SENATE JOINT MEMORIAL 16

52nd legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2015

INTRODUCED BY

Bill B. O’Neill

A JOINT MEMORIAL

DECLARING FEBRUARY 3, 2015 "TWO EAGLES DAY" IN THE LEGISLATURE.

     WHEREAS, an American pilot and his Russian co-pilot made history in the clouds when they broke records crossing the Pacific ocean together in a helium-filled balloon; and

     WHEREAS, Troy Bradley of Albuquerque and Leonid Tiukhtyaev of Moscow left the coast of Japan in their gas balloon, dubbed Two Eagles, on January 25, 2015 and touched down just off western Mexico six days later on January 31, 2015; and

     WHEREAS, Troy Bradley tweeted the team's progress as they crossed the Pacific, messaging that Two Eagles had landed safely just off the coast of Baja, Mexico, where the two men were picked up by a fishing boat and brought ashore; and

     WHEREAS, the flight set a record for time in the air of one hundred sixty-one hours and seventeen minutes, surpassing the previous record of one hundred thirty-seven hours, five minutes and fifty seconds set by Double Eagle II; and

     WHEREAS, the flight also broke the record for distance traveled, covering some six thousand six hundred forty-six miles and breaking a 1981 record of five thousand two hundred eight miles; and

     WHEREAS, although others have gone farther and for longer periods of time in airborne balloons before, Two Eagles differs in that no heat source such as a propane burner was used to keep the balloon aloft; and

     WHEREAS, only helium gas was used to propel Two Eagles; and

     WHEREAS, Troy Bradley, who first soloed at age fourteen, has logged more than six thousand two hundred hours aloft and holds nearly sixty world ballooning records; and

     WHEREAS, Troy Bradley's many awards include the highest honor bestowed on balloonists worldwide, the Montgolfiere diploma, for exceptional achievement in ballooning; and

     WHEREAS, Troy Bradley is the first person in history to set records in gas, hot air and hybrid roziere balloons that use both hot air and helium; and

     WHEREAS, Troy Bradley owns and operates a commercial balloon company and lives with his wife Tami and their two children in Albuquerque; and

     WHEREAS, Leonid Tiukhtyaev is from Moscow, Russia, and is a highly accomplished hot air and gas balloon pilot who has been flying since 1996; and

     WHEREAS, Leonid Tiukhtyaev is the only lighter-than-air pilot in the world to have flown hot air, gas, and roziere airships; and

     WHEREAS, Leonid Tiukhtyaev is the president of the balloon federation of Russia and has participated in many long-distance gas balloon races in the United States and Europe; and

     WHEREAS, Leonid Tiukhtyaev is a businessman and is currently the chairman of the board of directors of a major Russian bank;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that February 3, 2015 be declared "Two Eagles Day" in the legislature; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that Troy Bradley and Leonid Tiukhtyaev be recognized for their soaring, adventuresome spirits and record-shattering flight across the Pacific; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to Troy Bradley and Leonid Tiukhtyaev.

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