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Learning to fly a balloon requires a specific set of motor skills: 

• Coordination—the ability to take physical action in the proper sequence to produce the desired results while launching, flying, and landing the balloon. 

• Timing—the application of muscle coordination at the proper time to make the flight, and all maneuvers incident to it, a constant smooth process. 

• Control touch—the ability to interpret, evaluate, and predict the actions and reactions of the balloon with regard to attitude and speed variations, by interpreting and evaluating varying visual cues and instrument readings. 

• Situational awareness—the ability to sense instantly any reasonable variation of altitude, airspeed, and directional change, as well as a constant perception of relative position to ground-based structures and planned flight track. 

A skilled pilot becomes one with the balloon and learns to assess a situation quickly and accurately. He or she also develops the ability to select the proper procedure to follow in a situation, to predict the probable results of the selected procedure, and to exercise safe practices. In addition, a skilled pilot learns to gauge the performance of the balloon being flown and to recognize not only personal limitations, but also the limitations of the balloon. This knowledge helps the pilot to avoid reaching personal or machine critical points. 

Developing the skills needed to fly a balloon requires time and dedication on the part of the student pilot, as well as the flight instructor. Each balloon has its own particular flight characteristics, and it is not the purpose of balloon flight training to learn how to fly a particular model balloon. The purpose of balloon flight training is to develop skills and safety habits that can be transferred to any balloon. The pilot who acquires the necessary flight skills during training, and demonstrates these skills by flying with precision and safe flying habits, easily transitions to different model balloons. Student pilots should also remember that the goal of flight training is to develop a safe and competent pilot. To that end, it is important for the flight instructor to insure the student pilot forms the proper flying habits by introducing him or her to good operating practices from the first training flight. 

## Role of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) 

The United States Congress has empowered the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to promote aviation safety by establishing safety standards for civil aviation. The FAA accomplishes this goal through the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). Title 14 of the Code of Federal 

Regulations (14 CFR) part 61 pertains to the certification of pilots, flight instructors, and ground instructors. 14 CFR part 61 defines the eligibility, aeronautical knowledge, flight proficiency, as well as training and testing requirements for each type of pilot certificate issued. 

14 CFR part 91 contains general operating and flight rules. The section is broad in scope and provides general guidance in the areas of general flight rules, visual flight rules (VFR), instrument flight rules (IFR), aircraft maintenance, and preventive maintenance and alterations. 

Within the FAA, the Flight Standards Service promotes safe air transportation by setting the standards for certification and oversight of airmen, air operators, air agencies, and designees. It also promotes safety of flight of civil aircraft and air commerce by: 

• Accomplishing certification, inspection, surveillance, investigation, and enforcement; 

• Setting regulations and standards; and 

• Managing the system for registration of civil aircraft and all airmen records. 

The focus of interaction between the FAA Flight Standards Service and the aviation community and general public is the Flight Standards District Office (FSDO). [Figure 1-1] The FAA has approximately 130 FSDOs. These offices provide information and services for the aviation community. FSDO phone numbers are listed in the blue pages of the telephone directory under United States Government Offices, Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration. Another convenient method of finding a local office is to use the FSDO locator available on the Regulatory Support Division’s website: http://www.faa.gov/about/ office_org/headquarters_offices/avs/offices/afs/afs600. 

In addition to accident investigation and the enforcement of aviation regulations, the FSDO is also responsible for the 

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