase the road was blocked with traffic. No problem find a way around. The road was wide that we took, then down to one lane. Then gravel, to a two track to a steep hill with wash outs. The car didn’t like that and we had to turn around. But not the Austrian team. Round they went in a van pulling a trailer. God speed to them. 

Our job after the flight was to refuel the cylinders with propane. We were 40mins away from the airport/ refueling. That wasn’t the beginning of the flight.

After some rain delays we did some tourist stuff to pass the time. Good food and coffee was had by all. 

A couple days go without a flight but a fast evening flight was next. The target was at the airport and reading the wind was a challenge. 12 mph winds is hard to get a reading with the balloon being pulled straight out. How we get readings we put a helium filled balloon on a fishing string and it will float up to get a compass reading. (Andrew's Note: See Pibals in How Does the Balloon Work?)

Easier said than done with the wind. Off to the third target to get readings. Landon was past it before we got there but made it to landing almost in time. The team helped land many balloon’s that night. That means as the balloon hits Mother Earth you jump on the basket for more weight. This helps the balloon stop. 

Two flights were over the mountain. Mountain to us the locals call them hills. The chase was much slower in the evenings with local traffic watching all the balloons. Back to refueling after every flight. 

The last morning flight was a long one as well. Not as far as distance goes. But the last part was on the surface low and slow to get as much right as he could. This had the lead car going over a bridge. Ok it was a pile of concrete not level at all on top of a creek. Then down a farm lane out to where we met up the launch and recovery truck. I’m sure they have their own adventure. We landed the balloon on a small road in the middle of a soybean field. Dry balloon. If we didn’t fly anymore. 

The last evening flight was again fast. Back over the mountain (hill). Landed in a cow pasture with many other balloons. 

The event was over, the scores were better at the end of the event. We as a team worked very well together. And we learned as the event went on. More food and trying to just take in the polish experience.

The agriculture in this area was very interesting to me. Corn and soybeans were the main crop. We did see a couple of sugar beet fields. They were medium sized from what we have seen. Not sure how they are harvested here. 

I did see some modern farm tractors. But most of the machinery is old and very small. Most of the farm fields are small. One or two acres. We wouldn’t even plant that area.

The last couple days we did a tour of the Holocaust Museum. Some of the streets and buildings are so old. Saw one from 1578. Americans think we were so old at 250. The morning before we got to the airport we spent the morning in Krakow. The history in Poland is like nothing I have experienced before. The town square is like a festival. 

What an experience the last 12 day. Thanks for asking me to be a part of team Heatwave. We all learned from this event. It was worlds after all!

Today's flight went pretty well, but it was really cold. Like, really cold. All results here are provisional, I'm writing it as results are being published. The last two tasks aren't even up yet.

The Weather

The winds were like they have been all week, steady above 250 feet and all over the place on the surface. There was lots of sterage for the back of the pack, but time became an issue. It wasn't particularly fast today, but there was some speed in the 1350 ft MSL and above layers.

The task sheet can be found here.

The Launch

I added this section to talk a little about the selection of the launch site. Today, we launched technically in the middle of the first hesitation waltz. The first picture after the flight recap shows what I'm talking about. The big circles show the minimum distance from targets to have a valid launch site (they are centered on targets) and the bright red circle shows a PZ. Landon took off just outside of the southeast circle, downwind from the first two targets. This was very helpful, because of how the winds developed. Most importantly, it bought time for the end of the task string. 

Task 12 HWZ - 391 points of 1000 available

Task 12 was tough. Landon was one of the first five in the air, and the winds for the morning hadn't fully developed yet. That wasn't necessarily a bad thing, but it hurt a bit on this one. As Landon was coming into the target, our pibal reading shifted almost 20 degrees, making it difficult to know whether our readings were accurate or not. He ended up dropping a little late and passing just south of the target. Behind him, the winds developed into some more steerable conditions and the rest of the crowd was able too come in with strong results. 

Task 13 XDD - 815 points of 1000 available

This task was much smoother, with Landon flying across the western and northern tips of the star. He was able to throw both markers into the MMA for a solid result. Tasks like this one are limited area scoring, meaning that loggers are not used. Essentially, if you don't get a measureable result with your physical marker you are automatically a no result. This made this task especially valuable from a points perspective. (After this task he actually did task 16 instead of 14, confusing I know...).

