Latest News Headlines

BFA Convention 2025

Join your fellow aeronauts at the BFA National Convention & Trade Show. The Convention is held every three years in different locations around the country.  This year it will be in Dayton, Ohio at the Dayton Convention Center.

The Convention takes place in conjunction with the Balloon Event Symposium that runs March 26-27, 2025. Consider it the Triple Crown of the Ballooning world, you don’t want to miss it.

The purpose of the Symposium, Convention and Trade Show is to promote safety through education, share experiences, and have some fun with fellow pilots, crews, manufacturers and businesses with the latest information and news about ballooning.

All Full Registrations include: all sessions, breakfast, lunch, breaks, and a Trade Show reception Friday evening.

The Saturday evening Banquet, including the Keynote Presentation & Game Show are an additional cost for all registrations.

From a single registration, to a family registration, to a pilot and crew registration, we have you covered.  There is plenty to see and do in Dayton for your family if they do not want to attend the classroom sessions with you. If your spouse or a friend wants to join you during social times you can purchase the Trade Show Reception and the Banquet options separately without having to purchase a full registration. If you have questions, regarding the 2025 BFA Convention, you can send an email to our Convention Chairs, Penny & Paul Suttle at bfaconvention@bfa.net 

BFA Balloon Event Symposium Dayton

BFA Balloon Event Symposium

This one of a kind conference is designed to educate event organizers, communities interested in hosting a balloon event and evet officials alike on the various aspects of running a safe and successful hot air balloon event.  Or, maybe you already host a great community event but have considered adding hot air balloons to your community event for greater exposure.

The Balloon Event Symposium will be hosted in Dayton, Ohio.  The Symposium is run in conjunction with the BFA National Convention that runs March 28-29, 2025

The Mission of the Symposium is to bring together all parties interested in hot air balloon events including event organizers AND officials who host or may be interested in hosting a balloon event, and pilots interested in learning more about event safety.  The Symposium is designed to promote a free exchange of ideas in a social gathering that will feature facilitators with many years of experience as an event organizer or event official who have worked hand in hand with local communities to host successful hot air balloon events.  The BFA publication, Balloon Event Guidelines, will be utilized to provide many of the training opportunities.

Reserve your hotel TODAY!
Marriott at the University of Dayton is providing us with a great rate of $155 per night.

1414 S. Patterson Blvd
Dayton, OH 45409
(937) 223-1000

LAST DAY TO BOOK AT GOOD RATE – TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2025

2024 Election Results

We would like to thank all of our members that took the time to vote in our election. Our boards do much of the work of our Federation and our success on your behalf rides on their dedication to these elected positions. We would also like to thank all that were willing to raise their hands and run for our open positions. We had a great slate of candidates from which to choose.

Congratulations to our elected directors! 

BFA Board:

At-Large Director - Elisa Talbert

Southeast Region Director - Dave Sullivan

North Central Region Director - Jason Jones

Hot Air Competition Division (HACD):

Offcials At Large - Jack Walsh

Southeast Region - Ken Draughn

North Central Region - Jeremy Rubin

Gas Division:

Noah Forden

Sam Parks

Professional Ride Operators Division (PRO):

No Candidates - will be selected by PRO Board

The newly elected directors will officially join the board at the BFA Board Meeting in ABQ on Thursday October 3, 2024.

To view the election details click HERE

“Balloon Only Class II Medical: Fact or Fiction?”

As previously reported in our publications, the BFA has been told that a “Balloon only” Class II Medical is available, but we are hearing that some of you are being told this is not the case when applying for your medical. Let me try to clarify…

First, there is no “Balloon Only” Class II Medical. When you apply to the FAA for a “medical,” you are applying for either a first, second, or third class medical. The application form, created by MedXpress, allows only for one of these three classifications. However, some in Aeromedical say there is this a “balloon only” option, and others say there is not. So which is it?

