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10
TIGARD FESTIVAL OF BALLOONS
June 20, 2013
THE PILOTS AND THEIR BALLOONS
T
he following balloon pilots and
their colorful crafts are scheduled
to delight visitors at the GameTime
Festival of Balloons at Cook Park.
For more information about what to expect
at the community celebration, visit
tigardballoon.org.
■
CHERYL ISAACS, PADRE DEL SOL
— Cher-
yl enjoys cold-weather flying and visiting
high-desert
areas. She
took her first
balloon ride
in Napa, Ca-
lif., in 1984,
and fell in
love with bal-
loons. She
has been a
crew person
for 12 years
and a pilot
for 10. She
enjoys rallies
in different
areas and re-
ally likes flying new spectators to bal-
looning.
■
CARMEN BLAKELY, TERRA MADRE
— Car-
men began crewing for hot-air balloons in
1994. After
her first
flight, she
knew she
had to learn
to fly. She re-
ceived her
private pilot
certificate in
2000 and her
commercial
pilot certifi-
cate in 2001.
She is co-
owner of two
balloons, fly-
ing in the
Willamette Valley. She likes to travel to
balloon rallies across the Western United
States as much as possible.
■
BRANN SMITH, SKYDANCER
— My first
experience
with hot-air
ballooning
was 16 years
ago during a
flight in Port-
land. It then
became my
passion as I
soon realized
it was such
an amazing
and unique
sport. In
1999, I com-
pleted my
private and
commercial pilot training and began fly-
ing in Bend with my own ride company. I
believe hot-air ballooning is not just
about flying but the people you encoun-
ter. My team/crew have a ride business in
Chico, Calif.
■
RANDALL FUEHRER, PERSISTENCE
BALLOON
— In 2003, Randall took his first
flight and
was instantly
hooked on
hot-air bal-
looning. In
2005, Randall
became a
commercial
hot-air bal-
loon pilot.
Randall en-
joys flying
his balloons
throughout
the United
States. This
includes fly-
ing twice at the Albuquerque Festival of
Balloons in New Mexico and many other
rallies in the Northwest. A local resident
for more than 30 years, Randall lives in
McMinnville and flies commercially in the
area. His company is called Outback Bal-
loon LLC.
■
TERRI RATKOVIAK, PARTY PANDA
— Ter-
ri’s parents introduced her to ballooning
back in 1993, when they sponsored a bal-
loon at the Siskiyou County Balloon Fair.
Terri took her first ride that weekend and
crewed the next year. Deciding this was
the sport for her, she then decided to buy
herself a Christmas present and pur-
chased her
first balloon,
Scarlet Rib-
bons, in De-
cember 1995.
Five months
later, she re-
ceived her
private pilot
certificate.
Living in
Bullhead,
Ariz., didn’t
give her that
many options
for flying, so
she packed
up and
moved to Re-
no, Nev., in 1995.
Terri met her husband through the bal-
looning community, and now it is a family
affair with their 10-year-old son Riley. In
2002, Terri and Larry moved to Northern
California so they could raise their son in
the country. Terri and Larry — a pilot as
well — have been together for 17 years.
They enjoy being “Balloonmeisters” of
several events throughout the Pacific
Northwest as well as hosting safety semi-
nars for pilots and crew.
Terri is passionate about breast cancer
awareness and flies the breast cancer rib-
bon on her Party Panda balloon. They
have an awesome crew of about 15 who
follow them around, enjoying this won-
derful and wacky sport.
■
JIM SMITH, PACIFIC RAINBOW
— As Pa-
cific Peaks owner and a commercial pilot,
Jim loves to share the thrill of Lighter
Than Air Aviation. “Captain Jim” — as
the kids call him — enjoys sharing the
unique experience of Lighter Than Air
Aviation with his customers, students and
folks he meets throughout his travels in
the Pacific
Northwest.
Following
a 33-year
banking ca-
reer, and af-
ter crewing
for balloon
teams for
eight years,
Jim began
his second
career as a
commercial
balloon pilot
in 1997. In
2010, career
No. 3 started when Jim was appointed a
designated pilot examiner by the Federal
Aviation Administration.
Pacific Peaks is involved in promoting
local ballooning events and has provided
special flights for Make-A-Wish and other
organizations involved in helping chil-
dren “live their dream” with a hot-air bal-
loon flight.
His activities that are among his most
favorite memories include: participating
in the Boise, Idaho, 2000 Celebration Bal-
loon Glow; being one of 60 pilots nation-
wide selected to provide VIP flights for
the 2001 National Mayor’s Conference in
Boise, Idaho; receiving a BFA Director’s
Award in 2001; and serving as national
BFA youth program director in 2002.
■
DALE JUSTICE, OUTER LIMITS
— Dale
started crewing in 1982. He started his pi-
lot training
in 1984, but
was unable
to complete
the process.
In 2007, he
bought his
first balloon
Outer Limits
and began
his training
again. He
achieved his
private pilot
certification
in 2009. For
Dale, giving
others the thrill of flying in a balloon is a
great pleasure.
■
BILL WOODHEAD, WWJD
— Bill Wood-
head has been a pilot for more than 40
years, flying
both hot-air
balloons and
airplanes. He
lives in
Grants Pass,
where he op-
erates His
Sky Bal-
loons. He
has flown
balloons in a
majority of
the states in
the United
States, as
well as Isra-
el, Africa and Canada. Bill flies yearly in
more than a dozen balloon events, includ-
ing The Great Reno Balloon Race and the
Albuquerque Balloon Festival. Bill has
been flying the Special Shape Balloon
Arky for more than 12 years, taking it to
events in Israel, Canada and across the
U.S.
■
KOH MURAI, FIRENZA
— I am predomi-
nantly a sport flyer but also provide some
instruction. I also enjoy aerostat con-
struction,
having com-
pleted an
AX-5. One of
my other
joys in LTA
aviation is
working on,
executing
and helping
others with
long-dis-
tance, long-
duration and
high-altitude
flights. It has
been my
pleasure to be the launch master for five
world records set over three flights. Yet
time spent aloft is still the biggest thrill
after all these years. The people you meet
and become involved with are right up
there with flying.
From 1991 to 1998, I was involved as
launch crew, launch master and consul-
tant for several trans-global balloon at-
tempts. These included Earthwinds Hil-
ton, Virgin Global Challenge, ICO Global
Challenge and Global Hilton. From 2000 to
2005, I was involved with scientific bal-
loon and systems design and flight opera-
tions for a small private firm supporting
various government and university agen-
cies. This work included designs and
flights in earth atmosphere, near space
and planetary exploration.
In 1978, I had my first balloon ride,
which promted me to start crewing and
become a student pilot. I earned a hot-air
private certificate in 1983, commercial
certificate in 1988 and gas rating in 1996. I