In The Air: Before the Balloon Race

This weekend I will be attending the 1st Annual California Balloon Invitational. I spent the evening with Columbia balloon pilot Gary Whitby who will be participating in the race. Whitby demonstrated the "hare and hounds" style of balloon racing. The lead balloon takes off and marks an X at its landing spot where the balloons must toss a 3oz sandbag as close to the X target as possible. Pilots have limited control over the direction of their ballon so they must calculate what degree to launch from in order to hit the target.