hotairballoonist

Insulated Tank covers. Elastic band sewn in at top Two layers construction with Heavy canvas outer skin and light weight inner liner. 3/8" memory foam insert installed inside cover. Draw string at bottom for custom fit. Storage pocket sewn on front. Available in Blue or Black Order online at https://balloons-andbeyond.com/product/lindstrand-v-30-upright-tank-covers/

Blair Beard ( bbeard1840@verizon.net ) said: Hi Fellow Balloonists, I just purchased a Firefly 4.0 (small) basket with no tanks or burner. It's in Venice, Florida. I'm in Reading, Pennsylvania. We are going to attend the Oct. 17-19. Might you be, or you know a balloonist who is participating in the Carolina Balloon Festival CBF. The seller said he would drive 2 hours or so to help make the connection from lower to mid-Florida. We would really appreciate your help on this. Thanks, Blair & Joanne Beard 484 948-5399

Bob LeDoux - Bio Ver 2021.pdf

Balloon Federation of America 1601 N.Jefferson Way - Suite B Indianola, Iowa 50125 June 14, 2025 The BFA will soon be issuing a call to action asking all balloonists, BFA members or not, to reply urgently to an expected forthcoming NPRM giving some drones aerial right-of-way over other aircraft, including balloons. On May 8, at approximately 6:16 am Mountain Standard Time a hot air balloon in Glendale, AZ experienced a “near miss” with an Amazon delivery drone. The near miss happened while the balloon was on an approach to landing and the drone missed the balloon at basket height by approximately 15 feet according to the pilot. The drone, a new model weighing over 75 lbs and traveling at 58 knots, never varied its path. Amazon officials later contacted the balloon pilot to say that the drone operator observed the balloon via an on-board camera and maneuvered the drone to miss the balloon. This close call was entirely avoidable and speaks loudly to the disregard for a reasonable margin of safety by the drone operator. Many of you may be aware that the drone industry has been attempting for well over a year to convince the FAA to change the right of way rules in FAR 91.113 as was proposed by the Beyond Visual Line Of Sight (BVLOS) Aviation Rulemaking Committee (ARC) final report. In April of 2022, the BFA as well as its partners in the National Aeronautics Association Aero Sport Group, made public comments opposing this effort, and were successful in that all request for BVLOS operations waivers were met with approvals only if the drone operator could guarantee that they would be able to detect and avoid all manned aircraft. It now appears that with a push put on by these large drone companies, their attorneys and lobbyists, that FAR part 108 may contain provisions that will give some right of way to drones over all other types of aircraft that do not have electronic conspicuity (ease of visibility). This notice is to advise you that the BFA has been working behind the scenes, not only our NAA Aero Sport partners, but with the larger nationally recognized general aviation organizations, namely AOPA, NBAA, EAA, VAI and others, joining with them in opposition to any loss of airspace right-of-way. The BFA will be attending meetings with these groups over the next few days in a work session to generate letters of disagreement with any proposed airspace right-of-way changes. With the current enthusiasm being displayed by the White House in allowing the drone industry to flourish and grow, administrators in the Department of Transportation and the FAA are hurriedly working through the process of issuing an NPRM, reportedly with a 30 day response time for the eventual implementation of FAR 108. As soon as the NPRM is issued, we will distribute the document to the membership along with bullet points that are important to consider in writing a response. The BFA and its partners are monitoring FAA notifications daily to intercept this NPRM immediately upon issuance so as to provide our membership with sufficient time to write a response. This will be a call to action for all balloonists, whether BFA members or not, to resist any pending regulation attempting to provide the drone industry with right of way over balloons below 500 ft AGL We will provide you with a list of talking points as a guide in writing your NPRM response. A massive response to this NPRM will be critical. Watch all BFA communications for further details. Pat Cannon, BFA Government Liasion Jason Jones, BFA President

Tom Rutherford Obit.pdf

Minnesota Balloon Rides Rides and so much MORE! Learn the history of these beautiful 7 story tall works of art! Have a balloon at your next event or schedule a school presentation for your class. Learn about becoming a Hot Air Balloon ground team. Learn the Crew Terminology. See the current weather condition's in Minneapolis and so so much more. Visit https://minnesotaballoonrides.com today!

