A HOT AIR BALLOON PLT HAD TO FLY LOW TO GET TO A PREFERRED LNDG SITE DURING A SPECIAL INTEREST BALLOON ACTIVITY.

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DURING FLT IT BECAME NECESSARY TO FLY BELOW THE MINIMUM ALT OF 500 FT FOR A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME. THIS LOW FLT TO APPROX 300 FT AGL WAS USED TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF LOWER LEVEL WINDS THAT PROVIDED A L TURN. THIS TURN WAS UNAVAILABLE AT HIGHER ALTS. THE NECESSITY OF THE L TURN WAS TO POS THE ACFT FOR A SUITABLE LNDG AREA APPROX 2 MI AWAY. EARLIER WX INFO PRIOR TO FLT HAD NOT INDICATED THAT THE FLT PATH WOULD BE IN THE DIRECTION TAKEN. THIS LOW FLT WAS OVER A WOODED AREA AND DID NOT REPRESENT A HAZARD TO PEOPLE OR STRUCTURES ON THE GND. IT WAS; HOWEVER; NEAR AN AREA THAT THE ORGANIZER OF THE MEET HAD SPECIFIED A 500 FT MINIMUM ALT. ALTHOUGH CONSTANT UPDATED WX INFO WAS AVAILABLE BEFORE FLT; CONDITIONS CHANGED AFTER THE FLT BEGAN. THE SUITABLE LNDG SITE SELECTED ALLOWED FOR A SAFE LNDG PRIOR TO WX CONDITIONS DETERIORATING FURTHER. THE LOW FLT ALLOWED THE BALLOON TO BE POSITIONED FOR THAT SITE. OTHER SITES WERE NOT AVAILABLE FOR ANOTHER 5 OR MORE MI. SOON AFTER LNDG; HIGH WINDS PICKED UP ON THE SURFACE. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: THE RPTR WAS FLYING A HEAD 88 BALLOON AT THE TIME OF THIS INCIDENT. HE HAS HEARD NOTHING FROM THE FAA ON THIS MATTER.