Introducing
the StratoQuest Team
Lindy
Leach
Vice President and Operations
Director
Lindy has held numerous leadership positions that
involve planning, coordinating, and conducting
various types of training and operational activities.
She transformed and built new military organizations
and units, the last being the US Army Reserve's
Military Intelligence Readiness Command. During
her assignment at the United States Army Reserve
Command (USARC), she represented approximately
4,000 enlisted soldiers to the Command. She was
heavily involved with providing guidance and input
on policy decisions. Her insight, knowledge, and
experience helped resolve issues impacting thousands
of soldiers. She served on a World Class Decision
Making team, that developed a decision making
model accepted as the standard decision method
used by the USARC. Throughout her career, Lindy
has successfully lead many individuals and teams
with her personal management skills.
She is a member of the Military Intelligence Corps
Association and on the Board of Directors for
the Army Women's Foundation. She was selected
to be the 2006 United States Parachute Association's
(USPA) Style and Accuracy Team Manager and holds
a USPA C parachuting license.
Yuvonda
Wells
Business Developer
Yuvonda has experience in developing and implementing
business strategies. She successfully owned her
own business and has served as Vice President
of Pricing and Acquisitions for an international
logistics company. Her effective organization
and communication skills led to her success in
managing and implementing multi-national negotiations
and contracts. She was responsible for securing
the contract to provide fiber optic cables to
Athens, Greece for the 2004 Olympics. Yuvonda
also specializes in Human Resource Management.
She has experience in creating and implementing
new procedures for employee and contractor management.
Her research skills help businesses and organizations
make better decisions. In 2005, The Soroptimist
International of the Americas awarded Yuvonda
three Women's Opportunity Awards, “in support
of her efforts and to enhance her career potential”.
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Dominic
Del Rosso
NASA
Dominic Del Rosso is currently a Test Director
for the Reduced Gravity Office, and a Systems
Equipment Operator [SEO] for the High Altitude
Research Program, both based at Ellington Field
in Houston. He has logged over 16,000 reduced
gravity parabolas on NASA's C-9 as well as many
hours in full pressure suits at altitudes exceeding
60,000 with NASA's WB57F, and a several in T38N
aircraft.
Formerly he was a project engineer with the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Crew
and Thermal Systems Division. Mr. Del Rosso's
initial responsibilities for NASA included all
human demonstration testing for space suited crew
members as well as the management of the external
maintenance for the Space Station. Taking a hands-on
approach to testing and defining problems and
solutions, he has acquired more than 400 pressurized
hours in the U.S. space suits. Additionally, he
has significant time in various pressure suits
of other nations and subsystems. These hours have
been in environments ranging from the laboratory,
air bearing floors, reduced gravity aircraft,
underwater, and thermal/vacuum chambers. Mr. Del
Rosso has also served as the Subsystem Manager
for the U.S. space suit, currently in operation,
as well as work on advanced suits. He managed
the effort to design and build the tooling and
support equipment for the International Space
Station as well. Briefly he supported the life
support system group, as the lead for completing
the work on the Space Station Oxygen Recharge
Compressor Assembly.
Mr. Del Rosso graduated from the University at
Buffalo with a BS in Aerospace Engineering. His
course work included systems design as well as
biomechanics. During an affiliation with the Center
for Special Environments Research, he participated
in several experiments, including the first saturation
diving at the facility. While employed by Ocean
Systems Engineering as a project engineer, Mr.
Del Rosso performed duties, in addition to being
a test subject, of equipment maintenance and backup
medical support.
Upon Graduation he worked for Ocean Systems Engineering,
specializing in robotic systems and bringing the
sub sea experience base, of using divers in robot
systems, to NASA.
Mr. Del Rosso is a former Assistant Fire Chief
with the Seabrook Volunteer Fire Department and
an Intermediate Emergency Medical Technician.
