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The inexperienced  pilot usually misses the intended landing site and is forced t o find another or has an undesirably hard landing, if the pil ot manages to make the landing site. See Figure 8-5  for an i llustration of this effect. 

This type of approach is helpful by keeping the intended landing area in foc us so that the descent results in the balloon touching down pr ecisely where intended. Benefits to this methodology are straight line control and immediate visual feedback from the landing site. The disadvantage of using this specific methodology is that, again, any deviation from the depicted flight path may result in overcontrol or, at best, a “close shave” over the obstacle at Point B to preserve the approach. 

Figure 8-6 illustrates the same vertical profile but with a few subtle and important differences. The initial approach is identical, but the initial target is different. Rather than focusing on the landing site past the barn requiring a clearance of two or three feet, this pilot has elected to “aim” for a point of safe obstacle clearance of the barn (about ten feet above the silo), knowing that a short vent on the other side “sharpens” the descent. It is clear that the balloon drops into the landing site somewhat closer to the obstacle, the conscientious pilot having already evaluated that possibility prior to committing to the landing. This methodology minimizes the possibility of overcontrolling and dramatically increases the chances of a successful landing. 

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