PLTS OF HOT AIR BALLOON ACTIVITY INVOLVED IN A SPECIAL INTEREST ACTIVITY AIR RACE RPT NMACS AND FLC DEVS FROM FARS.

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I LAUNCHED MY BALLOON FROM HOOK FIELD IN MIDDLETOWN; OH; AT XY33 HRS LCL TIME TO FLY A TASK IN THE NATIONAL HOT AIR BALLOON CHAMPIONSHIPS. CONDITIONS AT LAUNCH TIME SHOWED NORTHWESTERLY WINDS WITHIN 1000 FT AGL OF THE SURFACE AND WESTERLY ABOVE. ABOUT A THIRD OF THE WAY INTO THE FLT; I FOUND IT NECESSARY TO USE UNPOPULATED AREAS JUST E AND SLIGHTLY S OF THE LAUNCH FIELD TO DSND CLOSER TO THE SURFACE TO OBTAIN BENEFIT OF THE MORE NORTHERLY FLOW. AS I REACHED THE END OF THAT AREA AT APPROX XZ00 HRS LCL TIME; I FOUND MYSELF PRESSED IN ON ALL SIDES BY BALLOON TFC ABOVE AND AROUND ME. I WAS UNABLE TO REACH THE MIN ALT REQUIRED UNDER THE EVENT WAIVER; 500 FT AGL; AS I BEGAN TO CROSS CONGESTED SPACE IN THE CITY. I WAS NOT ALONE. 4 THINGS CONTRIBUTED TO THIS OCCURRENCE; ALL INTERLOCKED. FIRST; A COMPETITIVE BALLOON GOAL WAS CALLED THAT COULD NOT BE REACHED FLYING PER THE WAIVER ONCE THE WINDS SHIFTED (A WIND SHIFT WAS FORECAST). SECOND; THERE WAS NO ALTERNATE GOAL CALLED FOR THE TASK. THIRD; THERE IS STILL NO ACCURATE MEANS OF OBTAINING WIND INFO IN THE BOUNDARY LAYER; WHICH IS SO CRUCIAL TO BALLOONS. FOURTH; A LARGE NUMBER OF COMPETITORS; UNDER PRESSURE TO SCORE; FLEW TOO LOW; SEEKING THE ADVANTAGE OF THE LOWER-LEVEL WINDS AND ENCOURAGING OTHERS TO DO LIKEWISE. I BELIEVE THAT; UNDER SIMILAR WX CONDITIONS; THERE ARE AT LEAST 3 WAYS TO PREVENT A RECURRENCE OF THIS SITUATION: TO ADD ADDITIONAL GOALS; TO REVISE THE TASK ENTIRELY; OR TO CANCEL THE TASK AS CALLED. THE BALLOON FEDERATION OF AMERICA NEEDS TO RECOGNIZE THAT THERE IS UNDUE PRESSURE TO OVERLOOK THE LETTER OF THE REGS WHEN A TASK IS IMPOSSIBLE TO COMPLETE TOTALLY IN COMPLIANCE WITH THE FARS AND THE EVENT WAIVER. WE; THE PLTS; NEED TO REALIZE THAT NONCOMPLIANCE HAS NO EXCUSE. I BELIEVE THAT PROCESS IS ALREADY BEGUN AS IT PERTAINS TO THE U.S. NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS. SUPPLEMENTAL INFO FROM ACN 217551: WHILE FLYING UNDER A WAIVER OF 91.119(B) TO ALLOW FLT AT 500 FT AGL OVER CONGESTED AREAS AT THE U.S. NATIONAL HOT AIR BALLOON CHAMPIONSHIPS; I FLEW LOWER THAN 500 FT AGL FOR A PORTION OF THE FLT TO ESCAPE SEVERE CONGESTION OF MULTIPLE BALLOONS IN THE SAME SPACE AND THE EXTREME HAZARD OF ANOTHER BALLOONIST'S BASKET CONTACTING AND RIPPING MY BALLOON'S ENVELOPE. SUPPLEMENTAL INFO FROM ACN 217887: DURING THE HOT AIR BALLOON COMPETITION; A TARGET WAS DECLARED ACROSS TOWN. THE WIND DIRECTIONS WERE SUCH THAT THE LOWER ONE FEW; THE CLOSER TO THE TARGET YOU WOULD GET. SINCE BALLOONS HAVE NO CTLS FOR L OR R; WE FLY AT THOSE ALTS GOING THE DIRECTION WE WANT. DURING THIS FLT; I MAINTAINED ALTS IN ACCORDANCE WITH OUR EVENT WAIVER AND MY DEFINITIONS OF CONGESTED AND NON-CONGESTED AREAS (200 FT AGL OVER NON-CONGESTED; 500 FT AGL OVER CONGESTED). AFTER THE FLT; IT WAS DEFINED AS TO WHAT THE RACE OFFICIALS CONSIDERED CONGESTED AREAS. THIS DID NOT MATCH 100 PERCENT WITH MY OWN INTERPRETATION. WE WERE CLOSE BUT NOT EXACTLY IN AGREEMENT. TO AVOID THIS MIX-UP IN THE FUTURE; I WILL ASK THE RACE OFFICIALS FOR THEIR INTERPRETATION SO THAT I MAY ABIDE BY IT.