Task 14 HWZ - 649 points of 1000 available 

This was another solid task, but also another one of what we've started calling "the hand of God" tasks. Landon was on a strong path towards the target (another gravity drop) before being kicked just south of it. He dropped a physical marker, but it was outside the MMA. He was instead scored to a logger mark.

Task 15 HWZ - 976 points of 1000 available

This was the first really strong result of the week. Landon was able to work it well and fly over the middle of the X. This is especially important because, shockingly, this was another gravity marker drop. He ended up dropping a little late, but achieved a strong 1.75m result anyways.

Task 16 FON - Results not published

This one is the third close up shot in the sequence, the one that includes the declaration. This was another task where the score was based on the ratio of the distance the mark was made from to the actual result (I think I phrased that right, look at the task sheet if you don't know what I'm talking about). Overall Landon feels like he did so-so on this one, with a quick descent and hairpin turn to ascend through the point with an approximate 55m result measured 3 dimensionally.

Task 17 ELB - 1000 points of 1000 available

This is where taking off early paid off. Landon was one of the first balloons in the pack by now and had 2 paths in front of him: Take the most left or take the most right. He chose the left, because the left was at the surface and was very slow/weak. This is a strong sign that throughout the morning it will deteriorate, unlike the faster high altitude right. This choice was what sold it. He ended up riding the tops of the cornstalks for almost an hour until he reached the 3km minimum distance from Marker A to B. On that leg, he had a heading of 149 degrees. While he was working this leg, I was watching for the left and also faced two choices: 1,375 ft MSL and 1,600 ft MSL. The 1,375 ft MSL layer was much stronger, so he used that one for an approximate 68 degree heading. This led to a 81.40 result. The key here was that while Landon did this, a lot of pilots dropped lower sooner and found reversing winds. This is typically a strong play on an elbow because it allows for greater change of direction, but that is only if you can meet the minimum results. The reversing winds were very slow, so they couldn't reach the 3km min needed to place a mark. Because of the deterioration of this wind throughout the morning, it also was unstable. As a result, those pilots ended up with worse results and Landon was able to win the task.

Poland is a tight city, with small land parcels and narrow roads, sometimes just a single car wide. When pilots are released to find a launch spot, every available field you drive by looking for a spot has vehicles parked with pilots and crew watching piballs. Oftentimes, Polish locals are out on the roads too, either just out for a walk, or looking to watch balloons. We have seen families on bikes, walking dogs, older couples watching from their yards, and even families that drive out to watch. With small roads, you can imagine that this can get crowded. The locals definitely act like this is normal though! 

Today, we seemed to be looking for a launch spot in an area with nice fields. As crew, I always love that. One of our practice flights had me doing a crown line in a scrub field with weeds as tall as I am, and I would prefer not to repeat that! Thankfully, we ended up in a cut hay field.

As the time to launch approached, Landon had us lay out the equipment so we would be ready right away, but he still had a lot of hesitation. As other pilots started cold inflating their balloons, we waited. Landon had noticed that the weather was not all clear, and other pilots were reporting rain via the group chat. We threw a cover over the basket just in time for a pocket of rain to roll over us. Good planning for Landon since the other pilots had to take down their equipment in the rain! 

The rain was short-lived, and we soon saw a beautiful rainbow over the balloon. This was a good omen for the flight. The inflation was challenging since there were some gusts still coming through when we turned on the fan, and even after that the whole flight was windy and quick. Landon got set up and was on his way. 

We saw his track on the phone; he got into the MMA at the first task, which was a step in the right direction after the last couple flights. Definitely something to celebrate! As the chase vehicle, our goal was to get to the second target and provide wind readings, leap-frogging the lead crew. With the fast wind speeds, we hardly made it. Thankfully, Landon didn't need help and made it into the MMA there as well! 

The curvy roads here make chasing the balloon challenging, and the fast wind speeds led Landon to do a rip-out landing, something I believe Andrew has described before. He was helping other balloons land by the time we got to him to pack up. 

After the flight, we enjoyed some pizza that Landon said is his favorite of anywhere in the world. It's from a restaurant called Pizzeria Cuore di Napoli. While there, we got provisional results, and Landon is happy with them, so the night can be counted a thorough success.

We finally flew again! Tonight was - on paper - a simple task string: 2 Hesitation Waltzes. I'll get into why I allude to complications, but first I will give a quick weather breakdown. As I'm writing this results are provisional, so I encourage you to check the Results online on your own. Also, if you want to see the pure task string, you can find the task sheet here.

