IMC Agency, Inc., and IMC Balloon
Agencyhaveagreedtoacquire andser-
vicealloutstandingballooninsurance
policiescurrentlywrittenthroughthe
Maurer-NoelAgency, Inc.Maurer-Noel
has decided to retire from insuring hot air
and gas balloons.
“Allexistingpolicies withU.S.Spe-
cialtyInsuranceCompanywillremainin
effect and will be serviced by IMC,” Tom
ReussétoldBalloon Life.“CallIMCdi-
rectly at 800-245-0023 with any changes to
your existing policy, or to report a claim.”
Reussé said that when U.S. Specialty
policieswrittenbyMaurer-Noelexpire
they willbe renewedbyJeffersonInsur-
ance Company.
Con tactTomReu ss é/TheIMC
Group,email: tomr@imcgroup.com, In-
ternet: www.weinsurefun.com
FireFlyBalloons, Statesville, North
Carolina, announced that Ryan “Rowdy”
Smith, 42, of Plano, Texas has joined the
company as the new sales manager. Smith
beganhisnewroleonDecember 1stof
lastyear.BorninLaGrange,Wyoming,
Smith has a historyof provensuccessin
recreationalsportssalesincludingRVs
and boats. He and wife/crew chief Laura
were introduced to ballooning three years
ago at Freedom Weekend Aloft when the
company he worked forat the time was an
eventsponsor. Hisfirstflight took place
there ina FireFlyballoon. Smithearned
hisprivate balloonratingin1999andis
working onhis commercialrating.
For moreinformation contact FireFly
Balloons, Inc., 810 Salisbury Rd., States-
ville,NC28677,phone:704-878-9501,
Internet: www.theballoonworks.com
A retiredSpecialOperationsCom-
mand Armyhelicopter pilot from Savan-
nah, Georgia hasseta new worldrecord
for anunrefueled duration flightina hot
air balloon. AndyCayton flew hisAX-6
categoryhotairballoon,namedSavan-
nah Six, a total of twenty-three hours and
fifty-sixminutesintemperaturesaslow
successfulflightbeganinSiouxFalls,
South Dakota and concluded near Fargo,
NorthDakota over snow covered terrain
onDecember13,2000. Hisflight,once
ratified, will establish a new world record
inclassA,sizeAX-6hotairballoons,
beatingthe existingrecordbytwo hours
and one minute.
Mr.Cayton,wholefttheArmyin
1995, has been flying hot air balloons for
fiveyearsandplanstoattemptanother
recordflight tocapture the worldrecord
for distance. That attemptwillbegin this
winterinCanadaandwilllikelytake
place some time in mid-January or Febru-
ary, depending on Arctic weather patterns
that move southeastwardover the north-
ernUnited States.
TheSavannah Sixteamincludes pi-
lot, Andy Caytonof Savannah, Georgia,
CrewChief,DavidSullivanandteam
membersFredDinkler,KarenDinkler,
Danni Suskin andBobTettman, all from
the Atlanta, Georgia area. TheSavannah
Sixweather information was provided by
Met eoro lo gi st ,Bru ceTelfey anof
Bellevue,Nebraska.TheofficialNAA/
FAI observer for the record setting flight
wasBobWillbanksof Atlanta. The pri-
marypurposeoftheflightwastoraise
funds for the American Cancer Society.
TheFAIand2001ECOhavean-
nouncedtheopeningoftheWorldAir
Gameson-linestore.ThisnewE-com-
merce storewillofferawide varietyof
merchandise featuring the WAG II logo,
the FAI’s WAGlogo, “Quillo” (the WAG
IImascot),andcustomizedembroidery
for FAI teams.
Initially,thestorewillofferapparel
items forcooler weather,such as high qual-
itysweatshirts,longsleeveT-shirts,and
hats with embroidered WAG logos. Inthe
nearfuture,itemswillincludewarmer
weather apparel such as T-shirts and shorts
withsilkscreenedWAGlogos.Asthe
Games approach, many non-apparel items
willalsobeoffered,suchassportbags,
hand-telescopesforwatchingairsports,
and children’s items related to flying.
As a special service for teams attend-
ingtheWorldAirGamesinSpain,the
WAGstoreisofferingcustomembroi-
deryonallof itsapparel.Teamnames,
athletes’ names,nationalflags,etc.,can
beembroidered right on the official WAG
apparel.Customembroiderywithsport-
specific Quillologo’swillalsobe avail-
able for all WAG apparel.
The website for the WAG store will
include a photogalleryof air sportsim-
ages, and links to many FAI-related sites.
The WAG store will take orderson-line,
andacceptsseveralmajorcreditcards.
VisitthenewWAGstoreat:
www.worldairgames.com.
at the NorthPole
Global Expeditionshascombined with
yellowairplane.comtobringthisexciting
adventure to anyone at an affordable price.
Thisyear’sexpeditionwillincludethe
world’s very first North Pole, Hot Air Bal-
loon Rally with balloon pilots from around
theworld.Global Expeditions has taken hot
airballoonstoboththeNorthandSouth
Poles.Therewillalsobefreeskydiving
fromaRussianjetaircraftforqualified
jumperswhowishtoaddatremendous
North Pole jump to their logbooks.
TheexpeditiontravelstoMoscow
for three days with available visits to Red
Square,theKremlinArmory,StarCity
(Russia’s NASA) and the Bolshoi Ballet.
Participants will alsofly in the huge
Russian Air Force IL-76 jet transport, the
An-74STOLjettransportandtheMi-8
helicopter. Other stops include a full day
visit to Khatanga in Northern Siberia and
Inuit/Eskimo village to see herds of rein-
deer and featuring the famous archeologi-
cal mammoth digs where you will be able
totake home artifacts that are abundant.
The groupwill meet at New York’s
JFK airport on April 12, 2001 for a direct
flight to Moscow. The deadline for sign-
up is February28, 2001. For more infor-
mationcontactGlobalExpeditions, Inc.
And YellowAirplane.Com 309-772-9099
Daysor850-267-1608Evenings/Week-
ends,email :C .JeffDyrekat
tjeff@mailexcite.com
