He has been involved in ballooning since 1978, and received his commercial hot air balloon license in 1984. For many years, he owned and operated a passenger service, “Cloud 9 Balloon Flights,” and focused on his passion for competition throughout the United States. He won the Great Eastern Balloon Assoc. Championship eight times and also won several local “Hare and Hound” events.
Jim likes to spend time working with Bert Padelt at Best Aviation Services, building balloons for personal use and building gas balloons for use in setting records. He has had the opportunity to travel to Japan where he enjoyed flying with the “Fly One Team” based in Saga.
Since he retired from General Motors, Jim now spends summers in New Jersey flying “Air Head Invader” for Fred and Giulia and spends his winters in Venice, Florida cruising the Intracoastal Waterway in his boat, “Dunk-in”