The Weather

The key with tonight was fast and variable. Landon's top speed was almost 28 mph, and even at ground level he was moving around 14 mph. There was relativelly little steerage on the deck, with some minor left/right in an approximate 50 foot layer. Rain showers in the area made the winds extremely variable as well.

Task 10 HWZ - 563 points of 1000 available

Task 10 was the fancy one. The crux of this task was on the multiplier. There were 6 potential targets, all measured and scored (per the scoring formula) in the same pool. However, the measurement input to the formula changed. Targets A and B were the upwind two, and had a 1x multiplier to any measurements. C and D had a 1.5x  multiplier, and E and F had a 2x multiplier, going down the windline respectively. So essentially, you were incentivized to get a result in A or B if you were to get a measured result. The wrinkle here - and this is going to get very technical quick - is that according to my understanding of the way the question was answered in briefing, a logger mark on this task could have a better result than a physical mark. Traditionally, this can never be the case per the rulebook.

The way to do this is through the multiplier. In this case, theoretically a pilot misses A-D but makes a logger mark at 32m on A. That is the virtual result. They then make a physical mark at 25m on F, which is doubled to 50m. According to the task briefing, the 50m result is taken over the 25m result because it is a physical mark who's measurement was superior to the virtual, even though the final result was not.

All of this to say, this task had a LOT to think about coming into it. It also had very little time to think about everything. On top of all of that, it was a gravity marker drop. 

Overall, Landon finished fairly middle of the pack here. I wish I had more actual commentary on strategy and the flight but it was a relatively simple straight wind flight.

Task 11 HWZ - 429 points of 1000 available

Task 11 was back to basics: a HWZ with 3 targets. The target to fly to seemed relatively obvious, not that I'm sure if anyone flew anywhere else. Overall, the biggest complicator here was the gravity marker drop stipulation.

Landon's Comment: Not as bad as the other flights

Today the morning flight was cancelled again. Starting to get really sick of not seeing balloons.

To fill the time, we started by going to the Craft Museum in Krosno. The museum was cool, with lots of background about a clockmaker from Krosno who was influential in terms of tower clock design and implementation in Poland.

The morning flight was cancelled again today, which meant another day of sleeping in. This was nice, but it's throwing me off. I've slept more now that the competition started than I did before. 

After we got up, we decided to head downtown and do a tour off the glass heritage museum. It seems that the entire event had the same idea, because our tour group and the one before was entirely balloon people. 

The tour was really cool, walking through lots of significant glass art as well as the process that is used to make glass sculptures and art. I can't imagine the amount of time and frustration that goes into learning these skills.

Sam got to go up during the glass blowing demonstration and stamp a logo into a souvenir glass medallion, which was really neat. The rose shown in the picture was made in about 10 minutes while the rest of us watched.

9/20/2026

This morning was the first official flight of the 2026 World Hot Air Balloon Championship. Everyone was excited to get this thing started after being in town practicing and preparing for a week. We picked a spot before leaving briefing and headed there to put up a pibal. It turned out to be the perfect spot, others thought so as well. The sky was the perfect backdrop for the opening flight. 

Each of the first four targets were crowded which made for tough work on the pilots but incredible views for the crews and the locals that were out in force. The final two targets were digital so the roads were a bit less crowded. Joey had a great landing and we were there waiting for him. 

Overall, it was a very good flight with a few mistakes to learn from. After refueling we had to make another stop that unfortunately ate away our downtime between flights. We grabbed a quick bite to eat and took enough time to recharge the electronics. For the evening flight we had a lot of time to choose a launch site after briefing. As we were leaving the briefing we discovered that the festival being held on the airport grounds was causing quite a bit of heavy traffic. We had to take a longer but ultimately faster route to our selected launch site. 

We put up a few pibals while waiting for the launch window to open. We didn't like what we were seeing so we took off for another location. This is the one we ended up going with. Traffic was very heavy getting there due to the large number of people out waiting for balloons to launch but we still had time to get set up before the launch window opened. As of the writing final scores are not in but Joey flew the tasks very well. The flight was a long one...so was our chase. After leaving the launch site we found that all of Krosno was apparently out for the festival and night air show. It took us a long time to get out of and away from the traffic. 

