Tony Sandlin-Balloon Pilot / Lead Guy

Tony Sandlin is a native Hoosier, born and raised in Indianapolis, Indiana, and is well-known around the Circle City for his balloons. Tony, as owner of Midwest Balloon Rides and involved with ballooning for more than 20 years, has been giving residents and visitors to Indiana (and surrounding states) a view and thrill of a lifetime from the sky. Tony ventured into ballooning through an ad in the Thrifty Nickel, which offered balloon rides in exchange for working as a crew member. Currently, Tony has two different hot air balloons. Tony’s three boys, along with his wife Gail, are all active in ballooning and join their father at many balloon festivals held throughout the country. In the past year, Tony flew his balloon in the Albuquerque Balloon Festival and the Centennial Balloon Race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. In addition to several other U.S. locations, Tony has also flown at events in Canada and Mexico.

Tony graduated from George Rogers Clark College, where he earned a degree in Business Management. Always an entrepreneur, Tony is a savvy businessman currently involved in several ventures.

T. J. Coughlin-Pilot / The Negotiator

Tim has been a world traveler since he was 3 years old. His dad was an executive with a major manufacturing company which had customers in virtually every country in the world. As a result, Tim traveled extensively with his dad to Africa, Europe, Asia, South America, Australia and just about everywhere else filling 4 passports by the time he was 16. Tim has visited almost every country in the world, with the exception of a few.  He has seen it all from the depths of Death Valley to the mountains of Tibet and the deserts of North Africa. At times it is hard for him to stay home long enough to unpack, because his business activities cause him to spend a lot of time in airports and hotels around the world. He is comfortable anywhere, and while languages are a weak spot for him, he is able to get through any situation for business or pleasure. Recently he has been in Europe, Central America, the Caribbean, and South America. Tim is also a pilot, he received his pilot license on his 16th birthday.  He continues to keep his “wings” active in hot air balloons, ultralights, and small business aircrafts.

Mark Westra-Balloon Pilot / The Weather Guy  Mark Westra is a Commercial Pilot from Greenfield, Indiana. Mark and his wife, Alora, started ballooning in the l980’s with their first balloon flight and trip to the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. After many years crewing for other balloon teams and working up the ladder at the Indiana State Fair to Launch Director for two years, he went on to study with some of the top pilots in the country and become a commercial pilot. Mark flies annually in many events in the U.S., Canada and Leon, Mexico each fall. Mark accomplish his lifetime goal to fly in the 100 year, Centennial Balloon Race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway this year; marking the first Balloon Race at the track in 1909. Mark and his team of friends and family are currently working to raise money and awareness for Riley Hospital for Children by flying a banner at events and promotional flights. He is the Flight Director and Committee Chairman for the annual Balloonathon for Childrens’ Health Charities at the Indy Air Show, now in its 13th year. When not flying, Mark is the owner of Barnsignworks.com and Oldwestsigns.com, companies that specialize in historic and handcrafted signs.

Jon Radowski -Balloon Pilot / Resident Repairman

Although half the age of the average balloon pilot, Jon Radowski has been involved in ballooning almost his entire life and already has a list of impressive accomplishments. His interest took off at the age of two when his family attended a balloon festival in New Jersey. Jon knew from a very early age he would become a balloonist, and made all the necessary preparations that would allow his life’s plans to unfold. He first flew in a balloon at the age of 12, began flight instruction at 14, designed and built his first hot air balloon at 17 while a junior in high school. Jon earned his private pilot certificate later that year, and gained his commercial pilot certificate at 19 to begin ballooning as a full-time career.

From 2003 onward, Jon served as the chief pilot of the Space Shuttle Patriot balloon, the tallest special shape hot air balloon currently flying in the world. Towering an impressive 178 feet from nose to ground, with a wingspan of 115 feet, Patriot is 40% larger than the actual NASA Orbiter. Flying this massive balloon requires a unique set of piloting skills and quick decision-making, because every landing site must be at least large enough to accommodate an eighteen-story skyscraper on its side – with room to spare!