View File Drone Winds "NEW Procedure" You may have noticed that the procedure for reading winds with a drone has changed. Watch this video so see how and why! Submitter hotairballoonist Submitted 11/06/2024 Category Video Tutorials  

Greater Orlando Balloon Rides offers flight each morning (Weather Permitting) in the Disney area of Orlando Florida. The flight program is several hours long and can be scheduled for any day you wish. The Greater Orlando Balloon Rides website allows you to choose a flight date with their online calendar scheduling. Choose your flight date, enter some contact information and place a refundable deposit and POOF your set! Visit https://greaterorlandoballoonrides.com for more information.

View File Paid Memebership? Do you have a paid membership? Is it expired? How do I find out? What if I have lost my password? How do I renew? All of these questions are answered here in this Video. Remember that PAID MEMBERSHIPS is what keeps this site alive. Please support this resource for all Balloonist. Submitter hotairballoonist Submitted 05/31/2024 Category Video Tutorials  

Hi Classic Pilot, Hey everyone! Are you looking forward to your upcoming events? From Telluride to Carson City, Helen to Sikeston, Coshocton to Battle Creek and Indianola the summer flying season is rushing at us in a hurry. Are you ready? While this is an exciting time for all of us who fly in festivals and competition we also want to remind everyone to please be safe. Fly within your comfort level and NOT because others are flying. Just because balloons around you are inflating does not mean you must do so. The safety of your crew, passengers, and spectators is most important. Remember YOU are the PIC of your aircraft and everyone out there is most likely taking video on their phones! Most of all treasure your flights, friends and the amazing fellowship that ballooning has to offer everyone. Take the time to invite everyone you come in contact with into the fun and adventure of ballooning. Each of you are AMAZING and the ambassador(s) for all of us! How’s your rig? Some of you have flown very little yet this year. Many will be hitting the road for the first time. Take the time to check over your equipment. From trailers to bearings, lights to hitch latches, a little time invested in checking things over real good is time that may be saved sitting on the side of the road somewhere. Also remember things like your inflator fan, and strikers, flints, radios, gloves, and more. I remember years ago a crew person who was stung horribly by wasps who had made a nest in a glove bag mounted on the inside of a trailer door. Unless you look over EVERYTHING real good you just don’t know what nasty little surprises are waiting for you and the worst time.. There is simply nothing better than a road trip to a balloon festival that goes off without a hitch. We hope you have an entire summer like that! Gots STufF? Do you need Balloon Cups? Do you need a new Envelope Bag? How about an HAB or LTA sticker for your rig? There are many great items available on the Balloons-andBeyond.com site. In fact we have 4 balloon cup versions available right now! Many of them have balloons that you may know on them. Take the time and have a look. Get a couple of sleeves or more for your summer adventures. Each cup has the Balloonist Prayer on them so they make great after flight champagne ceremony cups. Plastic and dishwasher safe they even make a great souvenir for your passengers and crew. Go to and have a look! Click here to see one of the cups. Click here to order cups. The Aviation Ranch. I have been to balloon heaven and it is in Georgia! If any of you are traveling up and down interstate 75 and are passing through Georgia it is worth a stop for an afternoon or even an evening to see the Aviation Ranch. What an amazing place! Tom and Jessica Warren have been working (their butts off) for two years now to create a place for ballooning and Balloonist to fly, relax, share stories around a campfire and so much more. They have done so much already and have plans to do even more in the future. To learn even more about this place check out the website Aviation-Ranch.com. Even the website has much to offer! Get an Aviation-Ranch hat or a Koozie in the store. There are slide shows and videos about some of the projects they have done. There are competition videos for those who wish to learn more about flying competition. SOON they will have cabins and sleeping accommodations for extended visits. They have an amazing launch and landing area on the property and so much more. Hats off to the Warrens and all the other pilots and crew who are part of this project! Truly amazing! Visit https://aviation-ranch.com for more information and to see the ranch! Members needed! Please help support the HotAirBalloonist.com site with a membership to the site. A general membership is only $20 a year and allows you so many advantages. Members SEE the private side of the site that the general public does not see. Members can interact and create articles, photo galleries and even your own balloon club within the site. Members can see hundreds of files and many dozens of video tutorials and best of all members can download ALL the files for FREE! Once you are a member you can download ten times the value of your membership in tutorials and files in the download center. Plus you are helping to support and keep running the only interactive balloonist platform on the web. We have created a short 2 minute video that shows you how to check if you have a paid membership on the site. It also shows you how to recover and reset your password if you have forgotten it. Take a moment and view My Membership https://hotairballoonist.com/Video/mymembership.mp4 Thank you all, for everything you do for the Balloon World.