Here is where the confusion lies. While there is no “balloon only” medical application, your AME does have the ability to issue a Class II Medical with the restriction or limitation stating “balloon only.” Just like when most of us apply for and receive a LTA pilot certificate, it contains the limitation for a balloon “equipped with airborne heater” – a restriction/limitation that we can, if desired, have removed by further training and testing in a gas balloon. The BFA has been working with Aeromed to make it clear that the physical and mechanical skills required to pilot a balloon are, in some cases, significantly different from those required to pilot rotary or fixed wing aircraft, and therfore some leeway in the Class II requirements should be allowable, in the form of a “balloon only” limitation. The concern might be physiological, like missing a limb or having some movement or joint mobility issues. Similarly there are questions about visual acuity requirements – 20/20 near and far corrected for a first or second class medical, while a third class allows less than 20/20 corrected vision. The BFA is urging Aeromed to consider such allowances, even if it requires a SMFT (Special Medical Flight Test) for issuance.

The fact is, your AME does have this “balloon only” limitation available to them in their database and may opt to use it based on multiple factors. Indeed AMEs have a growing list of items that could previously be evaluated only at the national level in Oklahoma City, but may now be resolved based his/her own assessment of your condition. The BFA is working to expand this list on behalf of balloonists. If the AME is not comfortable with the medical issue, then he/she can and will elevate your application to the medical  board level for consideration. One good thing about this, once the board has evaluated your condition and subsequently issue your medical, you may also receive a letter telling you that when applying for future medicals, they may be issued directly by the AME without further evaluation, unless some change in your medical condition occurs.

Is a “balloon only” limitation good or bad? Again, you can’t (at present) apply for a “balloon only” medical, but it is a limitation available to your AME at their discretion. The BFA does not see having this limitation checked by your AME as having a good or bad influence on your application. It simply indicates that you do not meet all current requirements for a Class II Medical. Just remember, the only reason to accept such a limitation would be if your condition would otherwise see your application rejected. If you don’t need this limitation, in other words you pass all the criteria for a Class II Medical, then do not request or accept it just because you only fly balloons. But if a medical issue does arise, ask your AME, if the condition might warrant approving your application, but with the “balloon only” limitation applied.

Sincerely,

Pat Cannon, BFA President

president@bfa.net

Election 2024 Candidates

ELECTION 2024

Candidates have been selected by their respective nominating committees and we are please to announce the candidates for the 2024 election.  All seats are for 3 year terms unless noted.

Online voting will begin on July 28, 2024. For those members without an email address, a paper ballot will be sent on that date. Voting will end on August 26, 2024.at 10:00pm Central time. To vote members must have been a member in good standing as of July 8th 2024. 

For those candidates that have provided profiles, you can click on their names to learn more about them.

BFA Board of Directors

At Large Director

All members can vote for At-Large director.

Tamlyn Grace

Fred Poole

Elisa Talbert

Southeast Region Director

Please vote for one candidate in the Southeast Region if you reside in Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Washington DC

Roger Clark

Dave Sullivan - INCUMBENT

North Central Region Director

Please vote for one candidate in the North Central Region if you reside in Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming

Jason Jones - INCUMBENT

Hot Air Competition Division

HACD North Central Region Director

Please vote for one candidate (if you are a Hot Air Competition Division/HACD member and located in the North Central Region - Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming​)

Jeremy Rubin, INCUMBENT

HACD Officials At Large Director

Please vote for one candidate (if you are a Hot Air Competition Division Officials Member)

Jack Walsh

HACD Southeast Region Director

Please vote for one candidate (if you are a Hot Air Competition Division/HACD member and located in the Southeast Region -Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Washington DC )

Ken Draughn, INCUMBENT

GAS DIVISION

Please vote for two candidates (if you are a Gas Division Voting Member)

(Vote for 2)

Noah Forden, INCUMBENT

Sam Parks, INCUMBENT

PRO DIVISION

All PRO Board of Director's position will be appointed by the PRO Division Board. If interested in representing At-Large or any Region  please notify a current member of the PRO Division Board of Directors. 

2024 BFA On-Line Seminar is Available

The 2024 BFA On-Line Seminar registration and viewing is OPEN!

Logged-in BFA members can view the segments at no charge.

If you need insurance credit, please register HERE (fee involved).  

