Our Pilots & Support Team |
Cheri White - Lakeway, TX
Chief Pilot and General Manager of the Balloon Team, Cheri has been flying balloons for over 38 years and has over 2400 pilot hours. She is the former America's Challenge Gas Balloon Champion, current and 2 time US Women’s Hot Air Champion and 2009 BFA Female Top Pilot. In 2016 she finished third in the Women’s World Hot Air Championships in Lithuania. Read "Flight of a Lifetime," from BFA Ballooning Magazine - January/February 2010. Cheri is the current President and Southwest Regional Director of the BFA, is a Texas Cooperative member and mother of twins. Her son Gordie is a third generation balloon pilot. |
John Petrehn - Houston, TX
John is the current US National Hot Air Champion and has been involved in ballooning since early childhood, growing up in a ballooning family. He has logged over 2300 hours flying balloons all around the world. When not flying the Touchstone Energy® Balloon, John can be found flying in balloon competitions. He won the World Hot Air Balloon Championships in Japan (2006) and in Hungary (2010). His favorite balloon experience was watching the northern lights from the basket of a gas balloon while flying over Lake Superior. |
Joe Ritchie - Bryant, AR
Joe began crewing for Hot Air Balloons in 1989 and became a pilot in 1994. Since then he has flown for pleasure, passenger flights, competitively, and commercially. Joe began flying for Touchstone Energy in 2006, is employed by Arkansas Electric Cooperatives, Inc., and is a member of First Electric Cooperative. One of his proudest ballooning moments was winning the 2009 Centralia, IL Balloon Fest, his hometown, and receiving the prestigious “High Fly” cup which is presented to those pilots who are “true ballooning ambassadors”. Joe, along with co-pilot Scott Wooge, are also the winners of the 2010 Balloon Federation of America “Team Long Jump Challenge” with a flight of 2.5 hours at 16,500 feet covering a distance of 135 miles. |
Bob Scobee
Bob, a Union Rural Electric Coop member, has accumulated about 1600 hours flying balloons in the last 30 years. Ballooning is really his life as he operates an FAA balloon repair and inspection station, sells balloons for Lindstrand Balloons USA, manages a couple local commercial balloon advertising contracts in the Central Ohio area, including one that he has run for over 25 years. He has been a past BFA competitor, has flown balloons in 20 states, and also runs a passenger ride business. One of his favorite things, that never gets old, is sharing the wonder and excitement of ballooning with people that have never been up before. |
Scott Wooge - St. Louis, MO
After flying balloons for over 28 years, Scott still enjoys the ballooning experience and the people he meets across the world. He has flown in 28 states and 2 countries. Adding a new state every year is a goal. Currently, he is the At-Large Director for the Balloon Federation of America/BFA and the BFA Vice-President. Also, Scott runs a FAA Repair Station for Hot Air Balloons. Finishing in 1st place in a BFA Long Jump contest is one highlight of his flying. He is a member of the FAA FAAST Team, FAA Ambassador Program as an SME, and speaker at many education Seminars. Scott’s spouse Cynthia, daughter Kimberly. Son-in-Law Adam are also Hot Air Balloon Pilots. Scott & Cynthia have crewed for Kim in Lithuania and this year at Poland for both the Women’s & Jr. World Championships. |
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