About us

              Bill Colyer/Pilot

A Yankee Balloon LLC is owned and operated by Bill Colyer.   Bill is a FAA certified commercial pilot and flight instructor.  He has been flying balloons since 1974.  His first flight was in Indianola, Iowa.   It was there that he met Brian & Kathy Boland.  After receiving training from Boland, he decided to build his own experimental balloon.  More recently, Bill has built a two-place balloon that separates into smaller components for travel. 

          Albuquerque Balloon Festival

Bill met his girlfriend Pat in 1979 at the Long IslandSound of America Balloon Festival.  Pat was the co-

chairman for 11years.  Together they have 10 flights across Long Island Sound, with two landings in the        back of a boat!  Besides the ride operation, Bill attends 10-12 ballo events a year.   At these festivals he has      been a real competitor, winning awards and prize money.  He has won first place at the New Jersey Festival  of Ballooning, the Overall Champion at the Great New England BalloFestival at Riverside Park, and the Best  of Show at Goshen, Connecticut.   Internationally, he takes his small experimental balloon to Ireland almost      every year.  There, he was part of the American Team that won Ireland’s  Frank Barnes Trophy.  Bill has     flown at the Expo in Vancouver as well as many times in St. Jeans Sur  Richeleau, near Montreal.  He has     flown  the Alps, crossing one Alp (ask about that one) in Mauterndorf, Austria at the Fire & Snow Festival.     Bill has also attended the Waiarapa & Waikato Festivals in New Zealand several times.  There, he won the      Masterton Balloon Cup.

                    Balloon Trophy

 Bill has been a Balloonmeister at many events in the Northeast.