This 2024 on-line seminar speaker, topic, and segment sponsors are listed below:

• Andrew Baird – Accident Analysis, sponsored by Cameron Balloons US
• Ed DeVore – Flight Operations and Checklists, sponsored by Acrisure (formerly AIR)
• Dennis Helmuth – Aviation Medicine for Balloonists, sponsored by RPS
• Dave Sullivan – Maintenance and Repair, sponsored by the National Balloon Classic
• Dean Carlton – Aeronautical Decision Making
• Chase Donner – Introduction to Competitive Flying, sponsored by the Great Texas Balloon Race
• Alex McCarthy - Weather, sponsored by Lindstrand Balloon USA
• Ryan Carlton/Gordon Schwontkowski – Powerlines, sponsored by Digitool USA 
• Matt Saal – Crops & Livestock
• Seminar Quiz Sponsor - Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta 

Jason Jones

BFA On-Line Seminar Coordinator

New PTS Documents for LTA Checkrides

Effective May 31,2024

The FAA has published new Practical Test Standards/PTS to be used for both Private and Commercial LTA Checkrides. The old Private and Commercial PTS with effective dates of 1996 and 1997 will not be current after the new documents are effective.

Summary of changes:  Updated References to current documents and practices, mainly in the Introduction Sections. There are very few changes in Lighter-Than-Air Balloon Sections.  But you need to use these for your checkride starting at the end of next month!

If you want more details or a list of all the changes/enhancements  (Page 3 on each new PTS), use the links below:

------------ Effective May 31, 2024 ------
Private Pilot LTA PTS:  November 2023
Document #: FAA-S-8081-17A
https://www.faa.gov/training_testing/testing/acs/private_lta_pts_17.pdf
LTA Balloon: Only pages 1-33 are needed
 

------------ Effective May 31, 2024 ------
Commercial Pilot LTA PTS:  November 2023
Document #: FAA-S-8081-18A
https://www.faa.gov/training_testing/testing/acs/commercial_lta_pts_18.pdf
LTA Balloon: Only pages 1-38 are needed 

Safety seminar season is in full swing! 

      Balloonists around the country have been attending in-person safety seminars all spring and the BFA has been working on its on-line seminar for 2024.  The on-line seminar is a team effort that needs many participants to make this opportunity available to the balloon community. 

      Each year the BFA partners with an in-person seminar to produce the on-line seminar.  This year we worked with the Northeast Ohio Balloon Pilots Association (NOBPA) to bring a high-quality learning event to you!  The BFA and the seminar work together to choose speakers, topics, and to share the expense of funding the seminar.  This year NOBPA had a talented group of industry speakers covering a range of topics.  BFA approved seminars must meet the BFA Seminar Guidelines. The Guidelines include information about required and optional topics which can be reviewed here:

(https://www.bfa.net/images/Education/SafetySeminarGuidelines.pdf).

      The BFA has created a three-tier education system.  All tier one topics must be discussed during every seminar. Tiers two and three include a list of topics for the seminar organizer to choose from with a minimum of 2 hours of tier two topics. The remainder of the 7-hour seminar can be filled with any topic from any of the three tiers.

The production of the seminar is done by Chris Baldwin and his company Graham River Productions.  They have worked with the BFA since the start of the recorded on-line seminar in 2016.  This partnership has been a great success in having a high-quality final product with the segment videos. Graham River Productions also works with us on the creation of segment advertisement.  We are thankful for our production company and the on-line seminar segment sponsors. These sponsors help offset some of the costs of producing the on-line seminar.

This 2024 on-line seminar speaker, topic, and segment sponsors are listed below:

• Andrew Baird – Accident Analysis, sponsored by Cameron Balloons US
• Ed DeVore – Flight Operations and Checklists, sponsored by Acrisure (formerly AIR)
• Dennis Helmuth – Aviation Medicine for Balloonists, sponsored by RPS
• Dave Sullivan – Maintenance and Repair, sponsored by the National Balloon Classic
• Dean Carlton – Aeronautical Decision Making
• Chase Donner – Introduction to Competitive Flying, sponsored by the Great Texas Balloon Race
• Alex McCarthy - Weather, sponsored by Lindstrand Balloon USA
• Ryan Carlton/Gordon Schwontkowski – Powerlines, sponsored by Digitool USA 
• Matt Saal – Crops & Livestock
• Seminar Quiz Sponsor - Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta 

Again, a big thank you to NOBPA, all our sponsors, and Graham River Productions.  If your club or seminar would be interested in working with the BFA on a future on-line seminar, please contact Jason Jones at owbpilot@gmail.com for more information.

