Just Wind: Tales Of Two Pilots Under Pressure

Features of Just Wind: Tales of Two Pilots Under Pressure

Two pioneer balloonists Tom Gatch in 1974 and Larry Newman in the early 1990s led widely reported stratospheric expeditions that nearly earned them a place in aviation history They both used pressurized balloons a dangerous and sophisticated type of aircraft and sought the swift wind of the jet stream to carry them forwardIn the first story a determined selffinanced and selfreliant Tom Gatch in his Light Heart tries to become the first man to conquer the Atlantic Ocean alone by balloon Ascending under a 10balloon cluster he makes it halfway across before disappearing and the Department of Defense mounts a massive but futile midocean search What happened to him Why did he do itIn the second story Larry Newman leads an international crew in Earthwinds the most expensive and heavily marketed balloon expedition ever undertaken attempting to become the first to fly around the world nonstop He often said that his 354foot tall aircraft was more complicated to fly than the Space Shuttle He makes three ascents each with a different crewWith amusing anguishing and astonishing frankness the aeronautical adventures of Light Heart and Earthwinds are presented for the first time from a true insiders perspective