Clayton Thomas inducted into U.S. Ballooning Hall of Fame

Dr. Clayton L. Thomas, known as the “Daredevil Doctor of Dingley Dell,” has earned another accolade – he has been inducted into the U.S. Ballooning Hall of Fame.

Thomas, 92, has had a long and interesting life.

Besides flying hot air balloons all over the world, he was on a flight to Paris in 1983 when the plane he and his wife were on was hijacked by terrorists. They were on their way to a balloon meet in the south of France, but never got there, he recalled. They spent five harrowing days at gunpoint.

Sitting in his home, the area is named “Dingley Dell” after a fictional inn visited by the central characters in Dickens’ “The Pickwick Papers,” Thomas these days has a little trouble hearing, but can fondly recall some of the high points in his ballooning career. Asked what he liked about ballooning, he responded, “People and travel.”

Regarding the summertime induction into the Ballooning Hall of Fame, Thomas said, “If you stay around long enough and do your job, someone will notice it.”

His wife, Margaret “Peggy” Thomas, said her husband made the transition to hot air balloons from parachuting out of airplanes at her suggestion. They had three children, with a fourth on the way, and she thought the hobby was too dangerous. They were spending weekends watching “father” jump out of airplanes.

“We sort of compromised. He quit parachuting and began hot air ballooning,” Peggy Thomas said.

Peggy Thomas said their property is an official Federal Aviation Administration-designated launch pad for hot air balloons, and all four of their children followed in their father’s footsteps. She described hot air ballooning as fun, and “not scary.” Her job was “mission control.” She said one of the reasons that her husband became so famous is because he was careful, and safe. Weather-permitting, the flight would go as scheduled. He also taught countless aspiring balloonists the sport.

Taking off from Dingley Dell, Brimfield, in Dr. Clayton Thomas’ Olympics logo balloon in the 1980s. The balloon had landed at the Lake Placid games previously.

“It was a great way of life for any years,” she said, adding health problems forced her husband to give up ballooning about two years ago.

The farthest he ever traveled by balloon from his house was to Rhode Island, and that was by accident. Unexpected high winds blew them there, where they landed on a beach, his wife said. She said usually the balloons only travel in a three to five mile radius.

A “chase crew” follows on the ground, and wherever they land, they give a bottle of champagne to the landowner, a longtime tradition, she explained.

Against a backdrop of photographs of the doctor ballooning, and hot air balloon decorations, Peggy Thomas explained that because of her husband’s health, the induction ceremony was not held at the Hall of Fame in Indianola, Iowa, but instead in New York because it would be closer for the Clayton family. She said all of their children attended. Though daughter Wendy Thomas lives across the street, the others are in California, Virginia and Colorado.

His interest in aviation began in 1943 while he was in the Navy and in medical school. He later became part of the medical administrative committee of the U.S. Olympic Committee. His first flight in a hot air balloon was in 1969, and a year later, became a certified balloon pilot. He has taken more than 7,000 people for a hot air balloon ride, and licensed 102 students through his Balloon School of Massachusetts, now operated by Wendy Thomas.

In 1983, Thomas won the Montgolfier Trophy for piloting a balloon over the unfamiliar French countryside. Referred to as the “Father of New England Ballooning,” according to the biography prepared by the U.S. Ballooning Hall of Fame, Thomas has flown all over the United States, and in addition to France, also has flown in Switzerland and Germany. He received awards in 2003, 2012 and 2013 for his ballooning activities.

Thomas is long retired from his job as vice president of medical affairs at the former Tambrands plant in the Three Rivers section of Palmer. This past year, he retired from the Brimfield Board of Health, where he spent 40 years.

Wendy Thomas said about her father’s place in the Hall of Fame, “It’s wonderful. He really deserves to be in there. He was a pioneer in ballooning.”

Said Peggy Thomas, “We are very proud, and very, very pleased. It was a delight to have him recognized in such a nice way.”

via – masslive.com.