1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:07,200 Like hi. 2 00:00:07,200 --> 00:00:08,200 I'm Vicky foge. 3 00:00:08,200 --> 00:00:12,000 I'm editor of hot air today virtual magazine. 4 00:00:12,200 --> 00:00:14,900 And with us today is Adam GE. 5 00:00:14,900 --> 00:00:18,100 He is co-founder of the balloon Training Academy. 6 00:00:18,500 --> 00:00:19,300 Hi Adam. 7 00:00:19,700 --> 00:00:21,000 Hey, how are you doing Vicki? 8 00:00:21,400 --> 00:00:22,000 I'm great. 9 00:00:22,000 --> 00:00:24,800 How are you going to tell us a bit about yourself? 10 00:00:25,600 --> 00:00:25,900 Yep. 11 00:00:25,900 --> 00:00:26,900 So I'm Adam McGee. 12 00:00:26,900 --> 00:00:29,900 I'm co-founder and president of the balloon training. 13 00:00:30,000 --> 00:00:35,900 Adam e and we're a 501 c 3 nonprofit organization and completely 14 00:00:35,900 --> 00:00:37,200 volunteer based. 15 00:00:37,300 --> 00:00:40,100 We're just trying to give back to ballooning and provide 16 00:00:40,200 --> 00:00:43,700 education and resources through our website and they'll try 17 00:00:43,700 --> 00:00:45,900 to get more pilots involved in Hunter ballooning. 18 00:00:48,100 --> 00:00:48,700 That's awesome. 19 00:00:48,700 --> 00:00:51,900 And that's one of the things that really made me want to 20 00:00:51,900 --> 00:00:54,900 reach out to you guys is that I think it's so cool to take 21 00:00:54,900 --> 00:00:58,300 ballooning to that next level to do this training online. 22 00:00:58,300 --> 00:01:03,800 So it's just it's really opened up the world for a lot of 23 00:01:03,800 --> 00:01:08,600 balloonists, but first a little bit about yourself tell us 24 00:01:08,600 --> 00:01:10,100 how you got into hot air ballooning. 25 00:01:11,600 --> 00:01:16,200 Well, I'm fortunate one in that my mom became a pilot when 26 00:01:16,200 --> 00:01:19,200 I was very young back in the mid-90s. 27 00:01:19,200 --> 00:01:19,700 The u.s. 28 00:01:19,700 --> 00:01:22,400 National hot air balloon championships were held in Columbia, 29 00:01:22,400 --> 00:01:26,100 Missouri. And my mom saw an advertisement of them looking 30 00:01:26,100 --> 00:01:28,400 for a ground crew for the chase team. 31 00:01:28,800 --> 00:01:32,700 And so she volunteered as a ground crew member and spent 32 00:01:32,700 --> 00:01:36,900 the week helping to set up and pack up balloons and enjoyed 33 00:01:36,900 --> 00:01:40,000 it so much that she wanted to become a pilot and took her 34 00:01:40,000 --> 00:01:41,000 first flight. 35 00:01:41,200 --> 00:01:42,200 Still love ballooning. 36 00:01:42,200 --> 00:01:46,600 So became a pilot started our training and I just grew up 37 00:01:46,600 --> 00:01:48,500 around balloons and wanting to do it. 38 00:01:48,500 --> 00:01:51,800 So, you know ever since I was five years old and I took my 39 00:01:51,800 --> 00:01:55,900 first flight and started training when I was 14 and got my 40 00:01:56,500 --> 00:01:59,200 Pilot's certificate when I was 16 and kind of haven't looked 41 00:01:59,200 --> 00:02:02,800 back since and ballooning is kind of become my life, I guess 42 00:02:04,200 --> 00:02:08,300 outside of work, especially but definitely very time-consuming 43 00:02:08,300 --> 00:02:09,100 part of my life. 44 00:02:11,100 --> 00:02:14,200 Absolutely, and so it sounds like you've been around ballooning 45 00:02:14,200 --> 00:02:18,700 a long time and much like myself and we get a lot of opportunity 46 00:02:18,700 --> 00:02:22,200 to fly great places and so tell me is there. 47 00:02:22,200 --> 00:02:23,700 Do you have a favorite spot? 48 00:02:25,400 --> 00:02:28,200 I'd say in the United States kind of my favorite place to 49 00:02:28,200 --> 00:02:30,800 fly is Galena, Illinois. 50 00:02:30,800 --> 00:02:37,100 Just flying in the the valleys and the kind of hilly terrain 51 00:02:37,100 --> 00:02:37,800 of Galena. 