The BFA On-line Seminar will be available on the BFA web site April 15, 2024.  Any BFA member can watch any of the videos in our library. To take the seminar for insurance credit members must register and pay $60.00 for pilots or $35.00 for crew.  After the seminar there will be a short quiz to verify your attendance. Watch our social media for the announcement and link when it is live.

National Balloon Museum/BFA Office fire 3/29/2024

This morning’s fire in the National Balloon Museum as caused internal damage to the museum and its contents, the extend of which is still being determined. There were no injuries as the building was empty at the time. The offices of the National Balloon Classic and the offices of the BFA were damaged, but not destroyed. The BFA will soon move its offices to a new temporary location to continue to support the membership. However some items, such as log books, patches, pins and other items that are regularly sold and sent from the office are damaged and will need to be replaced.

The fire is under investigation by the Indianola Fire Department and we will hear more information as the museum proceeds into the clean up, restoration and salvage work. We will keep you informed as best we can.

In the meantime, please be patient with us as the BFA will be working from temporary headquarters. If you have ordered items from us, please expect some delay. You can still contact Denise at our regular number (515-961-8809) as it is directed to a cellphone, and email service remains unchanged.

Thank you all for your great support. 

Pat Cannon

BFA President

president@bfa.net

Help BFA Youth Camps

I am writing to you to let you know of the plans for the BFA Youth Program Camps that are happening this year.

We have three camps planned for 2024:

• Southeastern Balloon Camp, in Cordele, GA - June 18-23, 2024 - Director Duncan Dunavent
• High Sierra Balloon Camp, in Reno, NV - July 13-18, 2024 - Director Karalyn Mumm
• Boise BFA Youth Camp (Event Camp), Boise, ID - August 31, Sept 1, 2024

We hope that through the Youth Camps we will encourage a love and appreciation for safety for the sport of hot air ballooning. The youth are our future pilots and crews. Through the camps we have hands-on ballooning experiences, as well as fun educational opportunities.

The youth camps are for children ages 13 to 17.

We need your help. There are several ways to help with the camps.

• You can send your child (if appropriate age) to one of the many camps, or maybe you know of another child who would like to attend camp.
  • Register kids at https://bfa.net/register-for-2024-camp
• You can donate funds to cover scholarships or supplies. Donate directly at: https://bfa.net/donate-to-youth
• You can donate items that the camps need, such as t-shirts, gloves, notebooks, pens, bottled water, snacks, balloon cards or pins, hand sanitizer, masks, etc.

Each camp director puts together a list of items they need for the camp, and that list is available if you would like to help provided needed items. You can also have your name included on promotional items for the camps. We depend on donations to help get these kids to camp and pay for the supplies they need.

Please feel free to contact me or any of the Camp directors if you would like more information on how to help support the Youth Program.

We appreciate your support of the future of ballooning.

Sincerely,

Katie Griggs

katiegriggslta@gmail.com

  

BFA Pilot Survey 2024

The Balloon Federation of America would like to thank all the pilots that took the time to complete the “Pilot Survey.” The goal of this survey was to provide us with a better understanding of LTA activity around the country. This data is planned to be used as a basis of conversation with regulatory agencies to show that hot air ballooning is still the safest form of aviation in the United States. Based on the last ten years of activity with three serious and very visible accidents, the BFA wants to ensure that we can represent the ballooning community in the best way possible. We hope understanding the full scope of balloon flight activity will help us provide that important message. Here are the results of the survey based on the 839 pilot responses we received. 

1. How long have you been an LTA pilot? 

• 0-5 Years: 16%
• 6-15 Years: 23%
• 16-30 Years:  28%
• 31+ years:  33%

2. What rating do you hold? 

• Commercial: 567 pilots responded (68%)
• Commercial and Gas: 53 pilots responded (6%)
• Private: 217 pilots responded (26%)
• Private and Gas: 2 pilots responded (<1%)

3. What type of Flying do you participate in most?

• Recreational: 59%
• Corporate: 6%
• Ride Operator: 22%
• Training: 4%
• Competitve: 9%

4. How many passengers do you fly in a year?  

• 263,226 passengers are flown on average in a year.

5. On average how many flights per year do you fly?

• 37,119 flights are flown on average each year. 
• Averages 44 flights per responding pilot

6. On average how many hours per year do you fly?

• 43,804.5 hours are flown on average per year. 
• Averages 52 hours per responding pilot

7. On average how many landings per year do you make?

• 58,122 landings are made on average each year. 
• Averages 69 landings per responding pilot

8. Please rank with 5 being the most important, what you see as the biggest challenge for the balloon industry moving forward:

• FAA Regulations
• Landowners
• Cost
• Drones
• Medicals 

The last two questions gave pilots the opportunity to share their thoughts on other issues that were not in the ranking list and to add any other comments or feedback. These responses were varied and greatly appreciated. While too lengthy to be shared here, the BFA Board will take each under advisement for possible action.

The attached chart takes the data and puts it into a visual format. We want to clarify the “Industry Challenges” portion of the chart. Pilots were asked to rank a variety of issues from 5 to 1, with 5 being of highest concern, and 1 the lowest concern. Each number was given a color. Number 5 is light blue. If you look at the FAA regulations, you see that number 5 was chosen 381 times. Thus 381 pilots feel that FAA regulations are the most important issue the LTA industry is facing. 

We hope you find this information helpful. Please feel free to reach out to your regional BFA director if you have questions. If you are not a member, please consider joining the BFA. We are stronger together.

Sincerely,

The BFA Board of Directors 

  

BFA Website offline Thursday, Feb 22

The bfa.net website has been a major asset to our members for the past 10 years. Centralizing management of subscriptions and automating formerly manual tasks has saved countless hours and significantly reduced office expenses.

Action Needed: Pilot Survey

Good day to all pilots,

We’re at a vital crossroads in our sport. In the wake of a few serious accidents over the past few years, ballooning is increasingly portrayed as reckless, dangerous, and out of control by the media, politicians, and some investigative and regulatory agencies. This growing public misperception of our sport has already resulted in increased regulation and likely will have further unfavorable consequences, unless we act now to change this.

The Balloon Federation of America and its Call to Action Committee (comprised of Pat Cannon, Andy Baird, Sam Parks and Scott Appelman), along with other significant ballooning stakeholders, needs your help. We are seeking to establish a real time database to reflect the true SAFETY of ballooning. 

We are therefore asking that you click the link below and take 4-5 minutes to answer the brief questionnaire you’ll find there. We’re hoping to establish a big picture view of our sport, with data relative to our pilot population's years of experience, number of flights made, hours flown, landings and more. (No one’s individual information will be used in any way except to compile a cumulative report!) This database can then be used to factually, and favorably, respond to negative reporting that so often follows incidents or accidents in ballooning. If we don’t defend our sport, no one else will.

Please note you may see this survey on many social platforms, personal pages, etc. To maintain accuracy, PLEASE ANSWER THE SURVEY ONLY ONCE! We ask that you consider this request urgently and register your responses by February 15, 2024.

Thank you in advance for your cooperation as we all work to proactively present the many benefits that our sport and industry brings to the public. We will publish the results of the survey when completed.

Click this link:

https://www.cognitoforms.com/HAB9/USHotAirBalloonPilotSurvey

Pat Cannon

BFA President

president@bfa.net

Eloy, Arizona

January 31, 2024

With the recent accident in Eloy, Arizona and the tragic loss of 4 lives and severe injuries to another passenger, it is becoming apparent that we, as pilots, are still making the same old mistakes in measuring risk. I have been doing seminars for both the ballooning and the powered flight communities for over 25 years. I have done seminar programs on the Error Chain, Attitude, Risk Management, Accident Analysis, and a host of other topics, all focused on our human frailty as it relates to making evaluative, comprehensive decisions about every flight, every time. While we do not yet know what caused the Eloy accident, I for one am pretty sure that the human factor will come into play.

Going back to 2016 and the accident in Lockhart, Texas, the NTSB report is riddled with information indicating a series of not only bad decisions, but defective attitudinal traits exhibited by the pilot that ended up tragically for everyone on board. His was not only a case of making a bad weather call on the day of the flight, but there was also evidence of a history of continuation bias, based on complacency, departure from SOPs, violation of minimums or limitations all exacerbated by the hazardous attitudes of anti-authority, macho and invulnerability. Even a couple of these can easily get you injured or killed when related to aviation activities.

