Current Issue
Noon Balloon #123
Fall 2019
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Special Features This Issue!
H.T. "Pete" Chambliss Scrapbook photos!
Tom Chambliss sent along photos from his Dad’s collection post-WWII. Tom wrote, “He flew patrol off the west coast during the war, including Operation Crossroads. After the war/Navy he went to work for Douglas Leigh Sky Advertising, also on the west coast, erecting their blimps. I was born while living at Moffett Field housing during the war, and I still live in Mountain View.” Thanks to Pete (“Me” above) for saving, and for your sharing, Tom, and hope you’ll join NAA.
...Check out the current issue to see all the photos!
View From the Top
View From The Top - President's Message
Noon Balloon #123
We are proceeding quickly towards our 2020 Reunion. It has been decided to return to Tucson, AZ, for the fabulous Pima Air Museum with their expanding aircraft collections and newly opened maintenance facility. Also, across the street we have made arrangements with the AMARC facility at Davis-Monthan AFB to tour their facility and the ZPG-3W control car stored there. It is not a regular part of their public tour, but they will accommodate our group. This was a well received event during our last visit. The AMARC people are very good to us. We have also negotiated a fine rate with the excellent Doubletree by Hilton where we stayed before for our stay. Details and registration information will be published in an upcoming Noon Balloon.
Shore Establishments
On April 24, