Hi!
Sorry to make some of you wait so long, but we are really busy and there have not been many clearly defined changes to report. We are both doing well.
Janet is clearly Fuzzy now. Think Marine Corp Boot Camp haircut without the tattoos. Her eye lashes are coming back and even the eyebrows are starting to be more than 5’oclock shadows. This is all much too slow to suit her, but what else in new?
Dave is really feeling the pressure to get the remaining important items sold or sent to good homes. For example, Dave’s dad was also interested in Lighter Than Air (LTA). Not the Hindenburg, but more intelligent designs like the ZMC-2. This was greatly stimulated when he met and became close friends with Ralph Upson, one of the major pioneers of LTA. It was like knowing one of the Wright Brothers.
Ralph gave my dad a large roll of blueprints for the ZMC-12, yes 12, not 2. (This is what Google is for, right?) and a thick packet of 8.5 x 11 papers, and two plates (like dinner plates, with beautiful glazed paintings of important pre-1700 balloon flights) that were made in about 1710 and were prizes Ralph had won in balloon racing.
Most of you that don’t just say, “So what?” will say, “How can you RACE unpowered balloons? They can only go up and down and where ever the wind blows them.”
Well, few can. You do it with ingenuity.
Janet & I went on a hot air balloon ride in Central Turkey. I already knew how, from my dad and Ralph, but even I was amazed at how our balloonist was able to cause us to fly over to a miniature Grand Canyon and descend into it and even deliberately get so close to the walls that we could and did touch them with our hands. All was done with a balloon that he can ONLY make go up or down or stay the same. Only!
Basically, the idea is that the wind at different layers is usually going in different directions. The Balloonist must know which way these layers are going in advance and put the balloon in the correct layer for the correct amount of time to get the desired result. Hopefully, you see that this is just the tip of the iceberg. Like saying that I am going to invent from scratch a 300 miles per hour Ferrari, because I was just told that when I burn something, it causes the air to expand.
If none of that makes any sense, don’t feel bad. There is no quiz and it won’t be on the Final Exam.
And, I need to get back to being busy,
Dave & Janet
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