I seem to recall a Betty Brown who became quite well known as a stunt pilot in the movies in the 1940s or '50s. Same gal??
The interview I heard made no mention of that. I got the impression she got her license later in life.
There was a real balloon boy?
I heard today of an incident in 1964. I was driving so couldn't totally focus on the man's name or where this happened.
He was 10 or so in 1964 and he and a few of his buddies bicycled over to a ball field where a hot air balloon was being readied for takeoff. Men were holding it down with ropes as it filled. One of the men shouted, "Grab some ropes, kids." They gladly did.
He doesn't quite recall what happened next. He knew that he was being dragged along the ground with the nylon rope wrapped tightly around one of his hands. He remembers a man grabbing him by his legs but losing his grip. And the boy was airborne.
The balloon wasn't the kind with a basket. Rather, the pilot was on a sort of trapeze. And the noise of whatever gizmo produced the hot air drowned out the screams of the horrified spectators.
The balloon got to a height of perhaps 3,000 feet with the boy 25 feet below the pilot. The kid doesn't recall being scared. The pilot cut off the blower. There was silence. If you have ever been in a hot air balloon, the quiet is amazing. Although sometimes you might hear something like a car horn.
The boy called out, "Hey, mister." The pilot looked over his shoulder and down.
(Insert your own image here of what the pilot did in his pants and what he said).
The pilot pulled on some cord and the balloon descended rapidly. They ended up in a plum tree with the boy going through the branches to just above the ground and the balloon and the pilot on the crown. Neither was hurt badly.
Great story, rjb. First I heard that 'un.
rjb, You can give a good story on most subjects.
Did you know that the world's smallest cinema is the "Palast Kino" ...
in Radebeul, near Dresden, Germany?
9 (nine) seats
But of course, you get popcorn there
And various other "German" 'specialities' ...
