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Welcome to MsBalloonChamps.org
Home of the Mid-Mississippi Balloon Club!
The flying season us almost upon us now. Some of us are watching the weather waiting for that time when the winds and weather conditions meet to create the perfect flying morning (or evening with Daylight Savings Time in effect). I know of at least two pilots who are planning to fly at almost every opportunity. If you want to be put on the crew contact list, let us know by email to the webmaster. Be sure to include your best contact information (email and/or phone number) along with what time of day you are interested in coming out. We look forward to seeing you all out for a great flying season.
Come join us at our regular meetings. We usually meet the 1st Tuesday of each month. The meetings begin about 6:30pm. Be sure to check the Balloon Hotline (601-957-7159) for confirmation of each meeting. We will resume our regular meetings with our April meeting. Please note the membership fees are due for 2008. Remember, if you attended the 2008 Safety Seminar, you don't need to worry about dues for 2008. We will post our meeting location information shortly.
We had a great Safety Seminar this year. We had about 20 attendees (in spite of Mother Nature's curve ball) who came out to hear our speakers. We had a little for everyone - weather, trailer backing, crew training, FAR's, balloon maintenance, and radio communications for balloon pilots. We hope everyone had a good time. Now is the time to think ahead and see if there is any topic you would like to work up for next year. It would be a great opportunity for any student pilots (or private pilots working for their commercial certificate) to concentrate on one (or two) topics for next year. The best way to learn a lot about a subject is to teach it in a class. If you're hesitant but are interested, let us know and someone can work with you to get the bugs ironed out. Thanks.
If you find out something which is not on the events page but should be, just let us know and we will try to update it as we can. Also, if you have a write-up for any of your ballooning events, please submit it to the webmaster so it can be added to our site.
The Balloon Federation of America (BFA) is also looking for Mentors (and members) for their Junior Balloonists program. This is a pretty good concept to get more young people (future crew and pilots) interested in ballooning. If you are interested in participating as a Mentor or as a Junior Balloonist, just get in touch with us and we will try to help it happen for you.
And speaking of the Junior Balloonists program, we have started a scholarship fund for a junior balloonist to attend the BFA Hot Air Balloon Camp at Tyler, TX July 13-17 this year. This program provides an opportunity for interested balloonists between 12 and 17 to participate in a great balloon educational opportunity. Remember, the future of ballooning is in the hands of the youth of today. A scholarship is $375 per camper and we have been handed a challenge by one of our club members to raise at least one scholarship from the club members. So far, we have had $175 pledged or donated. Please take the time to send what you can spare (the equivalent of one dinner out is all it takes). Please send any donations to MMBA (Mid Mississippi Balloon Association) in care of Ken Johnston, 185 Cloud Road, Canton, MS 39046. We appreciate your support.
If you would like to join the club, contact a member or email the club at msballoonchamps@bellsouth.net or just come to a meeting (be sure to call the Balloon Hotline (601-957-7159) to make sure we are meeting before coming).
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Mississippi! Pass the word! Get your friends to come out to see the balloons flying around Mississippi. Be it a weekend fun flight or a sponsored festival, spread the news. Check out the Balloon Hotline in Jackson at 601-957-7159 each week to see who is flying and where. Do you have a digital picture you would like to have featured on the website? Submit any pictures to the webmaster.
What is the weather doing? Note: Our original website was www.msballoonchamps.com, but that site was picked up in a transition period by another business who operates it as a search engine. Not wanting to buy our website back, we elected to move to a different domain. |
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