Tim Schonman and Tom Martin

Tim and Tom started flying in the early 90’s. Tom got hooked when he took his first flight. He started chasing for the pilot whenever he could. Shortly he bought his own balloon and asked Tim to chase for him. Not long after that both of them became licensed commercial pilots and now they take turns flying their beautiful balloon. Chase duties are now a family affair. Tim’s wife, Armine and two kids, Bill and Jeannie are everyone’s dream chase crew. Bill now has his driver’s license which makes him even more valuable member of the chase crew, although we heard rumors he may be defecting to other pilots offering sodas with caffeine or cash.

A side note, Tim and Tom are a few of the balloon pilots Fred has turned on to paragliding. Tom spends the winters in Costa Rica with Fred and is a regular at Grampa Ninja's B&B. Tim gets down there whenever Armine can be convinced he should go - on average, once a year.