Once we were out we found ourselves on long, winding mountain roads. This was among each of our top 3 chases/ of all time despite the heavy traffic at the beginning. The driving was fun and the views were excellent. We found Joey in a recently harvested potato field with the land owner and several others. Fortunately, the locals that came out to watch offered to help get the envelope and basket packed into the van. 

After handing out cards, stickers and pins all around were hit the road to refueling. To express just how far he flew, the return drive was 45 minutes long with little traffic. When we got back to the airport we watched the night airshow while waiting in line to refuel. Afterwards we went to grab a quick dinner because 3am was already approaching fast. We got to the restaurant to find it packed with people leaving the night air show. We managed not to be there too long and headed home for bed.

After the plant tour we went downtown to wander a bit. We went into a church which had some gourgeous architecture and design work inside.

I then ventured off on my own for a second, at which point a pouring rain started. The others ducked into a cafe called Michel Cafe, and I ducked into a covered archway before running into the cafe. The food and coffee was phenomenal, with all the desserts being handmade day-of. 

While I was off on my excursions, I saw quite possibly the coolest vehicle ever. I say this with full sincerity, I want one of these things one day.

Normally, I would put this in the FAQ section, but because there has been a limited amount of content compared to previous days I thought I would put it here.

I was asked recently about what the different roles I have listed actually do in the scope of a hot air balloon event, so I'll clarify what my and other's roles are here. These roles are discussed most in the About the Teams section. I won't be discussing the role of the pilot, because I'm confident in your ability to reason out what that role is. One important thing to note is that these roles are very dependent on the pilot and team. If you know me in a ballooning capacity, you know I'm very big on organization and the sticking to your system. Every pilot has a system, and knowing what works best foor that system is critical. That is also why team synergy is so important.

Copilot

The copilot is usually aa sort of assistant to the pilot. During major competitions, they are often a licensed pilot that is on hand to provide advice and information to the registered pilot. They can also serve in a minor flying capacity should the pilot need to focus on something competition strategy focused. A common use for copilots is to fly the balloon level while flying over a target so that the pilot can focus on throwing the marker. The first image shows a copilot's perspective.

Crew Chief

The crew chief runs the ship on the ground. If you want to establish seniority in a balloon team (a concept I find stupid) then they would be second in command if a copilot is not used. The crew chief is typically responsible for any needed instruction of the crew and everything related to the chase. They are typically the head crew person. Crew chiefs are a very variable role, with responsiblities widely variable between pilots. Some want them to only focus on everything after launch, and others want them to do everything except fly the balloon. The crew chief usually attends the briefing with the pilot, as shown in the second image.

Chase Crew

The Crew Chief also falls under the Chase Crew envelope. The role of the chase crew is to do everything related to post launch ground activities. This typically includes packing up leftover equipment and transport of the chase vehicle. Again, chase crew responsibilities vary wildly based on pilot and the individual crew member. More experienced crew will obviously be more capable or provide insight that is not available to others. The third image shows a chase crew setting up the balloon.

Navigator

The navigator is a role that tends to fall in line with another role as well, typically either a copilot or lead vehicle. The navigator is used to watch map and flight related boundaries during the flight and keep a second eye on the flight itself. They look for prohibited zones, grid lines, target headings, and other navigation related material. In the current age of ballooning, computer tracking is a major tool. The Navigator often has their eyes on this tracking for their pilot and others, providing headings and speeds at altitudes as well as directions such as where the mostt left and right are. The fourth image shows a navigator's view.

Lead Vehicle

Lead vehicles are used as a sort of scout for the pilot. They stage at the targets and use a pibal on a fishing line (sounds ridiculous I know) to get surface level wind readings at the target, which can vary wildly between locations. They can also be used to watch other balloons' approaches into targets and coach the pilot through the task. They are essentially the eyes on the ground for the pilots. Chase crews can take on this role as well. Lead vehicles are typically also used as navigators. This is my role this week, a split between lead vehicle and navigator. Lead vehicles are notorious for arriving at target sites before target teams. The fifth image shows Meredith Bennett acting as Lead Vehicle for Joe Zvada, providing wind readings during his approach to a target.

Wind Team

The wind team is responsible for all wind reports. At this world championship, the wind team supports all of Team USA. They use specialized tools to get full altituude based breakdowns of the wind direction and speed. These tools are either Theodolites, wind sondes, or Paddy Cakes. I do not have a good picture for this one because the wind team is usually working away from the rest of the event.

