Born To Fly

So when the third-grader walked into Manzano Day School 45 minutes late last Thursday, dusty and elated, he had a darn good excuse: He was busy training to become the world’s youngest hot-air balloon pilot.

Bobby, the 9-year-old son of local balloonists Troy and Tami Bradley, has spent more than 27 hours standing on a stool under a propane burner for the past two years, preparing for his solo launch on Saturday.

The pint-sized pilot’s parents helped build him a 45-foot, 140-pound “ultralight” hot-air balloon, which he will fly on the 40th anniversary of Balloon Fiesta founder Sid Cutter’s first flight in Albuquerque. Cutter died May 21 at age 77.

Bradley and his family have been featured on CBS, Fox and Friends and other major media outlets in the buildup to his flight. All the attention is nice, he said, but it’s not what compels him to take to the skies.

“I just want to fly a balloon,” he said.

Bradley said he’s always wanted to be a pilot. He first flew when he was 11 months old and operated the burner when he was 4, so the prospect of waiting until 16 to start flying is far too long, Bradley said.

“That’s just crazy. That’s just sad,” he said. “I couldn’t solo at that age.”

Bradley and his parents first started considering the endeavor while flying in Turkey when Bradley was 6, and the distinction of being the world’s youngest pilot was incidental, his parents said.

“That wasn’t necessarily what we were going for when we started. That was just a way to get him to solo. That was our main mission,” Troy Bradley said. “Bobby just happens to be able to do that younger than most people.”

His father said Bobby Bradley’s flight will help teach the aspiring pilot invaluable life lessons.

“I think it’ll be a great confidence booster for him, knowing that he can do it and then start working on the other things he might want to tackle later,” he said.

Since the balloon weighs less than 155 pounds, there are no federal regulations regarding age or skill level. If the balloon was regulation-sized, Bradley could not legally fly alone until age 16. But Bradley’s father said he put him through much more training than the average student pilot.

“I think he’s done as good as any student that I’ve had, as far as being ready to solo, especially because he has so many more hours than most,” the elder Bradley said.

Most of Troy Bradley’s students had seven or eight hours of burner time before soloing, but Bobby Bradley has almost 30.

Bradley’s parents said they did their best to minimize the risks. Bradley will be harnessed into the gondola and wearing a helmet. The burner has three pilot lights and a secondary fuel valve and he will have a fire extinguisher.

“With any type of aviation, there’s always inherent danger,” Bradley’s father said. “That’s just part of the game, but we’ve really done everything to mitigate those risks to a nominal amount.”

Bradley’s parents said they’ve taken him to at least one balloon safety class each year for the past four years. His father said he rigged a frame on Bradley’s backyard swing set to mimic the uprights in a gondola and simulate possible crisis situations, like the burner’s pilot light going out.

“Over and over again, he’s simulated a flame-out and had Bobby climb up and re-light the burner,” Tami said.

George Gahan and Raymond Bair, New Mexico’s designated Federal Aviation Administration hot-air balloon examiners, test all student pilots before certification. Even though the balloon and its pilot fall outside of the examiners’ purview, Bair said he has no doubt about Bradley’s ability to fly.

“I wouldn’t anticipate any difficulty at all, quite frankly,” said Bair, who has been certifying pilots in the state for 15 years. “Troy’s a wonderful instructor. I’ve examined a number of Troy’s students, and he’s very thorough in his flight training and things of that sort. I’m sure he’s been doubly so with Bobby.”

Bradley’s mother said online comments about her son have criticized her parenting, calling her irresponsible.

“I’m a mom, so when people say, ‘How dare these parents do that. How irresponsible of them,’ I take it personally,” she said.

That’s not to say she didn’t have doubts about sending her only son hundreds of feet in the air by himself. But during Bradley’s flight last Thursday, when his father test flew the 140-pound, “Heavenly Dream” balloon, her worries were put to rest.

“When he saw the balloon flying, he got so excited,” she said. “He said, ‘I can’t wait. I can’t wait. I just want to land this balloon and get in that balloon and fly.’ ”

And there’s no rush for her son to fly a hot-air balloon, she said. He can take his time.

“If we get out there on June 4, and I don’t care if there’s CNN and 16 news outlets or whatever, if Bobby says it doesn’t feel right today, we’re not going to fly,” she said. “And that’s OK.”

— This article appeared on page A1 of the Albuquerque Journal