52 00:02:38,800 --> 00:02:42,700 But you know ballooning is kind of opened up a lot of opportunities 53 00:02:42,700 --> 00:02:45,400 fly across the United States and even around the world and 54 00:02:46,000 --> 00:02:49,500 I'd say kind of the trip that I enjoyed the most was getting 55 00:02:49,500 --> 00:02:53,300 a chance to fly in Taiwan getting the kind of fly in the 56 00:02:53,300 --> 00:02:57,800 valley between Jean mountain ranges and you know spending 57 00:02:57,800 --> 00:03:00,600 a couple weeks in their culture and you know, not speaking 58 00:03:00,600 --> 00:03:05,600 the language and I was really kind of a fun trip just you 59 00:03:05,600 --> 00:03:08,900 know, ballooning is kind of a communication on its own and 60 00:03:09,100 --> 00:03:10,800 you don't really need to speak the language. 61 00:03:11,700 --> 00:03:14,100 You know, you just everyone just loves ballooning no matter 62 00:03:14,100 --> 00:03:15,200 where you're at around the world. 63 00:03:15,200 --> 00:03:19,000 So yeah, it just it really is funny how it brings us all 64 00:03:19,000 --> 00:03:19,900 together and you're right. 65 00:03:19,900 --> 00:03:23,100 You don't need to speak any language you can point and laugh 66 00:03:23,100 --> 00:03:26,400 and and That's a great thing about ballooning as a pilot 67 00:03:26,400 --> 00:03:29,200 you are in charge of flying but it also takes a ground crew. 68 00:03:29,200 --> 00:03:32,700 So it's fun to be able to engage people when you land somewhere 69 00:03:32,700 --> 00:03:35,000 and you could say hey give me a little help and you if you 70 00:03:35,000 --> 00:03:37,500 don't say it in their language, you can motion to them and 71 00:03:37,500 --> 00:03:40,700 next thing, you know involved and that's a lot of fun and 72 00:03:41,300 --> 00:03:43,500 for me as well and he's taking us around the world. 73 00:03:43,500 --> 00:03:47,400 My husband and I are both pilots and and we love that. 74 00:03:47,500 --> 00:03:51,100 We love that about it really unites people and speaking of 75 00:03:51,100 --> 00:03:53,900 uniting people you met your wife. 76 00:03:54,100 --> 00:03:56,300 And ballooning you want to tell us a little about that. 77 00:03:56,900 --> 00:03:57,100 Yeah. 78 00:03:57,100 --> 00:04:00,400 So my wife Kim, she also comes from a ballooning family. 79 00:04:00,400 --> 00:04:03,800 So, you know, she grew up around ballooning and we ended 80 00:04:03,800 --> 00:04:09,300 up meeting a little later on and I guess our lives we ended 81 00:04:09,300 --> 00:04:13,500 up meeting at a balloon event in Indianola Iowa, and I guess 82 00:04:13,500 --> 00:04:19,200 you know, the rest is history there with that and so yeah, 83 00:04:19,200 --> 00:04:23,100 we've just always enjoyed ballooning together and you know 84 00:04:23,100 --> 00:04:26,100 if we're not working Usually ballooning or talking about 85 00:04:26,100 --> 00:04:28,500 ballooning in some form or fashion. 86 00:04:28,500 --> 00:04:30,600 So that's awesome. 87 00:04:30,600 --> 00:04:33,400 And so how did you two come up with the idea to start this 88 00:04:33,400 --> 00:04:34,900 balloon training academy? 89 00:04:35,900 --> 00:04:40,000 Well, we first were doing hot air balloon youth summer camps 90 00:04:40,000 --> 00:04:45,700 for kids a kind of 12 13 to 18 years old and we were doing 91 00:04:45,700 --> 00:04:48,500 those every summer when we were in college. 92 00:04:48,700 --> 00:04:52,900 And then what we found was the clink the camps are really 93 00:04:52,900 --> 00:04:54,800 good at getting people interested in ballooning. 94 00:04:54,800 --> 00:04:58,400 But as soon as the camps were over, you know, we left them. 95 00:04:58,600 --> 00:05:01,100 We left them after the week and there weren't really resources 96 00:05:01,100 --> 00:05:04,400 for them to continue on with their training and kind of get 97 00:05:04,400 --> 00:05:05,600 that help in the push. 98 00:05:05,700 --> 00:05:07,900 They needed to earn their certificates. 99 00:05:07,900 --> 00:05:12,700 So we kind of had this idea to form this nonprofit and kind 100 00:05:12,700 --> 00:05:17,400 of do online training and Ground Schools to really make blue 101 00:05:17,400 --> 00:05:20,100 knowledge readily available makes up make safety content 102 00:05:20,100 --> 00:05:24,500 available and really help people obtain their certificates. 103 00:05:25,800 --> 00:05:26,700 That's awesome. 