2026 Pilot Bios



Still Not Me

Keith Shaffer

Carmel, IN

Sponsored by

Mike and Dana Clary


Years Flying Balloons - 18


When you are not flying, what do you enjoy doing?


When I’m not flying, I enjoy working on old cars and spending time building and engineering projects—and I also serve as free labor for my wife’s ever-growing list of projects.


Why did you become a pilot?


I fell in love with ballooning when I started crewing at just 11 years old in 1986. I was immediately fascinated, and after spending the next 21 years crewing, I knew I wanted to take the next step and become a pilot.


What do you find is the most challenging about flying a hot air balloon?


One of the most challenging parts of flying a hot air balloon is finding crew—people who are both available and willing to come out and help. Since our kids have grown up, we’ve lost our built-in crew… turns out they don’t work for free forever.


Short description of something interesting that ballooning has allowed you to do?


Ballooning has given me the opportunity to travel and experience new places from a completely different perspective—there’s nothing quite like seeing the world from the basket of a balloon.


What do you most want the public to know/understand about hot air balloons and flying them?


What most people don’t realize is that hot air balloons go where the wind takes them—we can’t steer like an airplane. We control altitude to catch different wind currents, but direction is ultimately up to nature. And when you see us landing in a field (or somewhere unexpected), we’re not crashing—we chose that spot on purpose!