EP #29 - Bruce Comstock - World Champion and Record Holder
In this episode Andrew chats to ballooning Hall of Fame legend, Bruce Comstock. Having started ballooning 50 years ago, he has achieved a huge amount in ballooning and has an incredible resume. The below is taken from Bruce's website - A Life in the Air.
Bruce Comstock’s extraordinary accomplishments in ballooning eventually landed him in both the international and the U.S. ballooning halls of fame.
Bruce has set world records, won major championships, guided the national organization of balloonists, revived and edited Ballooning magazine, flown all sorts of balloons, planned and made epic balloon flights, created the first U.S. balloon repair facility, established and built up a major balloon manufacturing company, designed and built the autopilot that made solo ultra long distance balloon flight possible, trained and educated other pilots, and represented the Federal Aviation Administration in the certification of new pilots and of newly manufactured balloons.
Driven by curiosity and blessed with an aptitude for physics and math, Bruce started college studying engineering physics. Despite doing well in this, the curriculum seemed too narrow to him. He transferred to the college of arts and sciences and graduated with a degree in economics. While in graduate school, his plan to teach economics in college was sidetracked by an unsolicited job offer designing and creating computer software. A chance series of events while he was doing this drew him into the then nascent sport of flying balloons. The rest is history.
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1:22:51
EP #28 - Matthew Scaife - Competition and Professional Pilot
In this episode Andrew chats to professional balloonist and competition pilot, Matthew Scaife. Matt is a second generation pilot that began ballooning as a kid in the UK. Having flown for many years commercially in England, he then migrated out to Australia to fly commercially and now runs Balloon Aloft.
Matt, along with his wife Nicola, took up competition ballooning in the early 2010s and they both quickly rose to the top ranks in international competition ballooning. Matt has won the Australian National Championships three times and has stood on the podium at many events in Europe and Japan.
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59:34
EP #27 - Brad Temeyer - The Weather Guy
In this episode, Andrew chats to Brad Temeyer. Brad is an internationally renowned ballooning meteorologist. He has been the meteorologist for many record attempts, ballooning events (including the Albuquerque Fiesta), ballooning competitions and for the US team.
Brad was born in Rockford, IL on July 31, 1979. He graduated on the Dean’s List from Iowa State University with a BS Degree in Atmospheric Sciences. He also earned his MS Degree in Atmospheric Sciences at Iowa State University and continued his education with a MS in Public Administration from the University of South Dakota.
His professional career started in 2003 with the National Weather Service as an Intern Meteorologist in Glasgow, Montana where he regularly utilized observations and model data to create public, aviation and fire weather forecasts. He continues as a General Forecaster with the Sioux Falls, South Dakota office of the National Weather Service where, among other duties, he continued to produce public, aviation and fire weather forecasts. He led a team charged with developing Digital Aviation Services at the Sioux Falls and other offices.
His first exposure to ballooning was in 1982 at the National Championships in Indianola, IA when he was 3 years old. He soloed on August 7, 2007, received his private license on June 1, 2008 and his commercial license on June 6, 2010 all in Indianola, IA. To date he has amassed over 200 hours of flight time. His most memorable flights were in 2007 when he flew box winds over Devil's Tower and in 2009 when he flew with Jim Winker on the day of Jim’s induction into the United States Balloon Hall of Fame.
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1:07:45
EP #26 - Video: Ballooning Video Tips
This is the first ever Aunty Monkey video episode.
Go to http://www.auntymonkey.com to watch the episode.
During this episode, Andrew walks through an array of helpful hints and tips about how to produce better ballooning videos. The topics he runs through include:
Filming with phones
Cameras
Mounts
Camera Movement
Speeding up shots
People
Storytelling and music
Drones
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2:48
EP #25 - Kim Magee - World Record Holder
Kim Magee is a second generation pilot from Iowa in the US. Having got her license at the age 19, she has achieved a huge amount in the ballooning world in a relatively short period of time.
Kim has represented USA at the Women's World Championship, she has won the US BFA Long Jump and last year she did 2 World Record flights. So she is now the holder of six FAI World Hot Air Balloon records .
Three years ago, with her husband Adam, Kim set up the not for profit Balloon Training Academy. They help people get into ballooning and improve safety in the ballooning community. They have helped about 40% of all new pilots earn their rating in the USA and provide many continuing education resources.
Australia