Feb (2017)

[hotairballoonist]

WOW BILL SMITH, I don’t know how many of you followed his amazing flight back on the 9^th.  I saw at least one photo of him passing overhead of some balloonists who were obviously paying attention to his flight path.  WOW what a flight!  Best guess 751.46 miles give or take a few feet.  Thanks go out to Brian Beazly for giving us a heads up on the reflector.  At times he was traveling more than 90 miles an hour and over 14 THOUSAND feet up, then to come back to earth for a landing with less than 10 mph winds on the surface.  WOW.  Congratulations Bill Smith and his support team!  We would love to hear the story about the flight!

 

HotAirBalloonist.com is looking for your help!  Yes you!  We are looking for FILES.  You may ask what kind of files.  ALL KINDS. On HotAirBalloonist.com we have a download center.  We already have hundreds of files in our download center but we are looking for more.  This is where you can help.  Do you have a ground crew manual, a Student Pilot syllabus?  Do you have a Tether contract, Passenger Release, Banner contracts?  Do you have Drawings, specifications, files of any kind that would be useful to other balloonists?  We want them.  MAP FILES! GPX files, Balloon event maps, KML files anything you think that another balloonist may have a use for.  UPLOAD THEM!  You will find several categories in the Download Center where you can upload files.  Select the category that best fits your file and upload if for others.   WAIT you say you want to get paid for your files…  That is fine too!  If you have a Equipment Sellers membership, A Ride Operators membership or an Event Organizer membership you may upload files for purchase.  Upload your file and then set the price at any amount you like.  If you need help just let us know.  If you have a file of some sort that you believe other Balloonist’s could use but you do not see a category for it let us know.  That is the nice part of this site, we can customize it any way we want.

 

From the Balloonist Hall of Fame committee.

 

NOTABLE BALLOONIST’S BIOGRAPHIES

The name of Robert Rechs may not be recognized by many current balloonists; however, he is notable for a number of different reasons.  He was the recipient of the first Shields Trauger award presented by the Balloon Federation of America in 1970.  He is probably best known for being the author of Who’s Who of Ballooning, a compilation of data on historically-significant aeronauts. 

 

In the book’s preface Rechs states “If I can leave any legacy for future generations, it is to admonish all aeronauts to make a special effort to collect and preserve historical information on ballooning. Not just antique books and artifacts, but this present era too. Don't hoard your collection of data or knowledge; preserve it, and make sure that, when you expire, your efforts go to your NATIONAL BALLOON MUSEUM for preservation, assimilation, and availability to future generations.”

 

The BFA Hall of Fame Committee has initiated the process to collect biographies or biographical information on historically-significant balloonist to preserve the history of our sport.  We are asking for your help. 

 

At the 2011 Balloon Federation of America National Convention in Des Moines, a list of notable balloonist was developed and about 80 in attendance were recognized as part of ballooning history.  This list included balloonists who were identified in about 18 different areas.  The BFA Hall of Fame Committee, in their search for biographies have consolidated the list into the following categories:

 

·         Ballooning Accomplishments/Contributions

·         Montgolfier Diploma Recipients

·         Ballooning Development

·         BFA Past Presidents

·         Ed Yost Master Pilot Award Recipients  

·         National and World Records Holders

·         CIA Hall of Fame Inductees

·         Shields Trauger Award Recipients

 

We would encourage all balloonists to submit biographical information on present or past balloonists, pilots, crews and other participants, so that our history can be improved and preserved.  The BFA Hall of Fame Committee is coordinating that initiative.

 

Please send ballooning biographies, including balloon adventures, accomplishments, etc, so they are recorded for history.  If possible, include photos of the person, and photos to add more detail to the bio. Said information can be sent to Jim Thompson, a member of the BFA Hall of Fame Committee, at jim@thompsonaire.com

 

Also, if there is a balloonist that you want the Hall of Fame Committee to add to the biographies considered annually as potential candidates for induction into the BFA Hall of Fame at the National Balloon Museum, please complete a Candidate Information Form that can be found on the www.bfa.net under the awards category.

 

Submit all biographical information and candidate information forms to the BFA Office.  Information received will be catalogued by the Hall of Fame Committee and will continue the efforts of Robert Reich’s legacy for future generations of our special sport.

 

WE HAVE THE NTSB Hearing.  We now have the entire NTSB hearing available for viewing on HotAirBalloonist.com  Log in, scroll down the topics page till you find the FAA category.  Inside the FAA category you will find several Sub-Categories.  Click on the Odds and Endless Sub-Category and you will find a topic called NTSB Hearing on Lockhart Texas. Click on this topic and you will be able to view the video.  Thanks go out to Jeff Haliczer for getting us the video on USB.

 

IT WONT BE LONG, before many pilots start the flying season.  Please take the time to look over your gear, Make some checklists.  Things cannot go as planned if there is no plan.  HAB has customizable checklists available in the store.

 

 

Become a member.

Fly safe and have fun.

 

Jeff A Thompson

 

Feb 2017.docx