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Boy (9) aims for Balloon solo flight
- Bobby Bradley, a third grader from Albuquerque, New Mexico, plans to set a new world record this weekend, becoming the youngest person to fly solo in a hot air balloon.
He has been flying since the age of four and although he suffers from a fear of heights, has spent much of his life in the basket of balloons, and has racked up over 25 hours at the controls of balloons owned by his father, a professional balloon pilot.
Ballooning and breaking records are his family's business. His father, Troy Bradley, has set 58 world records and along with a partner in 1992 became the first person to fly from the United States to Africa in a balloon.
A young boy in a balloon is, for many, reminiscent of the 2009 "balloon boy" hoax, in which the country sat rapt by televised images of a makeshift mylar balloon believed to be carrying a 6-year-old Colorado boy named Falcon Heene. The boy was later found hiding in his family's garage and his father, Richard Heene, eventually admitted it was a hoax.
Bobby is a fourth generation balloonist and his parents, both professionals; know something about the tragic cost of flying. Richard Abruzzo, Troy Bradley's partner on the Africa flight, died last year in a balloon race in Europe.
The minimum age to pilot most hot air balloons is 14 under federal law. Bobby plans to skirt those regulations by flying a 150-pound ultralight balloon, for which there are no Federal Aviation Administration age requirements.
His father is confident that Bobby, who will likely fly for about a half hour over three miles at altitudes as high as 1,000 feet, is up for the challenge. The young pilot will take additional fuel on board with him, but only burn about half of what he has. He will be followed by a chase car on the ground, monitored by a spotter balloon in the air, and in constant radio contact.
The flight will occur just south of Alburquerque in the desert far from power lines and buildings.
Source: ABCNews & Associated Press
