AOPA Pilot Magazine - June 2018 - 39

However, I didn't have commercial
aspirations, and became a pilot to share
the sport with my family and for my
own personal enjoyment. Rather than
being encouraged, I found this statement
disappointing.
That ballooning was on the decline
became evident when I went to go for
my practical examination. The lack of
local designated pilot examiners in New
England nearly had me driving to Florida
to take my test. New England was once
flush with DPEs, with three less than
half an hour from my childhood home in
Connecticut. However, by the time I was
ready to take my test there was only one
left, and even he was under threat of losing
his designation because of lack of applicants. I passed my test exactly one week
before he lost that ability.
Unlike fixed-wing pilots, balloonists
can't fly to the DPE, and they are far more
restricted by the winds and time of day. I
drove more than four hours to my examiner, leaving my Vermont home at 11:30
p.m. the night before so I could arrive in
time to prepare for my sunrise flight. If the
DPE I used hadn't worked out, I would
have had to pursue other options in New
Jersey, Ohio, or even Florida, 1,200 miles
away.
The issue goes beyond DPEs. Finding
certificated hot air balloon repair stations
has also become difficult. Since I got my
certificate in 2015, three repair stations in
New England and New York have closed.
And July 2016 will always be remembered among balloon circles for the tragedy
in Lockhart, Texas, when 16 people were
killed in a commercial hot air balloon flight.
No matter where you may stand on the proposed legislation concerning medicals for
commercial balloonists, crashes are never
good for our sport. Those headlines will
define ballooning for an untold number
of people, discouraging them from experiencing lighter-than-air flight and cutting off
interested student pilots.
Since 9/11, general aviation has gone
into steady decline and the results have
manifested across the industry. Flight
schools are closing, and municipal airports are under threat from real estate

developers, with lukewarm support
from the state and federal governments.
Meanwhile, forecasts of the impending
commercial pilot shortage have changed
to alarming reports.
Problems are coming in from all quadrants and in all this gloom and doom arises
the saddest reality: The unique experience
of flight is being lost on the next generation. I'm not talking about the thrill of
jumping on an Airbus and flying to a destination, but the actual sensation of flying
that can only be achieved by small personal
aircraft. Gliders, single-engine airplanes-
and, yes, hot air balloons.
You may ask: Why should hot air balloonists matter? Shouldn't we be more
concerned about the airplane pilots who
prop up the indispensable, billion-dollar
commercial airline business? The reality
is that we in the aviation industry need to
support one another in any shape and form.
Who knows what flight experience will
inspire a kid to pursue a dream of becoming a pilot? I like to think of ballooning as
my entry point, but my destination in aviation is still to be determined. No matter
where that journey takes me, I will always
be an advocate for local airports and flight
schools, the cradle of aviation. I want the
industry to survive.
I decided to continue my flight lessons, and in the fall of 2016 I became a
commercial hot air balloon pilot, which
comes with the ability to teach and sign
off on students. My goal is to bring new life
into the sport and help the next generation of pilots become certified. Thankfully,
the last balloon DPE in New England was
able to get recertified, but if he ever feels
he must retire, I will do what I have to do
to fill that void and keep ballooning alive
in the region.
These steps, as small as they are, are
ones that I can make to try to protect and
preserve ballooning. And I hope other
pilots can adopt the same mindset, and-
most important-work together, to keep
general aviation alive for generations to
come.

HEADLINES THAT
AFFECT YOU

Recent news from the aviation world
121 WOMEN PILOTS TO COMPETE
IN 2,656-MILE AIR RACE CLASSIC
Some 121 women pilots from 35
states, Australia, Canada, Colombia,
Kenya, and New Zealand will compete in this year's Air Race Classic,
an annual event that will take off
June 19 in Sweetwater, Texas. The
2,656-mile race will take aviators
through 15 states and is slated to
end June 22 in Fryeburg, Maine.
-General Aviation News
IAOPA WORLD ASSEMBLY MEETS
IN NEW ZEALAND
Leaders of the International Council
of Aircraft Owner and Pilot
Associations (IAOPA), representing more than 400,000 general
aviation aircraft owners and pilots,
convened in New Zealand in March
for the twenty-ninth biennial World
Assembly to discuss challenges
facing the GA community around
the globe.
-AOPA.org
SUN FLYER 2 PROTOTYPE MARKS
FIRST TEST FLIGHT
The Sun Flyer 2, a prototype electric airplane being developed by
Bye Aerospace in Colorado, took to
the air on April 10 with a "fantastic
first flight," the company said in a
news release.
-AOPA.org
CANADA ADS-B MANDATE
MOVES CLOSER
With the fifth successful launch and
deployment of 10 Iridium NEXT satellites on March 30-bringing the
total number in orbit to 50-Aireon
gains even more capability for its
space-based Automatic Dependent
Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B)
system. Each of the Iridium NEXT
satellites carries an Aireon ADSB payload. The successful launch
and delivery of the satellites means
Canada is moving closer to an
ADS-B mandate.
-AOPA.org

JORDAN LONG is a Boston-based balloonist

and writer.

www.aopa.org/pilot AOPA PILOT | 39
http://www.AOPA.org http://www.AOPA.org http://www.AOPA.org http://www.aopa.org/pilot
AOPA Pilot Magazine - June 2018

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AOPA Pilot Magazine - June 2018
