Capt Jeff A Thompson.

This is my passion.  I have been flying balloons for well over 30 years and still show up every morning with a huge grin on my face to go fly.  This has been my passion since I was 15 years old.  I am ranked as one of the best competition pilots in the country with Mutable top 20 finishes in the country as well as regional and state titles.

Capt Jon A Thompson

Jon Thompson has been flying balloons for almost 30 years.  A top competitive pilot as well as spending over 15 years flying corporate balloons around the country Jon has seen all aspects of balloon flight,  He enjoys his flying and sharing it with others.  His personality will entertain you and his flight skills will amaze.

Capt Bob Carlton

We met Bob Carlton at the Iowa State hot air balloon championships in 1977.  Yes Bob is much older than he looks.  We believe he is in his late 80's but does not look a day over 60.  Just kidding.  Bob is an extremely good pilot with over 30 years flight experience.  He has been involved in competition as well as corporate balloon flying.  He has been a flight instructor to many and has the humor and personality to fit right in with the Thompson Gang.

Capt Doug Cleghorn

Doug started in Ballooning here in the central Florida area back in the early 80's!  Yes he too has been flying balloon for nearly 30 years.  Are you starting to see a trend here?  He was involved with the Church Street balloon team in the beginning.  Flying passenger flights most of his years he has perfected the program.  Doug is a perfectionist and we like that in a pilot.  Great charm and excellent pilot skills make him a wonderful addition to our pilot staff.

Capt Kenny Shuemate

Capt Kenny is also a local boy.  Starting as one of the pioneers in the balloon world here in central Florida Kenny has been flying balloons for over 30 years as well.  Kenney is a top competition pilot.  Kenney spends time in the summer months traveling to balloon competitions all over the southeast united states.  You have to watch him since he love's a good practical joke.  We truly enjoy the days when Capt. Kenney can come out and play with us.

Capt Jim Thompson

Dad as we know him.  Capt Jim Thompson is the second generation of the Thompson family involved in ballooning.  We were going to put him on the ground crew page since he started his ballooning life as ground crew for Jeff Thompson.  But since he is now a top ranked pilot and has been a top ranked pilot for almost a quarter century we figured he should be listed here.  Dad does not fly passenger flights for Thompson Aire but in the winter months when he comes down from Iowa to get away from the snow.   Occasionally during his winter stay he will come out with his little Pilot +one balloon and fly along with us.

Capt David Fuller

Mr. Excitement as he is known by our other pilots.  Capt Dave is a wonderful TA Pilot.  He is now living up in St Augustine so we don't get to see him here flying with us as much as we used to but we still have him out any chance we can.  Dave also does commercial work for Re/Max as well as competition in the summer months.  A talented pilot with a fun and entertaining personality he can fly for Thompson Aire any time he wishes.

Capt Mike Braddock

Capt Mikey as we like to call him lives over in the Tampa area.  Flying for many years he is a good friend as well as a great pilot for Thompson Aire.  Most of the time Mike will come over with his own balloon to fly for us when we have more passengers than we can accommodate with our fleet of balloons.  There are times when he will come over and fly our equipment as well.  A long time pilot with tons of experience we truly feel special when we have our Capt Braddock out for a flight.

Capt Bob Pfaff

Capt Bob Pfaff has been flying for many many years.  We can not tell you since it will give away his age.  Bob has actually competed and almost beat our very own Capt Jeff Thompson.  Tied for first place he and Capt Jeff share the last Sebring Balloon challenge as co-champions for the Saturday morning event.  You will have to ask Capt Bob about it when you come to fly,  Somehow he has a completely different story about the whole thing.  Still.  He is great with passengers and a highly skilled pilot and we enjoy having him out to fly.

Capt Norm Frazier

No he is not as mean as he looks in this photo.  That is actually the closest thing to a smile we have seen.  Just kidding.  In fact Capt Norm is one of the most easy going pilots we know.  Capt Norm has also been flying balloons for nearly 30 years and is also involved with the repair and manufacture of balloons.  At home in a balloon or behind a sewing machine you will be hard pressed to find someone with more knowledge about all things ballooning.  He does prefer the term "Seamster"  Don't call him a seamstress.

Capt Pat Schmidt

Capt Pat used to fly for us on a fairly regular basis.  He has been scooped up by our competitor in this area.  Pat is now flying balloons that carry 16 to 18 passengers.  We would love to have him come out and fly any time he would like.

Don't forget to ask how many other people will be sharing your special occasion or balloon trip.  We prefer to fly passengers and not cattle.  We understand Pat is making more money flying 16 to 18 passengers at one time.  Thompson Aire thinks creating great memories outweighs money.  That is why we only fly balloons that carries 4 to 6 adults.