Just Wind: Tales Of Two Pilots Under Pressure

by William Armstrong, William G. Armstrong Jr., William G Armstrong Jr

Book Overview

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 forward.

In the first story, a determined, self-financed and self-reliant Tom Gatch in his Light Heart tries to become the first...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0595287050
• ISBN13: 9780595287055
• Release Date: July 2003
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Length: 368 Pages
• Weight: 1.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.1" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

2 amazing stories

I just finished reading the book. The two stories presented are amazing. I'd really like to know more about the technical details of both projects, but none the less, the book is an engrossing page turner. The stories of the Earthwinds are particularly amazing.... could the program really keep continuing with the utterly amazing amount of drama therein? The book presents an amazing contrast of big project versus small project. Recommended reading!

Just Wind, two tales about pioneers in aeronautics.

I have knowledge about both of the stories in this book. I can tell you that both of these stories are really true and that alone makes it better than any fiction. It is amazing how this author was able to retain all of that detail and then narrate it so interestingly.

New York Times, Akron Beacon Journal, and Buoyant Flight

THE NEW YORK TIMESIn the quest for ultimate achievement--the scaling of the highest peak or a descent to the deepest ocean trench, for example--even heroic efforts often fall short of victory. The losers, alas, usually end up as forgotten footnotes to history. But monumental failures can be as fascinating as successes. Although Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay went into the record books in 1953 as the first climbers to conquer Mount Everest, climbing fans will forever remember an earlier failure: the fatal attempt on Everest's summit in 1924 by George Leigh Mallory, who disappeared a few hundred yards short of the mountain's mist-shrouded peak.Bill Armstrong's Just Wind brilliantly chronicles two of ballooning's magnificent failures--the ill-fated 1974 attempt by Col. Tom Gatch to be the first balloonist to cross the Atlantic Ocean, and the struggle by Larry Newman and his Earthwinds balloon team two decades later to circle the earth non-stop.As a long-duration balloon pilot himself, Mr. Armstrong was a close friend of Col. Gatch. He also served as spokesman for the Earthwinds group, and his insider's perspective endows this book with rare technical details and insights into the sometimes bitter human conflicts that often characterize big-league ballooning.For any reader awakened to the heady thrill of long-distance ballooning, this book is a must.-- Malcolm W. Browne, The New York TimesAKRON BEACON JOURNALBill Armstrong provides a compelling look from the inside at the dreams and efforts of two men to expand the world of ballooning.His book is the definitive and detailed inside story of two aerial expeditions and the men and women behind those dreams. It is a book for those who care about expanding aerial frontiers and humans working to overcome challenges.-- Bob Downing, Akron Beacon JournalBUOYANT FLIGHT(THE LIGHTER THAN AIR SOCIETY BULLETIN)As an experienced balloonist himself, Bill Armstrong brings unique credentials to the telling of these sagas. He successfully combines a strong factual account of events with his personal observations on the motives and methods of those who sought to make ballooning history. JUST WIND fills an important gap in the chronicle of balloon history in America, and I highly recommend it.-- Eric Brothers, editor, Buoyant Flight

Nice Try

I knew Tom Gatch. As a member of the Balloon Club of Amrerica, I helped train Tom to fly. His death was and is a tremendous loss to all of us who knew him. As interesting a book as Just Wind is, the speculations left me a little perplexed. Since Tom was not in contact with us for most of the flight it is impossible to describe what he was doing unless you are just trying to tell a story. I had high hopes about reading the book and was a bit disappointed. I also believe that there was technical details left out of the book which might have explained his predicament a bit better. All in all, however, it is good to have some documentation about Tom's attempt. I am happy to have the book on my shelf. It is too bad that more isn't known about the flight itself. Now if someone wants to write about Bob Burger you might have an even more sorrowful tale.