104 00:05:26,700 --> 00:05:30,100 And again, that's that's it's such a big push for blending 105 00:05:30,100 --> 00:05:33,700 to be on online where people if they want to know things 106 00:05:33,700 --> 00:05:36,900 they go on and they Google it and Just for someone as simple 107 00:05:36,900 --> 00:05:38,700 as if I want to get involved in ballooning. 108 00:05:38,700 --> 00:05:41,400 How do I do it and now being able to have that course where 109 00:05:41,400 --> 00:05:44,700 they can take a ground school because there's been Ground 110 00:05:44,700 --> 00:05:46,200 Schools offered for a long time. 111 00:05:46,200 --> 00:05:48,800 But a lot of times people had to travel to another state 112 00:05:48,800 --> 00:05:53,100 or four states away and it just wasn't affordable or easy. 113 00:05:53,100 --> 00:05:57,300 And so now it's right at their fingertips and and really 114 00:05:57,300 --> 00:06:02,200 that's just that's so impressive and really awesome to see 115 00:06:02,900 --> 00:06:07,500 and you guys are together doing that and you're So just got 116 00:06:07,500 --> 00:06:09,100 you both have accomplished a lot. 117 00:06:09,100 --> 00:06:11,900 I know that Kim is set some records and that could be a whole 118 00:06:11,900 --> 00:06:12,400 other talk. 119 00:06:12,400 --> 00:06:16,300 We didn't go over that but I'd love to speak to her sometime 120 00:06:16,600 --> 00:06:18,800 and you are also an examiner. 121 00:06:20,200 --> 00:06:20,600 Yep. 122 00:06:20,600 --> 00:06:25,100 Yeah, that's a new thing for me just started becoming a became 123 00:06:25,100 --> 00:06:27,300 an examiner at the beginning of the year. 124 00:06:27,600 --> 00:06:31,100 And so that's kind of added a new level of responsibility 125 00:06:31,100 --> 00:06:35,500 and you know, it's been fun and challenging at the same. 126 00:06:35,600 --> 00:06:38,600 I'm time, you know, the the challenging part of course is 127 00:06:39,000 --> 00:06:41,600 having to you know, let someone know that they failed their 128 00:06:41,600 --> 00:06:45,900 exam and you know didn't obtain their certificate but the 129 00:06:45,900 --> 00:06:48,200 fun part is being able to tell someone that they passed the 130 00:06:48,200 --> 00:06:51,600 exam and you know, awarding them a certificate. 131 00:06:52,300 --> 00:06:54,600 It's always it's always exciting and fun. 132 00:06:56,800 --> 00:07:00,600 Yeah, yeah, just another step another step another aspect 133 00:07:00,600 --> 00:07:04,500 of ballooning that you know, hopefully people will see and 134 00:07:04,500 --> 00:07:08,500 love and embrace and it is it is a group sport. 135 00:07:08,500 --> 00:07:12,100 We do love people to come out and ask questions and and you 136 00:07:12,100 --> 00:07:15,200 guys that can attribute to that doing those balloon camps 137 00:07:15,200 --> 00:07:18,000 and so much information about there. 138 00:07:18,000 --> 00:07:22,800 So we thank you and tell everyone where they can find your 139 00:07:22,800 --> 00:07:25,000 information. Yes. 140 00:07:25,000 --> 00:07:29,600 So on our Site, just www dot the blue not raining academy.com. 141 00:07:29,600 --> 00:07:34,200 We have all our information on their kind of learn how to 142 00:07:34,200 --> 00:07:35,000 become a pilot. 143 00:07:35,000 --> 00:07:38,700 We have our courses on there are Ground Schools some free 144 00:07:38,700 --> 00:07:42,300 continuing education courses a lot of different stuff on 145 00:07:42,300 --> 00:07:43,000 the website. 146 00:07:43,200 --> 00:07:45,500 So yeah, that is awesome. 147 00:07:45,500 --> 00:07:49,000 Well, thank you so much for being here with me today and 148 00:07:49,300 --> 00:07:52,100 we will look forward to seeing what great things you guys 149 00:07:52,100 --> 00:07:55,200 do and hopefully we'll talk again in the future and we'll 150 00:07:55,200 --> 00:07:55,600 have it here. 151 00:07:55,700 --> 00:07:58,800 Here on our hot air ballooning virtual magazine. 152 00:07:59,900 --> 00:08:01,000 Thanks for having me Vicky. 153 00:08:01,300 --> 00:08:01,800 All right. 154 00:08:01,800 --> 00:08:02,400 Thank you. 155 00:08:02,400 --> 00:08:03,300 Say hi to Kim.