In addition to flying various special shaped balloons, Jon operates a passenger balloon ride operation and a balloon repair station where he resides in Pennsylvania. He continues to design and build custom hot air balloons and special shaped balloons through his company Apex Balloons (http://www.apexballoons.com/), and is currently involved in hot air airship design, construction, and certification. Jon has flown balloons and airships in sixteen different U.S. States as well as Europe and Canada. He has a knack for quality balloon repair work and enthusiastically looks forward to not needing to use his skills while on the tour!

John Brad Chism-Balloon Pilot / The Map Guy

Brad was born and raised in a small town in central Illinois, St. Joseph. Brads mother and father still reside in St. Joseph along with his 2 brothers and their families. Brad moved to Indiana in 1985 to attend school at ITT Tech in Indianapolis and graduated in 1986 with a degree in Heating and Air Conditioning. Brad has been a Service Technician for over 23 years. Brad has 2 children Ashley and Ryan. Brad met his wife Terri in 2005 and they were married by Tony in their balloon, July 2007. Terri has 2 daughters, Brea and Kayleigh, that Brad has taken as his own. Brad is also a ‘Papa’ of Brenden and Cami.

Brad always enjoyed watching hot air balloons as a child. Brad started crewing for Mike Nelson in 2004 and also helped Tony and other balloon pilots. One day while crewing for Mike, Mike turned and looked at Brad and said “you know what’s nice about being the pilot, I get to fly everytime.” Right then and there Brad decided he was getting a balloon and getting his pilot’s license. Brad bought his first balloon and received his pilots license 2006. Brad flys in events in Indiana, Illinois and Kentucky. Brad’s crew is alot of family and friends that enjoy ballooning as much as he does.

Hazel M Walker-Crew / The Blogger

Parasailing, hot air ballooning, deep sea fishing, horseback riding are just a few of Hazel’s fun experiences. As an avid roller coaster rider, Hazel is always seeking out new things to try. “I do not believe that life is meant to be lived, it is meant to be experienced, embraced and enjoyed.”

The oldest of 7, Hazel learned at an early age to embrace adventure, with four brothers it was pretty much a given that she would be leading the pack. As an adult, Hazel has always had a curiosity about people, places, and things. Below are some of Hazels favorite experiences so far:

My first trip out of the country was to China. What an adventure that was! I traveled alone to a country where I did not speak the language. I knew there would be people at the airport to meet me but I did not know any of them. I was meeting locals who were in an international networking group that I was in. Once there, I had the opportunity to eat food I had never had, go to places that tourist never go to, enjoy a bathhouse with a hundred local women and more. It was one of my most exciting experiences.

Two years ago, I loaded up my little convertible (without a spare tire),  took a friend, 3 outfits, laptops and a cooler and headed out to Route 66. Seeing so much of the history of our country, meeting people who were excited to hear about our trip, and finding the next place to stay for the night.

But one of my favorite experiences happened in Hawaii when my friends and I went out into the ocean at night to swim with the manta rays. It was very spooky, the ocean is a scary place at night. But stepping off of a boat into that vast darkness was an extraordinary experience and once we were in the water, the manta rays appeared from nowhere swimming below us as we watched on. It was like being in space.

Always looking for the next great experience, Hazel’s curiosity, courage and commitment will be a huge asset to our balloon team.

Tito Herrera, Chief of Photography and Videography

For a decade, Tito Herrera has specialized in Reportage, Travel and Editorial Photography with regular assignments all over Latin America and the Caribbean, receiving various awards for his work. His images have been used by well-known publications and organizations such as: Stern, The Los Angeles Times, CNN Traveler, The Associated Press, Travel + Leisure Golf, ESPN, UNICEF and The New York Times. Tito is represented by the nternational photo agency: The Wide Angle. Tito is based in Panama City, Panama where he lives with his wife and two kids.