The real deal killer is, more often than not, based on normalization of deviance. These are operations that are repeated over and over again, and become normalized to the extent that it becomes routine, and complacency sets in. It doesn’t have to be an operation that is outside of either legal or compliant parameters. It might be an operation that involves additional risk, such as dropping skydivers from your balloon. You may perform this flight the same way a hundred times and it always works. However, if you add in one variable, for one flight, that you did not account for, it may change the dynamic of the entire flight profile and may also raise the risk to a level beyond that of past successful flights.

Every flight, every day, no matter how routine, should carry with it its own risk analysis, even if done in your head. Have I thought everything through? Does this flight profile present a change that in any way might increase risk? Is there anything in the weather that could change the dynamic of the flight? There are many more questions that you must ask yourself, every flight, every day, period, if you are to stay safe and keep your passengers safe.

As the NTSB and FAA proceed into the investigation phase of this latest tragic loss of life, we will once again, eventually, be made aware of the cause of the accident and we will once again have to ask the question…….could this happen to me? We, the pilots responsible for our own life and for that of our passengers, must do everything to make an informed analysis of every aspect of our flight.

Be careful out there.

Pat Cannon

BFA President

president@bfa.net

Drone Activity Update

Many of you have a growing concern about the increase in drone activities in your area. The growth of the number of companies that have obtained an operations certificate, better known as an FAR 135 Certificate is something to take note of. These companies have been authorized by their certificate to operate over areas in and near many major metropolitan areas,  many of which overlay areas of ballooning activity. The BFA has received copies of several regulatory waivers that are being issued to these drone operators for operations Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) by the FAA. However, there is some good news attached to these approvals. Every one of them causes the drone operators to detect and avoid (DAA) and cleverly states that the pilot and company are responsible for avoiding all manned aircraft. This includes balloons.

They are not being given right of way in any of the cases brought to our attention, so the work of not only the BFA but of all of our partners in both sport and business aviation have had the desired effect with our comments to the Aviation Rulemaking Committee that any relief by the FAA to these drone operators by allowing them any right of way would seriously increase the likelihood of a midair collision and injury to passengers and crew. In addition, pilots of these drones are required to have both a pilot certificate and an aviation medical. Visual Observers (VOs) along the flight routes are required unless they can prove that they have other means of securing the safety of all other manned aircraft or that the drone is equipped with “DAA” equipment.

One word of caution: We should not get complacent in violations of 91.119, which requires us to be at or above 500 feet AGL or not closer than 500 feet from persons, building, etc, except for takeoff and landing. Drones are in the airspace below 400 feet AGL. That is their maximum allowable altitude. The BFA is actively involved with at least one of these major drone operators to solve the problem of visibility to them while we are flying and a full article will be written about these efforts in an upcoming Ballooning Magazine article.

Sincerely,

Pat Cannon, BFA President

president@bfa.net

Election 2023 Candidates

ELECTION 2023

Candidates have been selected by their respective nominating committees and we are please to announce the candidates for the 2023 election.  All seats are for 3 year terms unless noted.

Online voting will begin on July 30, 2023. For those members without an email address, a paper ballot will be sent on that date. Voting will end on August 29, 2023.at 5:00pm. 

For those candidates that have provided profiles, you can click on their names to learn more about them.

BFA Board of Directors

Northeast Region Director

Blair Beard

Bruce Byberg

Western Region Director

Dwayne Osborn

Larry Simburger

At Large Director

Patrick Cannon, Incumbent

Brian Chase

Hot Air Competition Division

Great Lakes Region Director

Paul Petrehn

At Large Director

Joe Zvada, Incumbent

Southwest Region Director

Natasha Stanke

GAS DIVISION

(Vote for 2)

Andy Baird, Incumbent

Andrew Nels, Incumbent

PRO DIVISION

All PRO Board of Director's position will be appointed by the PRO Division Board. If interested in representing At-Large or any Region  please notify a current member of the PRO Division Board of Directors. 

UAS Beyond Visual Line-Of-Sight Operations

 UAS Beyond Visual Line-Of-Sight Operations

On the evening of June 13, 2023, the BFA made its final comments (see attached) in response to the recommendation made to FAA by the UAS community in their attempt to secure special airspace within which the UAS would have the right of way over all other air traffic. The BFA remains steadfast in its earlier comments to the ARC, that any modification of FAR 91.113, or right of way rules, would result in an unacceptable risk to balloons flying in the same airspace if the UA is given the right of way.