He also served with the Harris County Sheriffs
Department Aerial Law Enforcement Task Force as
a helicopter rescue specialist and with the Texas
Search and Rescue Technicians Group for swift
water, high angle, underwater SAR, and general
SAR duties. He's also a NAUI SCUBA Instructor
with Instructor Trainer Designation, Texas State
Firefighting Instructor Level II, CPR/AED/first
aid instructor, and Emergency Response to Terrorism
instructor.
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Wilfred
J. A. Charette
High Altitude Low Opening
(HALO)
Parachuting and Safety Expert
Wil Charette has extensive military experience
in High Altitude Low Opening (HALO) parachuting
and HALO safety. As a member of the Joint Army/United
States Air Force HALO Test Team, he established
much of the HALO training and operations doctrine
still in use today. He was the first Non-Commissioned
Officer in Charge (NCOIC) of the Special Forces
Training Group HALO Committee, which included
Fulton Recovery Systems (SKYHOOK) Operations.
For his participation in the HALO Test Program
and his subsequent use of HALO insertion techniques,
he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.
He participated in the record breaking 43,500
foot jump to establish a world record “FAI
Class G-II-C, group of nine with delayed fall”.
Will is a Charter Member of the US Army Parachute
Team, The Golden Knights. He authored the United
States Parachute Association (USPA) Publication,
“Jumping in the Troposphere”, and
is a 1969 recipient of the USPA Gold expert parachutist
badge awarded for 1,000 free fall parachute jumps.
After serving 11 years in the Army, Mr. Charette
was recruited by the CIA where he served for 32
years domestically and overseas in various senior
leadership positions. He earned a Master's Degree
in National Security and Strategic Studies from
the US Naval War College in Newport, RI. He is
currently a part time Government and private sector
consultant on Counterterrorism and Intelligence
related initiatives, and serves as a Director
on the Special Operations Memorial Foundation.
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Ted
Strong
President, Strong
Enterprises, Orlando Florida
Ted Strong founded Strong Enterprises in 1960.
Strong Enterprises designs, develops, tests, and
manufactures all types of parachute equipment.
Strong Enterprises has designed round parachute
systems, ranging from 4 inches to 64 feet in diameter
and ram-air canopies from 6 sq. feet to 1,200-sq.
feet in size, for payloads ranging from 10 pounds
to 2,300 pounds. Some of Ted’s products
include spin chutes for aircraft recovery, drogue
chutes for drone remote controlled aircraft, drag
chutes and cargo canopies for a variety of payloads.
Currently, Ted is working on a manned parachute
delivery system for All Terrain Vehicles (ATV)
and has over one hundred and fifty drops with
driver/riders on board from aircraft exit to landing.
Highest altitude has been 25,000 feet. In 1983,
Ted came up with the Tandem Jumping concept (two
people sharing the same main and reserve parachute)
and holds a US patent on a tandem system. Ted
received the PIA Don Beck Achievement Award in
1989 for designs or improvements in the parachute
industry that have withstood the test of time.
Ted’s FAA ratings include: private pilot
license, hot air balloon commercial license,
Master Parachute Rigger Certificate and is a
past Designated
Parachute Rigger Examiner. He
is a member of United
States Parachute Association (USPA) and has A,
B, C, and D license. He received the USPA Gold
Wings for 1,000 free falls. Ted is still an active
jumper and makes about 80 jumps a year.
Ted is a member of: USPA, SAFE (Survival And
Flight Equipment), AIAA (American Institute of
Aeronautics and Astronautics). PIA (Parachute
Industry Association
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David B. Gillis,
M.D. PhD, M.P.H Aerospace Medicine Physician
David Gillis is an assistant professor of clinical preventive medicine (aerospace) with the University of Texas Medical Branch, assigned, under the NASA Bioastronautics contract, to support Shuttle and International Space Station, currently in Advanced Projects, Space Medicine Group, Wiley Life Sciences in Houston, Texas. He graduated from Davidson College with a BS in physics before completing his MD and medical school at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. After a Navy internship, he became a Navy flight surgeon and served as an operational flight surgeon with Marine helicopter squadrons in Vietnam and the Gulf War, as well as with Navy jet attack, mine countermeasures and maritime patrol squadrons during active duty and active reserves assignments. He served a tour as Chief, Bioengineering, Aviation Medicine Division, at the US Army Aeromedical Research Unit from 1967-1969. Dr. Gillis was the Senior Medical Officer and Battle Group Surgeon for the Commander, Carrier Group 7, aboard the nuclear powered aircraft carrier, JOHN C. STENNIS (CVN 74) and served as Group Surgeon, 1st Force Service Support Group, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, during the Iraq War, until retiring from the Navy in 2003.
