Daryl Tatum
Daryl |
Sweet Emotion
| Daryl was born in Dekalb County, Georgia on November 7, 1965. He currently resides in Cumming, Georgia where he has lived since he was 5. He attended Forsyth County High School. He married his wife, Lynn, in June 1984 and has 3 children, Evan, Casey and Dylan (twins-boy and girl). |
| Daryl is a Land Surveyor and Home builder. He has worked for the Appalachian Survey Company in Cumming since 1988 and have been in the surveying business since 1984. Daryl and Lynn recently started building homes and he also flies paying customers in his balloon, Sweet Emotion. He also does corporate work when it comes along. |
| Back in January or February of 1994, Daryl and his wife
Lynn were
driving home one evening when a balloon landed in a yard close to their home and as they drove by,
Daryl said he would like to do that sometime. It was just an off the cuff remark, but he didn't have
the urge to go back and see what was going on. It was just something that hit him at the moment... that
he wanted to go... sometime! Their 10th Wedding Anniversary was coming up June 30th and guess what Lynn got him...a balloon flight certificate...for one. She was happy to send him up but she wasn't going! Daryl says "She has always come up with great gifts for me, I am not nearly as imaginative as she is. I usually get her jewelry, but it seems to suit her OK. |
| Lynn's boss had also given her husband, Tracy, a certificate and he and Daryl were suppose to fly together. Unfortunately, Daryl, Tracy, the pilot and the weather had a real hard time getting together. After a few months, Tracy, who was around 70 at the time and suffering the effects of cancer, decided not to go and got a refund. Daryl finally got off the ground sometime in October. He says "It was great and I really couldn't put into words how much I enjoyed it." Daryl will always remember something the pilot, Dan Stukas, said as they were floating along. He said "This is an inexpensive way to get into aviation compared to other outlets." At the time Daryl wasn't particularly interested in aviation, but liked being up in the balloon |
| As they were driving back to their cars after the celebration, Dan mentioned that pilots gave their crew rides for crewing, so Daryl told him if he ever needed any help to call him, never expecting to hear from him, because as he said "There must be people lined up around the block for a deal like that."...He was called by Dan the next weekend. |
| That started several years of Daryl running the Chase Commander all around the northern Atlanta area early on Saturday and Sunday mornings with a "meatloaf" CD jammed in the CD player. Dan started teaching Daryl to fly on his first crew flight. Daryl says "here we are in 2003, 9 years later, and my wife is scratching her head, staring at the two balloon envelopes in the carport, wondering what happened!" Daryl continues "Ballooning has brought me and my family a lot of enjoyment. My oldest son is aching to start learning to fly, and I have met a lot of great people along the way who turned out to be great friends. David Bristol even took me on my first airplane ride recently, but taking into consideration what happened with the balloon, Lynn has asked me, actually she ordered me to stay away from airplanes. If there ever was a gift that kept on giving, this has been mine. Of course for Lynn, it has kept on taking..." |
| Daryl bought his balloon from Stuart Enloe in
Woodstock, Georgia. It was a package deal that included a complete Adams
compact basket, a complete envelope rebuild, he got to design from Balloon
Repairs of East Texas, a fan and a van. Daryl got his Private Pilot license on February 25, 2000 and his Commercial Pilot license on May 5, 2001. |
| He has flown rallies in Helen, Georgia (although not the "Helen to the Atlantic Race" yet), Cherry Blossom Festival, Freedom Weekend Aloft at Anderson South Carolina. He doesn't get to travel much, but he hopes to in the next few years. |
| Daryl is a member of BFA and donates rides to several local charities for auctions and raffles. |
| Daryl's crew include: |
| Evan Tatum Crew Chief |
Lynn Tatum Crew Chief-although she doesn't like to admit it |
Daniel Tatum Crew Chief (brother) |
| Darryl Mincey Crew Chief (brother-in-law) |
Susan Stukas Crew Chief |
Casey Tatum |
| Dylan Tatum | Valerie Gibson (sister) |
Forrest Gibson (brother-in-law) |
| Dennis Hinojos | Vince Reynolds | David Cain |
| The entire Stukas family | Pat and Don Tatum who have been supporting Daryl's efforts and crewing for him his entire life. |
|
| Daryl's personal data include: |
| Aeronautical Licenses: Private and Commercial Balloon Pilot |
| Day Job: Land Surveyor and Home Builder |
| Motto: If he had one it would would likely change on a regular basis. |
| Hobbies: Ballooning when possible, Playing guitar, trying to spend as much time as possible with the family before they grow up...problem is they are growing up faster than he can come up with the extra time. |
| Best ballooning experience: The one where he is floating through the sky seemingly detached from the world below. |
Daryl and David Bristol's airplane |
| You may contact Daryl with any ballooning question at: |
 e-mail address:
Hotairballoons@earthlink.net |
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Click on a pilot's picture to go to that page
Copyright� 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002. Except for educational entities, no reproduction without written permission of The Adams Family Hot Air Balloon Teams is allowed.
