rough draft of my book, "Have Goggles, Will Travel"

[Roryanimations]

That is a very moving film. The vulnerability of the human frame as he clambers inside the pressure suit; the awful abyss he confronts; the sheer cold terror and the bravery to overcome that; and all for what? An experiment in endurance, a test of courage, and a short film on You Tube. I salute the crazy Colonel. Greetings from South West Ireland in the snow...

All the best

Rory

[backusstudio]

Hi Rory,

That really was a nice youtube short wasn't it? Some enterprising film maker should make a full length film based on Joe Kittinger's experiences skydiving from the edge of space.

In his talk at Oshkosh Joe said that the purpose of the jumps was to test a parachute design meant to save astronauts from failing space craft. In tests using human analogs (dummies) the dummies got into spins at such a high rpm that they were torn apart. The parachute was designed to first prevent the spinning and then to slow the astronaut to something below mach .9. In one jump Joe got into a spin, I believe due to one 'chute not deploying properly. Before he could pull his backup 'chute cord he was spinning fast enough that his arms were forced straight out by centrifugal force. He was barely able to pull his arm in to pull the release.

An amazing man from the height (literally) of the American era.

[AAC Cadet Leader]

i just got an e-mail from my pilot, Terry Weathers, who flew me into california from oregon. what a thrill to hear from him after twenty-one years!

here he is on the far left:

http://www.theaerodrome.com/forum/no...tml#post360782

[AAC Cadet Leader]

My starting and ending point was Orlando, Florida at Rosie O'Grady's Flying Circus Hangar.

http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q.../HGWT_map1.jpg

[AAC Cadet Leader]

Originally Posted by Wind In The Wires

Nice map, gives a better idea of the magnitude of your adventure.

thanks, john. i often wonder how i had the energy to do it.

Originally Posted by Roryanimations

That is a fantastic map!! I got airsick just looking at it... What an amazing journey. I've printed it out and I'm going to put it on my office wall, remind myself I don't have to spend my life in front of a computer screen. I hope we meet one day so I can shake the hand of an extraordinary woman

rory, if we meet one day, let's skip the handshake and go staight for a hug.

[backusstudio]

I was just going through my photo archive and found a picture of Martha speaking at Oshkosh '08. This was snapped with my cell phone so please excuse the image quality. And no Martha, it doesn't do you justice.

[Roryanimations]

Or whatever they are made of, they are great!! Sometimes the Atlantic seems like the space between galaxies, but I will get there one day and try to make it for an airshow and get a chance to hear your talk... And yes, let's go straight for the hug!!

I hope you're all having a lovely day there - we're enjoying what we laughingly call summer here i.e. two sunny days in a row!!

[AAC Cadet Leader]

thanks, rory. the boots pictured above in mike's photo aren't the same ones that i wore on my journey. i wore holes through the thin leather soles twice during my journey and they are in too fragile condition to wear anymore.

am presently in the middle of a long and fun summer road trip, in my mother's 1996 honda crv, with my two teenagers. we're taking the scenic route home from cleveland, ohio to california by way of florida. am typing this from a computer in a lobby of a fine, cheap motel in amarillo, texas.

[AAC Cadet Leader]

A couple of weeks ago, at the 2009 Dayton Dawn Patrol Rendezvous, I saw two of my 1988 pilots, pictured below.

Dan Murray, who flew into the event all the way from Colorado in a Fokker DVII:



Bill King pictured here with me. (Thank you, Mrs. King!):

Here we were in 1988:

[AAC Cadet Leader]

OCTOBER 23, 2009 - A FEW THREAD PREFACE NOTES:
i copied this whole, long thread, pasted it into this book section of the forum, re-named it and locked it so only i can add new posts to it. (i may open and re-close it, periodically, to add posts.) i'll be editing and weeding my own off-topic comments and others' posts out of it - please don't be offernded - in order to get it closer to being a rough draft to send pff to prospective publishers. the weeding may take me a few days, then will come yet another round of editing the whole thing - moore weeks, then completing the last chapters and appendix sections - more months.

if you'd like to send a reply, please either PM me or publicly post your reply on my original thread found here: i'm writing a book - right here!

i appreciate all your feedback, including comments, questions, editorial suggestions, grammar and spelling mistakes, repeated or wrong words, etc. also, a referral to a great book publishers you may know would be greatly appreciated - note, i have absolutely no interest to self-publish this book. please forgive me in advance for giving short and/or delayed replies to your thoughtful correspondences. i read all of them, but it takes me considerably more time than i have available to respond as thoughtfully.

also, i have a slide presentation on this journey, and a second presentation on the subject of cole palen's old rhinebeck aerodrome in 1988. any invitations to present either or both of them for one of your group events or banquets will be much appreciated. i can be contacted by PM here or through my blog.

thanks in advance for reading my book draft. you're seeing it in its raw state before it goes into print and probably with more of my pictures than the printed version will have.

if you are looking for the posts related to WW1 aircraft within this thread, there are only a few of them, like pics of fred jungclaus' SE-5 and a few of cole palen's aeroplanes and a couple others. if you object to me posting it in this section, please PM me. thanks, martha