Team Manager

The team manager is another variable role, but they are typically a coordinator for a whole competition team. In the case of a World Championship, they are used on a per country basis. Currently the US does not have one, but they are a contact for all administrative tasks, including ensuring the team has everything prepared before the event. During the event, they have enhanced permissions including the ability to protest on behalf of pilots. They are largely a logistical party. I do not have a picture of this one because there is not an active team manager for the US this year.

Not gonna lie, rough start. I'm sure some of you have seen Landon's Facebook post or the WatchMeFly results, but I'll go through it in detail anyways. 

The Conditions

The winds themselves lent to a lot of flexibility in the task string on paper. There was a strong and speedy northwest wind about 200 ft above the ground which served as the primary wind line for the flight. Above it, there was varying degrees of leftward steerage. Below, however, there was a very weak by consistent near 180 degree change of direction. The valleys led to strong inconsistencies, which were very difficult to predict.

To see the task sheet, visit this link and click Task Sheet under Flight 1. All tasks except the CRT were gravity marker drops.

For reference on how long the flight was, each grid mark shown in 1 km.

The Start and Task 1 HWZ  - 99 points of 1000 available

Landon ended up launching at the very end of the pack. He swung the winds out way to the right, and ended up overshooting. This was the start of the mistakes. You can see in the first track image that he spends a lot of time correcting, and even doubles back. This cost a lot of resources. The left on the deck was very slow. He scored with about 15 minutes to the close of the scoring period. At the very end he dropped a tad too early, based on a wind which was not strong enough to move the balloon but was showing on Pibal readings. This lead to an overcorrect, and meant he missed the first target.

Task 2 CRT - 99 points of 1000 available

The next task was a CRAT, which meant timing was critical. The lost time on the first task wasn't an issue for the scoring period, but put him a cycle behind when he anticipated being there. This one is deceptive in the picture because there were actually three targets in the field. He ended up missing this target to the right after being scarred by the disappearing left at task one. Nick Donner came in just ahead of Landon and was able to settle into it fully, crawling up the runway and winning the task. By this point Landon was last in the pack.

Task  3 JDG - 89 points of 1000 available

Task 3 was relatively standard - a JDG with gravity marker drop modfication. This one was very similar to the first, with the idea being to ride high winds to a little right of the target, and then drop low and follow a leftward wind into the scoring area. Unfortunately, when we read the last wind there was a right turn on the surface. As soon as Landon descended, he veered right and around the target. By this point, frustration was setting in.

Task 4 HWZ - 163 points of 1000 available

What I really wanted to highlight with the immage of the track shown is how shifty things were on the deck. In the image, Landon is basically contour flying the ground to get anything he could find. He actually flew past the target and was trying to backup into it. After some time though, he realized that his fuel consumption and timing were not sustainable and had to bail. Another kink in this hose was that the two vehicles (Andrew and Keith in one and Sam and Rob in the other) were both stuck in one lane roads and balloon event traffic (if you want a story ask Andrew or Keith about the dirt road/gulley washout sometime). This meant that Landon had no on-the-ground wind readings to rely on. At this point he had been flying for almost 2 hours and still had two tasks to go.

Task 5 FON - 739 points of 1000 available

Task 5 was the first pure virtual task. It was a FON with altitude scored 3-dimensionally to that altitude. This means that not only did you have to fly to a coordinate, but you had to be at a declared altitude to score on it. Additionally, your score was exposed to a distance based multiplier, meaning the earlier in the flight that the mark was declared the more advantageous the result. He did relatively well on this task.

Task 6 LRN - 287 points of 1000 available

Task 6 was a LRN, based on three points and distance from A to C. The tricky part with this task was that the only limiter on the points was the distance from the A point to the C point, so you had lots of time to work it as long as you hung low and slow until you were ready to shoot up and finish the task. The problem here is that Landon had been flying for 2 hours 15 minutes and fuel and scoring times were becoming more significant factors. In the end, he was able to grab as much left as was present and form a triangle with his marks.

The biggest trick with this flight was the variability of the winds which we believe can be attributed to the mountains. Being from Michigan, we have very little experience as a team accouting for the physics that control wind in valleys. He also took off late, meaning that the winds got more unpredictable for his flight window than others.

The team has debriefed and established a new plan. We are excited to fly tonight and implement.

Also, Keith and I have been talking all day about the most majestic red deer buck ever that we saw on the way to one target. It had to have had 15 points, with a beautiful coat and antlers.

