The World Championships of Hot Air Ballooning will be held in Battle Creek Michigan on August 18-25, 2012. Holiday Balloon Fest of Battle Creek, under the leadership of Derrick Jones, sponsored the USA Nationals in 2009. Derrick has long had the dream of..... 

sponsoring the world competition with Observers* and his dream has come true.

The World Championships in 2012 and the Pre-Worlds event in 2011, Aug 22-27 (also in Battle Creek) will be using Observers. We are putting out the call to all experienced Observers to put these dates on their calendars and sign up. We will of course be having international Observers participating but a large number of US Observers will be needed in 2011 and 2012. We expect a field of around 100 pilots . We’d love to have enough experienced observers sign up to fill all the slots, but we welcome the interest of pilots or crew who have competitive ballooning backgrounds.

All the details have not been finalized but we are expecting to provide a hotel room (shared with one other person). There is money budgeted for a stipend but the amount per person is not yet finalized

We’d like an indication of interest, and it’s important to get your name on the list soon. Many of us are polishing our walkers, getting our pace makers checked and reviewing use of our GPS’, metric measuring and map reading. Seriously, we still need Observers to be able to walk in fields and read the fine print of maps. The use of GPS’ is mandatory but we will be having staff orientations and reviews. Observers have found that using a GPS makes the job much easier. Classes to review dusty Observing skills, current technology and applicable rules will be held.

* An Observer is a Competition official, responsible to the Chief Observer. His/her duties are primarily the recording impartially of the particulars of positions, times, distance, etc. achieved by a Pilot during a Competitive Task. He/she also has the duty of reporting the facts of any apparent infringement of Competition Rules or of the air law, and any case of inconsiderate behavior towards landowners or the public by any Competitor or crew member.  

http://www.holidayballoonfest.com/

http://www.fai.org/ballooning/

Observers information

Please send a note indicating your interest or any questions to:

Bob and Dottie Humbert - mageehum@comcast.net

Jim Dieball - jdieball@wi.rr.com