Nine Year Old Flies Hot Air Balloon

Bobby Bradley, 9, became the youngest trained pilot to fly solo in a hot air balloon when he sailed for half an hour outside Tome, New Mexico. He was accompanied on his half-hour flight by three other balloons, with the Federal Aviation Administration's balloon examiner in one of them. Bradley can't get his pilot's license until he's 16, so his family and friends built him a small balloon that classified as an ultra-light aircraft. He's the son of two of Albuquerque's well-known balloonists.