Katherine Wadsworth Delano 4-26-22.pdf

Leo Eisenberg Obituary 1921-2017.pdf Mar 24, Doc 1.pdfMar 24, Doc 2.pdfMar 24, Doc 6.pdfMar 24, Doc 7.pdfMar 24, Doc 8.pdf

ROGER CLARK Commercial Pilot / Elite Balloon Instructor (NAFI) Palmetto Sun Balloons 864-631-3243 roger.clark@live.com www.palmettosunballoons.com 132 Fawnbrook Drive, Greer, SC 29650

Bio Maureen Mullen Lynch for Notable File.pdf

Bio Wiedkehr Women - Denise & Donna.pdf

October means one thing to most Balloonist. It’s Fiesta Time. I have been watching the postings on Facebook and I get a big smile on my face to hear about everyone going to Albuquerque for the big event! It was many years ago when I went to “The Big One” It is an exciting event and one that can test your skills in a big way. Please BE SAFE. Here are some great things to remember. Not everyone who flies has the same skill level or even recent flight time. Be super alert to all the balloons around you. Some are flying only for the first time at the event and others may only have 5 flights under their belt this entire year! Take an experienced ground crew with you to help keep you aware of everything around you. Heck if you can take another pilot with you, do so! Don’t fly over your head. If you would not fly in the conditions at home don’t fly in them there. If the weather conditions are marginal for your taste you certainly don’t want to be up there with 100’s of other balloons! Fly to have fun and enjoy the experience and NOT because everyone else is. Take the time to talk to your ground team. Make sure they are aware of everything that is going on. Tell them NOT to get in a hurry to chase, drive the vehicle FIRST and worry about the balloon second. One of the things, that occurs way too often and does not make national headlines are the incidents on the ground that do not involve a balloon. While I wish for everyone to have great flights I am hoping that ALL participants are safe, (in the air and on the ground). Look for the Thompson’s Jon is flying for Rainbow Riders and Mom and Dad (Connie and Jim) are lurking around there somewhere as well. FOR SALE I have been looking at the different options online for Balloon Equipment. There are several places online, Facebook is the most common place I find things for sale. The issue I run into is what if you are searching for a specific item? A Tank or a Fan or just a Bottom End. That is where most “For Sale” places fall short. There is nearly, no way to find exactly what you are looking for without doing a bunch of sorting or scrolling back over dozens of things you have no interest in. The Equipment 4SALE section on HotAirBalloonist.com is set up so you can find EXACTLY what you are looking for in just a couple of clicks. When we say a couple of clicks we mean TWO. In almost every case you can find a whole section of exactly what you are looking for in two clicks. Here are just a few of the features of using the HotAirBalloonist.com Equipment 4SALE forum. AS THE SELLER, You can post as much descriptive text as you wish. You can add as many photos as you like. You can include details such as Price, Location, Hours, Shipping Options, Model, Make You can also include all your contact information such as Phone, Email, Address, and best way to contact. Return to your post and edit in any way you wish. Add more photos, text or even change the price of your item. In addition as a member on the site you can take advantage of the “Follow Feature” to be notified whenever someone posts a comment or question about your item. I encourage you to have a look at the Equipment 4SALE section on HotAirBalloonist.com and see for yourself. If you have equipment for sale, send me an email with all the details and I will create a 4SALE post for you! BALLOON CUPS So we are expecting the new custom Balloon cups to show up here at the shop any day! We have another cup in the works and it has 5 spaces left. SO… if you were one of the people who did not get a spot on the first cup but would still like to have your balloon on a custom cup here is your chance. Go to this page. https://balloons-andbeyond.com/2023-balloon-cup/ Fill out the form with your details, Balloon name and add a real good photo of your