Master Briefing

Saturday’s weather was no improvement. In the morning there was plenty of drizzly low cloud that made flying not an option. So we filled the morning with the usual breakfast eating and hanging out at the launch site checking emails etc.

At 4pm we gathered in the Briefing tent for the master briefing. This was your typical master briefing where they go through specific rules and discuss the program for the week. It was a great chance to finally catch up with people that we had not seen since the last Worlds in 2006.



After the briefing it was time opening ceremony and parade of Nations. We decided that we would not go in the parade, not because we are not patriotic, but because our van is completely covered with the hire company’s artwork, with little room for a single Australian flag. Instead we grabbed a couple of beers and watched the spectacle. The weather had finally become kind and there were a number of sponsor balloons tethered on the field. Plus there was a hot airship doing laps around the crowd. It has been many years since I have seen a hot airship up close and they are certainly very cool. My memories of hot airships really come from the old Sultan airship that used to fly in Australia in the late 70s and early 80s. The technology has certainly come a long way since then.

Once the parade was over, everyone gathered in the tent for dinner and a lot of drinking. You could tell that many people were trying to work out if they should take the gamble that the weather would be bad on Sunday morning for the first competition flight and keep drinking. After a few beers we opted to head home and get some sleep.