BSOPP Pilots

Dave has been involved in ballooning since the late 1970’s and owned his first balloon with his brother, John, in 1990. He has been active ever since. It has been a family affair for him and his wife, Jessica, and two kids, Erin and Andrew. Dave grew up in Albuquerque and was involved with the Fiesta as passenger, pilot, and volunteer. His introduction to ballooning was primarily through his parents, Ray and Carol, and crewing at Fiesta. Dave is commercially rated for both hot air and gas balloons. He got his hot air private certificate in 1989, commercial in 1991 and the gas rating in 2003. The gas rating came from a trip to Germany to learn from world record holder, Wilhelm Eimers. Dave continues to fly as a hobby, for commercial advertising, and as a flight instructor in Colorado and around the USA. Dave has served in the Gas Ballooning world for several years as a participant and then director of the Gas Command Center for AIBF. This included running the command center for five years, including two Gordon Bennett races held in Albuquerque. During this time, the command center increased its ability to track and communicate the balloon’s position during the race. This encouraged more competitive knowledge as well as a much stronger spectator involvement. Dave has an interest in competitive flying and has participated in several BFA sanctioned events as pilot, crew, and observer. BFA event participation includes the New Mexico State Championships, Balunar Liftoff in Houston, National Team Championships in Battle Creek and Shreveport, and several others. He has over 1200 flight hours in hot air and gas balloons and has flown throughout the United States and foreign countries. His most exciting gas flight was a hydrogen balloon flight over the Alps from Sonthofen, Germany to just southwest of Venice, Italy. One of his favorite hot air experiences has been flying special shapes around the US, including shapes like Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Castle in the Sky, Sunny Boy, and Miss Daisy. He and the family have flown in Ireland, Germany, France, Great Britain, Netherlands, and Belgium as well.