The BFA, along with other organizations such as AOPA, EAA, NATA, and HAI, have all commented with the same purpose: to stop the land grab tactics of some UAS operators to favor their commercial delivery enterprises. This process began with BFA’s discovery of the UAS industry’s first 400-page recommendation to the FAA, to give UAS the right of way, with little or no concern for the safety of other aircraft occupying the same airspace. We were successful in bringing the unacceptable safety issues to light and publicly commenting on our disagreement with their recommendations. With the ARC’s new comment period, we are now seeing the FAA working toward a requirement for UAS to be equipped with detect and avoid equipment. If it becomes a requirement, it will help to ensure that UAS and balloons may coexist in the National Airspace System with an eye toward the mutual safety of both.

This BVLOS comment package is somewhat more complicated than the first and as you read through, you will see that it covers many aspects of regulatory requirements raised by the FAA to the ARC. The comment period was a short 20 days and the BFA, along with numerous other organizations, issued a letter to FAA requesting an extension to the comment period. This was not granted but each of our organizations was afforded the opportunity to discuss this matter, by phone, directly with AFS-800 and the person in charge of the ARC. You may still submit your comments today, June 14, until 11:58 P.M. EDT. A simple comment is all that is necessary stating your position or concern regarding the requirement for all UAS to have detect-and-avoid equipment on board. Please upload your comments to https://www.regulations.gov and find the docket provided in the list on the right side of the page (Docket No. FAA-2023-1256). Find the BVLOS comment area and upload your comments. We will continue to fight the proposals from UAS operators to gain the right of way over balloons and we are stronger now, with excellent partners from the many other aviation organizations who support us.

BFA Final Comments -  Beyond Visual Line-Of-Sight Operations

Sincerely,

Pat Cannon, BFA President

president@bfa.net

Action Needed - Drone Interaction Comment Period

Most of you will remember that we brought to your attention a few months ago, an attempt by some commercial drone operations to change the right of way rules to allow drones operating BVLOS, or beyond visual line of sight, to have the right of way over all other aircraft. What that means to balloons is that a drone, the size of a washing machine, and weighing over 90 lbs, traveling in excess of 60 mph, could fly directly into your balloon without having any means to detect that you may be in its flight path, and YOU would be at fault. This is because they would have the right of way. The BFA and other organizations made public comment to attempt to stop this madness. The BFA, AOPA, and many other users of Class G airspace below 400 feet, where these drones intend to operate, have been monitoring this situation since our public outcry, during which we warned these operators that they were going to cause an accident and that they would be at fault because of the lack of the very inexpensive modification of detect and avoid.

Please see the attached call for public comment. It appears that the drone industry intends to adopt a detect and avoid system for some of these drones, but it seems that they are intending to use these to avoid collisions between drones. They have not said that they are for the intent fo detecting other non ADS-B objects in their path. Further, in the last section of this latest call for comment, they are still asking for the right of way in what is called a “shielded” area. They fail to define this area, which seems to indicate that they are still wanting to change the right of way rules anyway, but are restricting that right of way to areas yet to be designated. Please also see Kent Barnes graphic below showing 11 drone-related NOTAMs that show how this process works. It seems to blanket the flying area used by balloons in this area. Effectively this is just another way of grabbing control and right of way from balloons without them defining where “shielded” airspace will be.

Once again, we need your help to send public comment on this subject. Please do this within the next 15 days as the comments period of 20 days has already started. BFA will work with all other aviation concerns to put an end to this blatant attempt to change the current right of way rules..

CLICK HERE AND MAKE A COMMENT

Sincerely,

Pat Cannon, BFA President

president@bfa.net

Crossing the Line - Power line safety video

MUST-SEE Safety!

Ballooning’s biggest buzzkill – literally and figuratively - is a power line strike. The just-released 20-minute video “Crossing the Line” offers pilots and crew dozens of practical strategies for power line awareness, strike prevention, and mishap management – all delivered with stunning imagery. Use it as a pre-season refresher, crew training resource, or turnkey seminar presentation. Click on the link below for the video and let us know how you used and liked it.

Crossing The Line Video

If you missed the webinar, you can watch it in its entirety on the FAASTeam education link.  When you complete the program, you will receive Wings credit.  Click on the link below for the WINGS program. 

FAASTeam Link to Video - WINGS