balloon. Then when you submit that page it will take you to a page where you can purchase a case of cups. To get your balloon on the cup you are required to pre-purchase a case of cups. A case of cups is $325 and contains 500 cups (that will have YOUR balloon on them) When you purchase a case the price per cup works out to 65 cents a cup. A super cheap souvenir to give to your passengers and crew! Also remember the cups have the Balloonist’s prayer on them! Don’t forget to hide away a sleeve of cups for your own personal collection. What did I do? In the last newsletter I described a situation that was, in my mind, a super dangerous situation that could have ended up in a horrible disaster. I asked the question what would you do? This is a great topic at this moment with so many heading to Albuquerque for Fiesta. Here is a reminder of what I was a witness to” I was up in Helen GA for the Helen to the Atlantic event. My father was going on a Gas Balloon flight at the event. The afternoon flight was a go but things had not calmed down. Everyone was told to use a tie off because of the thermals and very tight launch areas. I figured I would walk down and help in any way I could. As I was walking around the balloons I saw a balloon rolling all over the place in the gusty conditions. I walked over to the basket to see if I could find the pilot. What I saw seriously scared me to death. The pilot had taken a rope tied to their pickup truck. Ran the rope through the basket via one of the tank strap holes around the fuel tank and out the other tank strap hole. So the entire balloon was secured by a rope around a fuel tank and wicker. To make matters worse the parachute line, was lying about 20 up inside the envelope. It was not tied to anything at all. This means that if the balloon started to take off in a gust of wind someone would have to run INTO the balloon to grab that parachute line to deflate the balloon. I have tried to deflate a balloon while riding along inside. It is nearly impossible to get enough friction on Balloon Fabric to pull out a straight pull parachute. Then, LORD HELP everyone if that rope tore that tank out of the basket and severed the fuel line! So what would you do? My solution was to immediately create a safe environment and explain to the pilot the issues I saw. I went into the balloon and grabbed the parachute line. Walked out and handed the line to one of the ground team holding open the mouth. I told them if this balloon begins to move again to pull on this line as hard as they could. I then walked over and shut off the fan. I knew this would bring the pilot from where ever they were down to the basket. It worked. The pilot was over at the next balloon to the left talking to another pilot. They came running back to the basket to find out what had happened to the fan. I was there and told them that I had shut it off. I asked them if they thought the rope thru the wicker and around the tank could lift that pickup truck. I then explained that the balloon could. While they were very upset with my actions they also could see my point. If a gust or thermal were to grab that balloon it would rip that tank right out of the side of that basket and there would be no way to stop that balloon. We had a very productive conversation. I then helped them get launched. I urge each of you to keep an eye on your fellow balloonist. HELP each other be safe. Please not only be alert for potential situations with your own equipment and crew, but the others around you! Additionally, be receptive to constructive advice from others. We know everyone does things differently but maybe, just maybe that other guy might have a good idea. One of the stories I have told in the past and still rings true today. I was a very cocky young pilot. I had way more talent than sense. My parents realized this and did not want to inhibit my drive and passion. My father gave me a great piece of advice I still remember to this day. “Even that guy who does 9 out of 10 things wrong is worth watching because the one thing he does right is something you may not have thought of” Learn from everyone and always be willing to share and…… Thank you for all you do for the Balloon World. be safe