Michael C Emich

Hands Off! Michael C Emich

A small band of men and women with unique skills, secrets, foibles and ambitions kept alive and helped revive the sport of gas ballooning in America starting in the 1950s. Flying government surplus balloons filled with coke gas, natural gas, hydrogen and helium, the Balloon Flyers of Akron became the largest and most active gas balloon club in the U. S. They co-founded the Balloon Federation of America; piloted the balloon in the popular Smithsonian Air & Space Museum film "To Fly!"; made record attempts; conducted commemorative, training, and promotional ascents; supported two trans-Atlantic tries and a global attempt; made television shows, led seminars, produced manuals, and cheated death. Pursuing an ever-elusive equilibrium, they shared the magical allure of floating silently under a bag of lighter-than-air gas. The authors joined the club as teenagers and found themselves heirs to the achievements of legendary Navy and Goodyear balloonists, blimp captains, high-altitude researchers, and other aviation professionals. When they earned their pilot certificates, they became flying partners and set a distance record. Their humorous and adventurous stories - and lessons sometimes learned the hard way - vividly come to life in these pages.