Interspersed with his military service, he completed a PhD in physiology at the University of California San Francisco where he also completed a residency in anesthesiology and served as Clinical Assistant Professor in Anesthesiology. Dr. Gillis practiced anesthesiology in Berkeley, CA for twenty years before leaving his practice to return to active duty and complete an MPH at Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health. Dr. Gillis then completed the aerospace medicine residency program in the US Navy, serving as Chief Resident in 1998-1999 and as a member of the US Navy Aerospace Medicine Residency Advisory Committee. He has completed the US Navy Recognition and Treatment of Diving Casualties Course at Panama City, FL, the NAMI Hyperbaric Medicine Course at Pensacola, FL, the Radiation Health Course at Groton, CN, the Naval Postgraduate School Aviation Safety Officer Course at Monterrey, CA, and the FAA Aviation Medical Examiner Course at Oklahoma City, CA, among others. Dr. Gillis is a highly decorated, retired US Naval officer. His personal and unit awards include five Air Medals, two Meritorious Service Medals, and two Presidential Unit Citations.
Dr. Gillis, in 2002 developed a medical model incorporating elements of operational risk management, probabilistic risk assessment and a measure of effectiveness of medical outcomes and medical resources in constrained environments. These concepts were employed in planning and employing US Marine combat field medical support in the Iraq War and contributed to a historically low died of wounds percentage. This model is currently in use at the Johnson Space Center to assessment crew performance and long time health risks during space missions. He has numerous published medical articles and presentations on subjects including high altitude medicine, responses and acclimatization to high altitude, environmental emergencies on the space Shuttle, and medical risk characterization and assessment in manned space flight.
Dr. Gillis is a private pilot with instrument rating. His high altitude experience includes successful ascents of Mt. Whitney (twice), Mt. Rainier, Mt. Baker, Mt. Olympus and, in Africa, Mt. Kilimanjaro. He is a certified open water scuba diver with several hundred dives, and has one tandem parachute jump. His current humanitarian projects include school and women’s health clinic construction in Vietnam, with his daughter, Megan, who along with three other adult children, Lisa, Glenn and Kristin, and their spouses and children, are his principal loves in life.
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Clayton
Lay Thomas, M.D. M.P.H.
High Altitude Physician
Clayton Thomas, M.D. M.P.H. is certified as a
specialist in preventive medicine in the subspecialty
of aerospace medicine by the American Board of
Medical Specialists. For thirty years, he served
in various capacities at the Harvard School of
Public Health in Boston, ending as the visiting
Scientist in the Department of Population Sciences
and International Health. He is a Navy veteran,
having trained as a flight surgeon and then instructing
at the School of Aviation Medicine at Pensacola.
Clayton is President of Balloon School of Mass.
He is a FAA designated Lighter-than-Air pilot
examiner and holds certifications in Com LTA (both
hot air and gas), Com. Rotorcraft, helicopter,
and Private Pilot SEL.
He has edited nine editions of TABER's Cyclopedia
Medical Dictionary; published by F.A. Davis Co.
Philadelphia. His article, “Parachuting
and Skydiving” was published in the 1965
Journal of the American Medical Association.
Clayton has been part of the US Olympic Medical
Team during several Olympiads. He flew a hot air
balloon at the Lake Placid Winter Olympics and
the Calgary Winter Olympics. As the balloonmeister,
he supervised forty balloons at Lake Placid's
Opening Ceremonies.
