The END of 2020 (Dec 31 2020)

[hotairballoonist]

I hope you are well.

Well, here we are at the end of what has to be a year for the record books. 

My 2020 started off with a Hemorrhagic stroke and spent 5 days in a coma and nearly a month in the hospital.  The stroke has ended a 45 year career of flying balloons and removed my ability to earn a living for my family.  Toss in the Covid-19 issue and this whole year has been a mess for nearly everyone!  With my current medical issues the Covid-19 pandemic has had the Thompson Compound locked down.  My Doctors have warned that if I contract the virus it could be a very bad thing.  A huge Thank you goes out to my mother and father, who made the trip to the hospital nearly every day for a month!    

2020 also saw our elected officials pass a 1.3 trillion stimulus package yet only a small portion of it goes to actual Americans.  Do the math!  1.3 trillion, divided by 325 million American’s equals $4,000.00 per American, yet we will be lucky to get even half of that.  Never mind the debit created for our kids to pay back. 

I have also been banned from Facebook.  I am not entirely sure why, but I do have suspicions.  Each time I try to log in I get the following message.

We Received Your Information

If we still find that you're not old enough to be on Facebook, your account will remain disabled. This is because your account doesn't follow our Terms of Service.

We're always looking out for the security of people on Facebook, so until then you can't use your account.

So either my account has been hacked or I have been intentionally blocked. I am sure you have heard the rumors that Facebook, Twitter, Google and other information sources have been censoring the information you receive.  I am now a believer in the censorship of these big media platforms.

2020, The balloon world lost a true pioneer in Don Piccard.  I will be writing an article about my first encounter with him in 1977 at the Albuquerque event. 

Yes 2020 will be a year that will be talked about long after most of us are gone.

Since I can no longer fly I have been busy writing articles for the HotAirBalloonist.com website.  I have also been selling off equipment and soon will have some nice Classic Limited Stretch baskets available for purchase.  I have several sets of Zone 5 double burners too.  There are many items still available in the Equipment 4Sale section on the HAB site.  Remember anyone can post items for sale on HAB!

I have also sent a very nice presentation to Shawn Gano the developer of the HotAir.app. 

http://www.hotairballoonist.com/Video/ShawnHOTAIR.mp4

Many of you may already know that the program Motion X is no longer available.  I personally used the program very heavily for pre-flight planning.  Here in the Central Florida area we deal with some very large swamps.  Areas where if you get out over them and cannot get to the other side you will have a very wet, uncomfortable and potentially dangerous hike out and a helicopter will be required to get your equipment back.  So the measuring tool on that app was a fantastic help.  You could take your PiBal readings and then move your launch and landing circles around to find the best fit for direction and speed prior to your flight.  This would give you a huge advantage pre-flight, to help you be sure you could make your landing target.  Shawn has agreed to build a pre-Flight planning tool into the HotAir.app when he has the time to do so.  There are some other issues he is currently working on but do not be surprised if a new tool is available in the next update.

My father Jim Thompson has been hard at work creating biographies for the Hall of Fame “Notable Balloonist Biographical Information” category.  There are hundreds of biographies you can read about balloonists all over the country.  You may be surprised with some of the fantastic history of the people who make up our sport.  This section of the Hotairballoonist.com site is open to the public and you do not need to log in to view the biographies so we encourage you to take a look around the category!

There are also many files on the Members Side of the site.  Log in and look around that part of the site when you have time.  There is a Password Recovery system on the site if you have forgotten your password.  If all else fails send me an email at Info@HotAirBalloonist.com and I will help you reset the password to anything you like.

Finding new stuff is also easy to do on the site.  We have a video tutorial on how to sort files in any of the hundreds of categories.  Have a look at the “What’s New” video tutorial. 

I have posted a short article in the “Tips & Tricks” category under the “Better Inflations” sub-cat.  The article is called Where did your Eyelashes go?  I would love to hear comments from pilots about this article. You may post replies on the site and only logged in members will see your comments.  Yes you must be logged in to view this topic.

We have some banner advertising spots available so if you have products you would like to advertise to balloonists we would love to have you advertise them on the HAB site.  Here is a link where you can go to select a banner advertising program for your products.

Do you need flying area maps?  Do you need your website refreshed or an entirely new site?  I am available.  Classic Online Services is my web development site.  Have a look!

Last thought for this year.  I will not be flying commercially any longer.  As hard as that is for me to do, I will not be out of ballooning.  I will be spending more time on the HotAirBalloonist.com site trying my best to share ideas, experiences, tips & tricks and anything I can to help promote the sport.  As I have said on more than one occasion, with 7,000 hours and nearly a half century of HAB adventures I have much to share.  All I ask is that YOU help me by supporting the HotAirBalloonist.com site. Start your 2021 off with a paid membership and participate!  Share your experiences, ask questions and help me promote our world.   We have hundreds of articles and hundreds of files and dozens and dozens of video tutorials to help you get more out of the site, so dive in!

I sincerely hope that each one of you have a wonderful & safe year.  I hope yours is a prosperous 2021. 

Thank you for all you do for the balloon world.

Jeff A Thompson