Balloonist Shot At During Race

[Phil1]

KOAT.com
Gas Balloonist Shot At During Race
Balloonist Troy Bradley Leaves America's Challenge Race Near Lubbock

POSTED: 4:10 pm MDT October 11, 2010
Gas Balloonist Shot At During Race Balloonist Troy Bradley Leaves America's Challenge Race Near Lubbock

A shooting at a gas balloon forces a local pilot to drop out of the America's Challenge race.

The balloon belongs to Troy Bradley, a veteran pilot who has flown in the race before.

Less than 24 hours before, Bradley took off from Albuquerque's Balloon Fiesta Park in the America's Challenge gas balloon race early Saturday morning. He said he dropped the balloon down to about 400 feet around sunset Saturday near Lubbock, Texas, in the area of Highway 194 and the town of Hart.

Bradley said that's when someone in a pickup truck began shooting at his balloon.

Bradley said he heard about four to six shots and hat his co-pilot Shane Robinson could see the barrel of the gun pointed at them.

"Shane yelled at them and said, 'Hey, there's people up here, what are you doing? We're going to call the sheriff,' and they took off in their truck and back into the farm fields," said Bradley.

Bradley said he was able to direct deputies to the shooter because he had a perfect arial view as the shooter tried to hide. Bradley then made a precautionary landing. He and Robinson were not hurt.

As for the shooter's story, Bradley doesn't buy it.

"He said he'd been out shooting, but that he was shooting at prairie dogs rather than the balloon," said Bradley. "We don't exactly believe [that]. Shane said he could see the flash from the gun when he was looking down there."

He said in his 32 years of flying, this is the first time he'd been shot at.

Bradley inspected his balloon Monday for any bullet holes and said his balloon was not hit.

In addition to the Swisher County Sheriff's Department in Texas, the Federal Aviation Administration and the FBI are also investigating the incident.
http://www.koat.com/news/25359148/detail.html

I imagine that the penalty could be severe for attempting to shoot down a aircraft.

 

[Phylodog]

Re: Balloonist Shot At During Race

The guy was shooting at a hot air balloon, the pilot was close enough to see the barrel pointed at him, and the guy failed to hit the balloon?

Hmmmm....

 

[Austan]

Re: Balloonist Shot At During Race

He couldn't hit the balloon from 400 ft? Maybe he was shooting at prairie dogs.

 

[High Binder]

Re: Balloonist Shot At During Race

My bet is the balloon boy over-reacted in a "typical way".

 

[Kells81]

Re: Balloonist Shot At During Race

I would go with +1 over reaction. You figure 400' up and how far out, either way a balloon is a big ass target and depending on distance out if you figure within 400 yards the balloon should have some holes in it.

 

[264win]

Re: Balloonist Shot At During Race

does sound a little fishy . i thought in texas you were allowed to shoot @ clowns like these 2

 

[Hateca]

Re: Balloonist Shot At During Race

No holes in the balloon and no independent witnesses this will go absolutely know where.

 

[iflylow1959]

Re: Balloonist Shot At During Race

I had a cropdusting service here in the tri state area for about 12 years. About once every two years or so, some asshole would point a gun at me or one of my pilots. we were never shot at that we know of. Probably some dope growers thinking we were looking for his plot or something.
One guy called the airport and threatend to shoot me down. He said he owned "from the ground to the moon" over his house and NO aircraft were allowed to fly over it. He even went as far as making a big toy cannon,buying a giant plastic airplane,painting it yellow and hanging it in a tree with the cannon aiming at it by the main highway in front of his house. At that point, the local Sheriff paid him a visit.He was a mean old basterd and died of a heart attack about two years later.

 

[Kells81]

Re: Balloonist Shot At During Race

I would think this would be the time to prove your a very good shot with your weapon to help point out if you were shooting at this item you would have hit it.

 

[Fritz24]

Re: Balloonist Shot At During Race

Does sound a little far-fetched, though sadly there are people idiotic enough to do it!

 

[Crewdog135]

Re: Balloonist Shot At During Race

I did pilot training in Del Rio back in 99. We had several low-level routes around TX. Apparently, every once in a while a jet would come home with a bullet hole. Never happened to me, but our MX had pics of from the previous couple of years. Some folks weren't smacked enough as kids I guess.

 

[Ovrmydeadbdy]

Re: Balloonist Shot At During Race

I had a similar experience in Northern COlorado. I am a flight instructor up here and we were flying over Greeley to land an IFR approach at night. All of the sudden my cock pit shined with a green laser light!!! and we heard gun shots. no impacts on the AC but intense situation non-the-less

 

[Phil1]

Re: Balloonist Shot At During Race

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: ovrmydeadbdy</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I had a similar experience in Northern COlorado. I am a flight instructor up here and we were flying over Greeley to land an IFR approach at night. All of the sudden my cock pit shined with a green laser light!!! and we heard gun shots. no impacts on the AC but intense situation non-the-less </div></div>

You heard gunshots(from the ground) inside the cockpit of a AC?