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Andy
Elson
Aeronautical Engineer/Balloonist
Andy, from Wells, Somerset, England is an aeronautical
engineer. He is also pilot and project director
of QinetiQ
1, the project name for his and Colin Prescot's
attempt to set a new manned balloon high altitude
world record. He is responsible for the design
and build of their balloon.
Andy was an apprentice at the Rolls Royce Technical
College in Filton, Bristol and then went on to
study Aeronautical Engineering. During the 1980s
he became an enthusiastic balloonist. After competing
at world-class level, he began to research and
develop the survival systems required for high-altitude
flights. In 1991, he piloted the world's first
hot air balloon flight over Mount Everest.
Andy set a new all-time flight duration record
in 1998, and promptly broke it the next year on
his Cable & Wireless flight with Colin Prescot,
which lasted 17 days, 18 hours and 25 minutes.
For this they were each presented with the Royal
Aero Club Gold Medal, awarded just 40 times in
the last 100 years.
Since 1999, Andy has worked with American adventurer
Steve Fossett on his solo attempts to fly a balloon
around the world, designing and building the Solo
Spirit gondola and advising Fossett during his
flight from eastern Australia to Brazil.
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Colin
Prescot
Balloonist/Adventurer
Colin, from Stockbridge, Hampshire, England is
Managing Director of Flying
Pictures Ltd, the world's largest operator
of hot air balloons and leader of aerial film
production and facilities. He will co-pilot QinetiQ
1 and relay pictures of the flight back to
earth.
Colin began ballooning at the age of 25 and continued
his interest in hot air balloons by founding Flying
Pictures, which counts Sylvester Stallone's 'Cliffhanger'
and the last 8 James Bond films among its credits.
Over the years Colin has managed to combine his
background in advertising with his hobby, operating
many of the commercial advertising balloons seen
in the summer skies and at balloon festivals around
the world.
In 1981 Colin made the first ever hot-air balloon
flight through a whole night, and later set the
record for longest balloon flight in the British
Isles, which still stands.
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Bernadette
Therese Dionne
Air Traffic Controller
Advisor
Bernadette was hired by the FAA after serving
ten years in the Navy as an Air Traffic Controller.
She is currently controlling at Razorback Terminal
Radar Approach Control and Tower in Fort Smith,
Arkansas. Prior to Fort Smith, Bernadette worked
for the FAA at St Louis Automated Flight Service
Station. She has worked in a variety of air traffic
facilities, offering an aray of services to the
flying public and military pilots. One facility
was an island off the southern California coast.
It was utilized by the fleet for both daytime
tower and radar approach operations, but was "transformed"
into a non-repositioning carrier at night. They
helped train new pilots before they were sent
to sea trials.
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Dick Blosser
Director of Communications
Dick Blosser has been the Chief of Communications for several aviation record making projects. These projects include J. Renee’s "Around The World" balloon project in 2000, Global Hilton Project from 1997 to 1998, The Earthwinds "Around the World" project from 1992 to 1995, Voyager non-refueled around-the-world flight in 1986. He also provided Ground Tracking, Position Reporting and Search and Rescue for Kevin Uliassi's solo balloon round-the-world attempt in 2000.
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J.
B. Siegfried
Training Advisor
J.B. served as a parachuting training coach and
safety advisor to the 82nd Airborne Freefall Activity,
Fort Bragg, NC. He has many years of experience
in establishing safe drop zone operations and
procedures. In 1995, J.B. was a team member for
Cheryl Stearns' record 352 parachute jumps in
a twenty-four hour period. At the age of 54, J.B.
made his first parachute jump and had over 2,500
jumps when he retired from the sport. A World
War II veteran, he landed on Normandy D+8 and
fought in five campaigns, ending up in Czechoslovakia.
He then performed communications technician duties
in Greece, Paris, and Budapest. He did one tour
of duty in Vietnam and retired from the Army in
1969. After leaving the military, J.B. worked
17 years for a local telephone company.
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