EP #29 - Bruce Comstock - World Champion and Record Holder

Aunty Monkey - The Balloon Podcast

In this episode Andrew chats to ballooning Hall of Fame legend, Bruce Comstock. Having started ballooning 50 years ago, he has achieved a huge amount in ballooning and has an incredible resume. The below is taken from Bruce's website - A Life in the Air.

Bruce Comstock’s extraordinary accomplishments in ballooning eventually landed him in both the international and the U.S. ballooning halls of fame.

Bruce has set world records, won major championships, guided the national organization of balloonists, revived and edited Ballooning magazine, flown all sorts of balloons, planned and made epic balloon flights, created the first U.S. balloon repair facility, established and built up a major balloon manufacturing company, designed and built the autopilot that made solo ultra long distance balloon flight possible, trained and educated other pilots, and represented the Federal Aviation Administration in the certification of new pilots and of newly manufactured balloons.

Driven by curiosity and blessed with an aptitude for physics and math, Bruce started college studying engineering physics. Despite doing well in this, the curriculum seemed too narrow to him. He transferred to the college of arts and sciences and graduated with a degree in economics. While in graduate school, his plan to teach economics in college was sidetracked by an unsolicited job offer designing and creating computer software. A chance series of events while he was doing this drew him into the then nascent sport of flying balloons. The rest is history.