Patrick Smith’s day begins and ends with the sun. Patrick is a flight instructor and hot air balloon pilot who attributes his love of flying to his Grandfather who was a crewman on a PBY Catalina. Flying since 2004, Patrick now has three children whom he hopes to pass on his love of aviation.
As a small business owner of a balloon tour company himself, Patrick loves to assist new startups with their aviation insurance. Patrick runs the UAV and Lighter Than Air Insurance programs at Aviation Insurance Resources (AIR) and loves “talking to pilots just starting out to pilots with 20,000 hours. It is such an amazing opportunity.”
Patrick’s favorite airplane is the Diamond DA-40XLS. He amassed over 400 hours in this aircraft and knows it like the back of his hand, however, his dream aircraft would be an open cockpit Waco.