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Pilots |
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All the Pilots with Rainbow
Ryders, Inc. are fully certified by the FAA. We pride
ourselves on having full-time professional staff to take
care of you. Our pilots have over 150 years combined
experience in Ballooning and over 15,000 hours of flight
time. Tommy has been flying for 15 years
and has been involved with ballooning for 22 years. He has
over 1,750 hours of flying time. Tommy has flown all over
the world, in the Odenwald forest region of Germany for two
years, the Bergonia wine region of France for three months,
the Massai Mara Game reserve, on the western edge of Kenya,
East Africa for six years, and Bristol, England. In the
United States he's flown in Sanorian Desert, Scottsdale,
Arizona for three years, Red Rock area of Sadona, Arizona
for one year. It just happened that Tommy became a hot air
balloon pilot. His family bought his father a balloon ride
for his 50th birthday and Tommy was able to go up in the
balloon with him. He fell in love with it! To this day he
still remembers where they landed in Central Texas. What
Tommy enjoys about being a hot air balloon pilot is being
able to enjoy God's creation from above and knowing that
each day will be different. He loves the adventure of not
knowing exactly where the balloon will end up, the challenge
of using the winds to guide the balloon. Most importantly he
enjoys meeting new people from around the world each and
every flight. Mike has been a balloon pilot for 16
years. He has over 2,000 hours of flight time and has flown
all over the United States. He has also participated in
sixteen straight Balloon Fiestas, attended rally's in
Bristol, England, and Chihuahua, Mexico. Mike's favorite
balloon rally is in Snowmass, Colorado every September.
Mike's father was a fixed wing pilot, they all enjoy flying,
whether it's balloons or planes. Mike has flown many
Corporate balloons over the years including Ocean Spray,
Santa Ana Star Casino, City of Albuquerque, Galles
Chevrolet, and Isleta Casino. What Mike enjoys most about
ballooning is meeting new people everyday and sharing the
magical experience of ballooning with them. Back in 1985 a friend at church
approached Dan and asked if he would like to crew on a hot
air balloon during the Balloon Fiesta. Dan took his first
ride and was immediately hooked. He started taking lessons
that same year and received his private pilots license in
early 1986. Dan bought his first balloon, "Get-N-Air" in
1988 and it became the family hobby. In 1990 he received his
commercial license. He joined the local balloon club, the
Albuquerque Aerostat Ascension Association (AAAA) and was on
the board for many years. In 2000 he joined Rainbow Ryders
as a commercial pilot and has continued to share his love of
ballooning with passengers and crew members. 2007 was Dan's
20th year of flying in the Albuquerque International Balloon
Fiesta. Dan's career highlights include AAAA Club in 1994,
Numerous 1st, 2nd, 3rd finishes at AAAA club events, Several
top 3 finishes in nationwide ballooning events, participant
in the 2001 Russian National Balloon Cup in Veliki Luki,
Russia, participant in the 2003 Golden Ring of Russia
Balloon Event, participant in the 1st Dubai UAE Balloon
Rally in December 2006, and June 2008 plans to attend the
Croatian Hot Air Balloon Rally and Alpe-Adria Cup and will
fly in Croatia, Isteria, Hungary and Slovenia. In 1989 Dean was transferred to
Kirtland Air Force Base while serving time in the Air Force.
That was the first year he attended the Albuquerque
International Balloon Fiesta. He went to the crew volunteer
tent and was assigned to the Burger King Whopper Balloon.
That was one big heavy balloon but he crewed all week for
Fiesta along with various tethers around town. After that
week he never wanted to eat another whopper! Shortly after
he met a local commercial balloon pilot (Rick Hunt) and
started crewing for him. In 1992 Dean was transferred away
from Albuquerque to Okinawa Japan. There weren't any
balloons flying over there since Okinawa is an island but he
continued to crew for Rick whenever he was back in the
states. In 1996 Dean was lucky and got stationed back in
Albuquerque. He called Rick up and Rick convinced him to
crew for the company that he was currently flying for..
Rainbow Ryders. So he continued to crew for Rainbow Ryders
from 1996 till late in 1998 when Dean decided to become a
pilot. Since becoming a pilot Dean has flown in rallies in
New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado, Arizona, and Nevada.
He became a commercial pilot in 2000 but really didn't do a
lot of commercial rides during the three years he was
stationed there. In November 2005 Dean retired from the Air
Force after 20 years of service and moved back to
Albuquerque. He has now been working for Rainbow Ryders as a
crew member and pilot for 12 years! Eric has been flying for 11 years.
He has been involved with ballooning since he was two years
old and has over 900 hours of flying time. Eric has flown in
Colorado, California, Texas, Louisiana, Arizona, Chihuahua,
Mexico, Guadalajara, Mexico, and all over New Mexico. (Las
Cruces, Deming, Radom Springs, Socorro, Raton, etc.) Eric
grew up with hot air ballooning. From his first experience
at two years old he knew that he wanted to follow in his
Grandfather's shoes and earn his wings. Eric enjoys being
part of the hot air ballooning family; which allows him to
not only travel and meet new people, but be a part of many
people's once in a lifetime experience and all of those
exhilarating special moments. Brooke's mother took her first balloon flight in 1979 at the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta when he was five years old. He took his first balloon flight when he was six years old because both of his parents had gotten hooked on the sport and his father had gotten his pilot's license. Brooke's family bought their first balloon in 1981. Since then their lives have been surrounded by the ballooning community. Brooke got his private license when he was 21 years old and then got his commercial license three years later. From 1995 to 2000 he competed in various national events and toured the country flying the special shape balloon for UniRoyal Tire Company and also was the pilot for the special shape space shuttle balloon. He also had his hand in balloon repairs as he was certified through the FAA as a balloon repairman. He started doing balloon rides in Dallas in 1998 and then moved to Albuquerque in 2000 and has been doing rides in the Albuquerque area since. He has flown over 15,000 passengers over the years and has over 2200 hours of flight time. Brooke's career highlights are Oklahoma State Champion in 1996 and 1997, Plano Balloon Festival Champion in 1998 and 1999, has flown in 35 states in the US and in Canada, flown in Switzerland over the Alps, and has flown many special shapes including UniRoyal Tire, Humpty Dumpty, Rubber Duckie, Canadian Maple Leaf, Space Shuttle, The Blue Flame Balloon, the Pumpkin. Brooke has flown many corporate sponsors including, City of Albuquerque, Santa Ana Star Casino, Michaels MJ Designs, Ocean Spray, Lisa Frank, and Journal Pavilion. He is also an active board member of Top Gun Balloon Club and the Balloon Federation of America. |
 CELEBRATING OUR 25th ANNIVERSARY 1983-2008 All information on any and all
of these pages is copyrighted by Rainbow Ryders,
Inc.® |