Cindy Smith
- Connecticut's Newest Hot Air
Balloon Pilot
Cindy has flow with me in all kinds of airplanes and
balloons. She has chased after me
at Balloon Festivals in
unfamiliar territory, down one-way dirt roads with no turn around and has talked
us out of more then one rough landing spot. She has always been there when I
wanted to fly. She knows most everything there is to know about getting the
balloon into the air and returning it safely to earth again. She has attended
aviation safety seminars with me and has helped others new to our sport gain
confidence as crewmembers. I am fortunate to have a wife who shares my
enthusiasm for all forms of Aviation. So it was a natural for her to want to
join the ranks as an aviator herself.
Last week on June 16th, 2004, Cindy took her Private Pilot Written Examination and passed. She put in a lot of long and stressful study time balancing work and other commitments to accomplish this. I didn't tell her then but I had scheduled her Flight Test for the next day, because weather conditions were going to be favorable and it looked like a lengthy trend of not so good flying weather was coming in.
After a flawless morning flight on June 17th, 2004, with
FAA Designated Examiner Santo Galatioto, Cindy
became
an FAA Certified Private Pilot with a Lighter-Than-Air Balloon Category Ratting.
Her new goal is to take the Commercial Pilot written test next month while
everything is still fresh on her mind and work towards her Commercial Pilot
Certificate over the next year.
Congratulations Cindy
Daryl