Random Photos

The Palma Pub in Debrecen, a dining
establishment we've frequented
several times.

Several members of Team USA
having dinner at the Palma Pub.

The chase vehicle setup for
a team from Estonia.  Honest.

There's a €40 ($55 USD) deposit
 for these basket banners. Honest.

Better Than Taking a Nap

The Master Briefing has concluded.  For the purpose of comparison, the duration was 1 hour, 45 minutes.  During the event the morning briefings will start at 5:45am, with doors opening 15 minutes prior (sunrise 6:34am).  The evening session begins at 2:45pm, doors open at 2:30pm (sunset 6:09pm).  Thus we'll leave the hotel at 5:00am and 1:45pm.  Officially there are 118 competitors.  During the briefing Event Director Mathijs de Bruijn took a vote asking in what units pilots would prefer the data to be presented in.  Winds will be TO, altitude in FEET, speed in METERS PER SECOND, and and so on.  Otherwise it was a fairly standard briefing.  The weather officer indicated that there are no storms or high winds expected this week  There's a chance of showers on Tuesday, and in general fog shouldn't be a problem.

The briefing area is in a large arena at the local university.  I believe that the original intent was to use the entire floor area.  However in the end we have only a portion of it, as the facility is also setup for team handball.  And it appears that there's a game tonight, as a crew of 10 worked to clean the floor throughout the entire briefing.  Only one crew person is allowed inside the "fence" with the pilot, but there is seating in the bleachers for others.  There's just a single 6' gate through which everyone must enter and exit, so ~240 people trying to rush out at the conclusion of a meeting will be a good time.

The final practice flight of the event is scheduled for this evening.  However Paul isn't going to fly, and I don't believe any other Americans will either.  We'll have a good dinner, refuel the balloon, and get a good night's rest.  The 4:00am alarm will come early tomorrow.

Still More Practice

Another practice flight this morning:
    

We're heading to the Master Briefing now.  Everyone is very much looking forward to (finally) starting the event.