 

[Kells81]

Re: Balloonist Shot At During Race

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: ovrmydeadbdy</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I had a similar experience in Northern COlorado. I am a flight instructor up here and we were flying over Greeley to land an IFR approach at night. All of the sudden my cock pit shined with a green laser light!!! and we heard gun shots. no impacts on the AC but intense situation non-the-less </div></div>

I thought I maybe stepped in poo while I was out in the yard but I found the culprit. That shit smell was coming from your post I think. I have had the opportunity to be in most anything with rotors and wings in Iraq and Stan. If you heard gunshots you were on the ground shooting and not on the bird.

 

[coldboremiracle]

Re: Balloonist Shot At During Race

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Poke</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: ovrmydeadbdy</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I had a similar experience in Northern COlorado. I am a flight instructor up here and we were flying over Greeley to land an IFR approach at night. All of the sudden my cock pit shined with a green laser light!!! and we heard gun shots. no impacts on the AC but intense situation non-the-less </div></div>

I thought I maybe stepped in poo while I was out in the yard but I found the culprit. That shit smell was coming from your post I think. I have had the opportunity to be in most anything with rotors and wings in Iraq and Stan. If you heard gunshots you were on the ground shooting and not on the bird. </div></div>

+1, How in the hell could you hear gunfire from an aircraft unless it was unpowered?(hanglider,balloon,parachute,ECT.)

Minute of Gas Balloon? thats pretty bad.

 

[wksinatl]

Re: Balloonist Shot At During Race

Doesn't pass the sniff test...

Keith

 

[300sniper]

Re: Balloonist Shot At During Race

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Phylodog</div><div class="ubbcode-body">The guy was shooting at a hot air balloon, the pilot was close enough to see the barrel pointed at him, and the guy failed to hit the balloon?

Hmmmm.... </div></div>

well the shooter must not have had a rifle mounted inclinometer. no one can hit an elevated target without one of them.

 

[ArcticLight]

Re: Balloonist Shot At During Race

Maybe he did hit the balloon!

A bullet hole in a balloon would not have an immediate effect.

My dad sees these guys take off all the time...lots of pics of them..

 

[mexicanmatch]

Re: Balloonist Shot At During Race

In my area we use to get c-130's fly low 3 or 4 of them at a time one behind the other may be 3000' apart. the old farmers hated it because the hens would get all upset and stop laying for a couple of days. By the time the third one was over the farmer he would let go with a round or two of buck shot. Some of them did get hit and after many calls to the Air force the flight pattern was changed and the hens kept laying.

 

[Ovrmydeadbdy]

Re: Balloonist Shot At During Race

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: coldboremiracle</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Poke</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: ovrmydeadbdy</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I had a similar experience in Northern COlorado. I am a flight instructor up here and we were flying over Greeley to land an IFR approach at night. All of the sudden my cock pit shined with a green laser light!!! and we heard gun shots. no impacts on the AC but intense situation non-the-less </div></div>

I thought I maybe stepped in poo while I was out in the yard but I found the culprit. That shit smell was coming from your post I think. I have had the opportunity to be in most anything with rotors and wings in Iraq and Stan. If you heard gunshots you were on the ground shooting and not on the bird. </div></div>

+1, How in the hell could you hear gunfire from an aircraft unless it was unpowered?(hanglider,balloon,parachute,ECT.)

Minute of Gas Balloon? thats pretty bad. </div></div>

First Of all coldboremiracle, we were flying a schweizer 300C, with the doors off at 300 ft... Any more stupid comments???

 

[Fred_C_Dobbs]

Re: Balloonist Shot At During Race

Could be worse. He could have had a paraglider fly into him.

I'm a military/commercial helicopter pilot with about 40 hours in a Schweizer 269 -- which is a 300 with one less fuel tank -- and about the same in a Robinson R-22, which is pretty similar. Probably their quietest regime of flight is when you're in a descent to landing -- which is just what ovrmydeadbdy is describing -- because the rotors are at a low pitch setting and the engine is throttled back. I can believe he would hear a gunshot in that situation, especially since the appearance of the green laser would heighten your senses.

 

[Snakum]

Re: Balloonist Shot At During Race

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: ovrmydeadbdy</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: coldboremiracle</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Poke</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: ovrmydeadbdy</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I had a similar experience in Northern COlorado. I am a flight instructor up here and we were flying over Greeley to land an IFR approach at night. All of the sudden my cock pit shined with a green laser light!!! and we heard gun shots. no impacts on the AC but intense situation non-the-less </div></div>

I thought I maybe stepped in poo while I was out in the yard but I found the culprit. That shit smell was coming from your post I think. I have had the opportunity to be in most anything with rotors and wings in Iraq and Stan. If you heard gunshots you were on the ground shooting and not on the bird. </div></div>

+1, How in the hell could you hear gunfire from an aircraft unless it was unpowered?(hanglider,balloon,parachute,ECT.)

Minute of Gas Balloon? thats pretty bad. </div></div>

First Of all coldboremiracle, we were flying a schweizer 300C, with the doors off at 300 ft... Any more stupid comments??? </div></div>

IFR at night in a 300 with the doors off. Hmmm ... engine noise (piston rotorwing is very noisy) ... headsets ... I don't buy it. Sorry.

 

[Biscuit]

Re: Balloonist Shot At During Race

Some dude living up near Auburn airport was one hell of a shot. He had used a mini-14 ranch rifle and shot quite a few planes in flight over his house before being arrested.