The welcome dinner was really really good, maybe some of the best balloon event food I've had. It was relatively short to make time for the opening ceremony.

The meal was some sort of stuffed chicken, with mashed potatoes seasoned will dill and a salad with a heavy dill flavor. There were also lots of desserts.

The most unique thing I tried was off the appetizer tray. Keith brought me (I've developed a reputation among the team and I think they're trying to find the line of what I will eat) what I believe was a pickled mackerel filet wrapped around a deviled egg. To be honest this is largely speculative because I didn't want to let it sit and stare at me too long. I've seen a lot of mackerel in the area and assume that is the fish. It was good, but a little fishier than I would haave preferred.

This morning was the last practice flight before the event starts. It was a strong morning for practice with lots of steerage. Landon's practice string was: PDG, PDG, FIN, FON, MDT, JDG.

The PDGs were both tasks that were set based on the winds aloft, which were showing winds headed to the east. Down low was a different story. The winds started at a 330 degree line (North-Northwest) and turned all the way to almost a 280 degree line as the morning progressed. This made for some very unique opportunities which were only observable because we had a lead team.

The FIN is the first task that had some real uniqueness to it. Landon's first drop is that target. You can see in his track that when he dropped back he turned back almost 180 degrees and went the opposite way, which is very abnormal. This allowed him to back right over the X and drop at the pin, with an estimated 0.03m result. 

The FON was set based on winds aloft again, headed towards town. The key with this was that the FON also started the MDT, meaning that in order to do well on the MDT there must be as little distance between that mark and the mark for the FON. Rather than just find a slow wind layer, Landon opted to move away from the reference point so that he could ride the low wind all the way back, reversing another 180 degrees.

The final target was a FIN, which was relatively run of the mill, besides another 180 degree turn. Overall a really cool morning.

After landing, Keith and I took the propane tanks to refuel at the airport while the rest of the team packed up the balloon. Here, tanks have to be taken out of the basket and carried or walked to the tank to refuel, so it saves us time to have Keith and I refuel.

For dinner after the flight we went to a kebab place named Falafel Kebab. Landon said he was looking for "some thin cut meat in a wrap", which we thought as something similar to kebab. Unfortunately we are still seeking a way to satisfy that craving. The food was very good, but a large portion. 

This morning was a short practice flight. With low ceilings present and occasional precipitation in the area, there wasn't a lot of interest in lengthening things. Also, it was really cold.

Landon flew one practice PDG before landing in a scrub field, which worked out well.

Here are some screenshots of Landon's flight. You can see on the first image his elevation profile. He started the flight by going up to ~3,200' MSL and ~2,800' MSL in each respective peak, before riding low through the rest of the flight. His maximum speed was 18 mph.

The first descent is coming into the PDG, which led to an approximately 45 m result. This would be a rough result to have on a 3D scored task. This could have been improved if he had dropped a little later, but that becomes a quick game of chicken with losing a task if you push the button too late.

The second descent is coming into the FIN, with the descent providing the turn he was looking for to get close to the target. He did say he wished he had dropped closer to the ground.

The second image shows a top-down view of his flight path, and the third image shows a 3D perspective.

The sun rests high in the sky as the wind blows through the trees. It is a bright, sunny day in Jaslo, Poland as the drop time approaches. 

On one side, a Lead Vehicle Navigator caught deep undercover, learning and acclimating to the environment. On the other, a rental vehicle barreling towards the pick-up site at the legally regulated speed of 90 kmh with a jet-lagged, travel worn Crew Chief. 

The hostages sit, reflecting on how they got into this mess (one a consequence of vacation time, the other... I don't really know I didn't ask). The Navigator rests his feet up on a chair, half in the sun half not. He is now the color of a fishing lure, one arm red and one pale white (an extreme exaggeration of a mild tan). The crew chief did something too probably idrk.

The vehicle pulls into the drive, kicking up dust and dirt. The hostages shake hands and bro-hug, as does everyone else involved. The tension is non-existent. 

And with that, Team Heatwave and Team Wildcard have completed the hostage transfer and both teams are in championship mode.

Note: I got bored and felt like doing a little creative writing. Keith dropped off Brad and picked me up after their flight landed, which all went relatively smoothly.

The Kohtz/Hosmer flight was a good one. Brad was lucky enough to have an open seat next to him, so a little extra space to spread out. He was able to sleep a little bit on the flight on and off. 

