Welcome to 2018! (Jan 2018)

[hotairballoonist]

It’s a new year!

Safety Seminar Season,

Each year many safety seminars happen all over the country.  HotAirBalloonist.com encourages everyone to attend a seminar if you can.  The ideas expressed the topics covered and the general discussion; even during the breaks, is helpful to all of us.  We as a whole must continue to strive for 100% safety.  Each year we hear about silly accidents that simply should not have happened. Each year we watch other pilots do stuff we all know is done in poor judgement or just simply WRONG.  Each year we promise to do better but honestly, we do not!  HotAirBalloonist.com is trying very hard to help.  This year we will be donating Pilot and Crew checklists to many safety seminars.  These checklists are printed on 80 Mil PVC (Same as most credit or debit cards). They can be found and customized in our store online if you wish to have your own. These checklists will come with a plastic luggage strap so they can be attached to a flight bag, a tank, basket handle or anywhere the pilot finds handy.  We will also be producing Crew Checklists as well. 

Things we NEED to talk about.

Another item at HotAirBalloonist.com is the new “Things we NEED to talk about” forum. This new forum is inside the Safety Seminars category on the HAB site.  This is a private forum for members only.  If you go to the site as a guest (Not logged in) you will not be able to see the forum.  Once you have logged in to the site you will be able to find the Forum “Things we NEED to talk about” inside the Safety Seminar category.  When you go to this new Forum you can select the “FOLLOW” button on the right side of the page. When you ‘Follow” a topic, the system will send you an email any time a new topic has been posted. This will keep you informed about what is currently being talked about in the safety arena.  ONLY MEMBERS, who are logged in, have access to this.  If you have a “Registered Guest” membership you will need to upgrade to see this new forum.  Just go to the store and select the membership that is right for you and upgrade your account.  Then feel free to talk about problems you have seen and potential ways to solve.  If we all contribute we all can gain!

Things you DON’T see.

We still have a hard time getting people to realize the stuff you don’t see.  I know that does not make a whole bunch of sense but if you are just visiting the site as a guest and you are not logged in, you are missing more than half of the site!  This is what makes our site so fantastic!  We have a window for the general public to learn about ballooning and find service providers, festivals, Instructors and more on our “OPEN” or public side but as a member when you “LOG IN” the site becomes a HUGE resource for everything!  Clubs, Services, Supplies, Instruction, Power Point presentations, Files, Events, and more, all  at your fingertips with a click of a mouse. We monitor the site many times a day.  We encourage participation and look forward to creating solutions to your needs.  But, No matter how good we are and what we have to offer if you don’t participate we might as well sit in a closet!  We can have the library of congress for ballooning at your fingertips but if you don’t use it then what good are we?  When you log in, anything that is new, items you have not seen or read will appear with a DARK icon.  Items with a faded out icon are things you have already seen.  We have tried to make it as easy for you to keep up with what is new as we can.  Did you hear about the Court case in California that states a balloon ride is not to be considered under the Common Carrier laws?  How about whether or not you are operating a commercial vehicle when you take your truck and trailer to a balloon festival?  Would you like to be able to download a Propane technical pocket guide or how about a diagram for an inflator fan frame?  These are all things that are available on the site for our membership.  If you do not log in or you do not have a membership you don’t know what you’re missing.  Go and get a paid membership.  Support HotAirBalloonist.com.  A general membership is only $20 for an entire year!  The HotAirBalloonist.com site is not only a very useful site for ballooning, but it is easy to use and a great benefit to ballooning in general and worthy of your support!  GET INVOLVED, GET A MEMBERSHIP, and help us help ballooning.

WHO ARE WE?

Some of you know me and many may not.  My name is Jeff Thompson.  I live in Florida.  I have just shy of 7,000 flights and about 5800 flight hours.  I am a BFA level DA-8 on the PAAP (pilot achievement award program) I am also an Ed Yost Master Pilot award recipient.  I had my pilot’s certificate before I had a driver’s license for a car.  I purchased my first balloon in 1976 and took my parents Jim and Connie Thompson for their first flight at the age of 17 years old.  I have been a member of the BFA since 1977. 

You may ask why I am telling you this.  I love, live and breathe ballooning.  I want to leave this sport better off than when I came into it.  I created the HotAirBalloonist.com site so we could all work together and share our talents, passion, experiences and tricks, tips and failure’s together for the benefit of all.  Unlike other ballooning sites HotAirBalloonist.com is user interactive.  What I mean by this is that YOU a member can post things for others.  WE CAN ALL SHARE with our fellow balloonists and talk about the things we need. Not only can you share our opinion, but you can share files, presentations, photos, and more for others to view and learn from YOU. We are creating a HUGE database of knowledge accessible by all balloonists for all our benefit.  

I know each newsletter I ask over and over for you to become a member.  Please understand that I have personally funded this site for a very long time out of my own pocket.  RIGHT NOW we are preparing packages for safety seminars all over the country.  The dollar value of the items we are donating is in the thousands!  Is it too much to ask that you get a pilots membership for $45 a year? (Thank you to those who have) How about a general membership for $20 a year?  There are dozens and dozens of useful features built into HotAirBalloonist.com and more being added all the time.  Get your crew a membership for $20 a year! The site has thousands of features and files.  We were presented a BFA Directors award for our work with the BFA Hall of Fame committee.  Soon you will be able to view the Notables category the HOF uses to select the nominations for the Ballooning Hall of Fame.  There is simply something for everyone on the site.  Go to the store, select a membership and support HotAirBalloonist.com, please.

Fly safe

As always I am available

Jeff A Thompson.

info@hotairballoonist.com

407-421-9322