Benny Abruzzo grew up inside one of the most remarkable aviation families in history. His father, Ben Sr., built the Sandia Peak Tramway, turned Albuquerque into a ballooning capital, and then — with co-pilot Max Anderson — set out to do something that had never been done: cross the Atlantic Ocean in a helium balloon. They failed on the first try, nearly dying in 50-foot seas off the coast of Iceland with no survival suits, frostbitten and beaten. A week later, Ben Sr. said: “let’s try it again.”

On August 10th, 2010 twenty-five-year-old Joe Stone went out to take a few laps on his speed wing, something he did nearly every day. But that day didn’t go as planned. Joe woke up over a month later and nothing was, or would ever be- the same. This is Joe’s incredible story of resilience, hope, inspiration and ultimately- gratitude. When your life goes upside down the little things become everything. This one isn’t easy, but it will leave you with a profound awareness of what’s possible, what’s important, and what we all miss in the hidden joys of just being alive.

The Niviuk Red Rocks Wide Open in Southern Utah this year was all-time. 5 Amazing tasks from three different launches. And your host won! Is it rude to win your own comp? Hmmmm. Well if it was it was worth it! Anyway- our weather guru Reavis was on-hand to provide daily weather briefings and to advise the task committee on aligning good tasks with the weather we had to keep everyone safe and to send it as big as we could. Reavis is a weather expert and it’s hard to achieve his level of knowledge, but he gave a talk during the comp on the tools he uses and why…which are tools you should familiarize yourself with if you want to become a complete pilot.