Dinner was chicken, potatoes, and veggies. Nothing fancy and most likely the same exact items Team Wild Card enjoyed a few days prior (Andrew's Note: It was the same). The best part was the chocolate coconut dessert. 

The flight was somewhat bumpy coming across the Atlantic. The fasten seatbelt light had to come on a few times throughout the flight.

Andrew's Note: I talked to the Kohtz's after this as well. Their plane was relatively empty. As someone who was on a completely full plane, this fills me with a sense of blind rage.

This morning allowed for another practice flight with Joey. As we approach event time, more of team USA has arrived in Poland. Today, we were able to fly with the Petrehn, Zvada, and Wall teams as well as Dom Bareford of the UK. Other teams flew today as well, but these are the ones we launched with.

The practice flight was spectacular, with a gorgeous sunrise as a backdrop. It consisted of a Fly In at the airport and some Fly Ons as practice, none of it sanctioned (sanctioned means that the event counts the results as official). Joey was confident in his results at the end of the flight.

At the end of the flight window, the wind speeds became pretty high. The landing ended up being a rip-out landing, where the process of ground contact and deflation occur at the same time. If there are questions about what this looks like, I can elaborate in a future post.

The site itself was perfect; it was a cut hayfield with lots of open space. Unfortunately, all that space does not account for the chase crew's headstrong behavior.

We parked on the road as Joey was making his landing approach. We planned to enter the field on foot, running to catch him and add weight to the basket to slow it down. However, there was a ditch along the road. In my foolishness, I assumed it was 2 feet deep. It was more like 3 feet deep. I proceeded to throw all of my weight into the wall of the ditch in a valiant and courageous display of interest in the soil composition of Poland.

After a smooth and humiliating recovery, we made it to Joey. We packed up relatively quickly, with the only hitch being the ~13% grade dew-covered grass slope leading up to him.

After Debowiec, we went to the mall in Krosno. It was fairly large, with lots of retail stores and home making stores (like a Home Goods or Marshalls). 

The food was great; I had a Kebab bowl with turkey and chicken. We also stopped at a dessert shop and had some sweets, which were phenomenal but really sugary. We even ended up finding a FireFly display promoting World's!

We also went to the grocery store to make another attempt at shopping like grown adults. Our first attempt resulted in mostly candy, soda, and chips. 

This attempt resulted in some more useful items, like body wash and protein bars for morning flights. What we didn't anticipate was the complexity of leaving. After check out, you have to scan your receipt to open the security gates. If you don't, motion sensors will set off alarms. I discovered this through a stroke of "genius American ignorance".

 Following my attempt at getting arrested Joey one-upped me by walking through the gates with a basket, which also sets off the alarms but louder. Thankfully, the workers understood and we were able to leave unscathed. 

One unique item we tried was Raspberry Twist Pepsi, which was phenomenal. It tasted exactly like soft-serve raspberry ice-cream.

Tonight provided the first flight opportunity since we arrived. This was a great opportunity to get a flight and the systems out of the way before official flying begins, allowing the focus to be on the tasks and warmup before the event.

Joey launched northwest of Krosno, flying to the southeast until landing. Chasing through downtown Krosno was stunning, with the architecture and layout of the town being one of the most incredible places I have had the opportunity to chase. 

Joey's track from the flight is included. For those not familiar with balloon tracks, the top fields show statistics of interest. The map in the middle shows the actual path he took, color coded by altitude. The graph at the bottom is an elevation profile of the whole flight. During flight, pilots can see more detailed information about their flight. This is how they navigate to the targets themselves during flight. There are a variety of softwares available for this, each with their own advantages and disadvantages.

The landing was especially unique. The property owner was not present, but a nearby resident was able to reach them and get permission. He spoke English and was able to help translate to some nearby landowners. It turned out he had experience with ballooning. 

One of my favorite experiences from ballooning as a whole happened tonight, when some kids showed up to help pack up. They spoke no English, but being able to work using hand signals and rough translations was really rewarding, as was handing out the cards and pins around the town.

After the flight we were able to eat at an Italian restaurant in town. The food was delicious. I ordered duck meat with roasted eggplant, which came out on a bed of mashed potatoes. The food has been one of the highlights, but I would consider this an especially amazing dish.

I uploaded lots of the pictures from this flight in the photos and videos section, but need to fix some file issues before I add the rest.

Near the camp is the Liban Quarry. This quarry was started as a lime kiln in the 1800's, before being converted into a forced labor camp as part of Plaszow. This is another site of much of the filming of Schindler's List.

The quarry itself is an impressive site because of its sheer scale. Images don't do justice to the space it occupies. Inside the quarry are still-standing watchtowers from the replica camp for Schindler's List. 

This one is also a must-visit. We did not have the opportunity to go inside the quarry, where the actual replica camp is.

Originally, Joey planned to fly a practice flight this morning. When we woke up and looked at radar, we had consistent pop-ups and precipitation in the area, which can indicate a couple of factors that he preferred to avoid. 

Once we chose not to fly, we had a couple options. Rather than go to bed, we wanted to take the opportunity to go somewhere we couldn't back home, so we chose to drive to Krakow for the day.

Driving into Krakow was unique because we drove on real freeways for the first time. The speed limit on freeways is 140 km/h, which is roughly 87 miles an hour. This felt especially fast in the Nissan Primastar, which is similar to a Ford Transit.

Jaslo is a cool town, with a pretty big downtown area. Unfortunately, on a Sunday night it was pretty dead. It was still cool to walk and see things.

We started by grabbing dessert first in the way that real adults do. The others got ice cream. I was first through the line, and the staff spoke no English so I pointed at the first thing that looked good. It was a puff pastry crust and cover, with a cream base in the middle. Very similar to a canoli.

There was a park a short walk away, with lots of cool statues and plaques. There was a monument to soldiers from the world wars, as well as a monument to Polish military leader Tadeusz Kosciuszko, the leader of the Kosciuszko Uprising, an unsuccesful insurrection against Russia. 

For dinnner we ended up stopping in a bar called Pub Legenda, which was a good place to grab a bite to eat and a beer. I did not end up getting the Tuna and Corn pizza because I am a failure in life, but the kielbasa was very good.

After breakfast we went to get Joey's balloon. It was being stored in a hangar with the organizer, so it took some time to put together the system and orient it in the van.

Fully put together and unpacked, it fits surprisingly well in the van when the seats are configured appropriately. The fan and balloon go up front against the seat, and the basket fits very snug in the rest of the space.

To pick up the tanks, we went to 2. Międzynarodowy Świętokrzyski Festiwal Balonów - BaLOnoVE Świętokrzyskie and met a pilot named Jerzy. This event in Pinczow was amazing. We were able to eat with Jerzy at the event, grabbing some home-made cuisine. The food was Stroganoff, Goulash, and Pierogi. The Piergoi was a spinach and cheese and what we think was black bean, rice, and apple. All of it was phenomenal, one of the best meals I've eaten. 

After eating, we explored the event for a while. They had live music, playing both Polish and American Pop music (we recognized a song by Rihanna). The event grounds were set up really well, with bleachers around a soccer field serving as the viewing area and vendors surrounding the complex. We had to leave before the flight, but it was a really cool experience overall.

From a balloon perspective, one interesting thing was that there were a lot more trailers and some pickup  trucks than something like a van. We did not see any liftgates, which I think is one of the more impressive parts.

Our whole group has their international license (a process as easy as having $20 and taking a picture of yourself). That said, driving in Poland has been a bit of a trial by fire. This is partially caused by the first vehicle we drive being the equivalent of a Ford Transit in size and handling, but also the adjustment to kmh. For context, Polish roads are typically 140, 120, 90, 70, 50, 40, or 20 kmh (the top two are only on expressways, the rest are seen throughout cities and countrysides). What we didn't anticipate is how frequently the limit would change, sometimes within 100 ft (sorry for the American-conditioned units....) of each other. 

That and the car sounds like a rattle snake if you get too close to the lines.

One thing that we have been experiencing is the reality that we are close the Ukraine border (< 100km). Throughout the last two days, we have been receiving text alerts like the one shown, marking when airstrikes on Ukraine start and stop.

Other than the texts, we have not experienced any unique occurances related to it.

We left Brighton at 9 today, headed to O'Hare. Surprisingly  few issues at TSA, considering the quantity of aircraft radios, two way radios, GPSs, etc. Nothing suspicious or questionable, but LOTS of electronics between the four of us. We stopped at Fronteras Tortas in the terminal for some quick drinks and food before moving on to the flight.

We'll lift off at 5:10 PM Chicago time and land  at 2:30 AM Chicago time. Accounting for the time change, we'll land at roughly 9:30 AM Poland time.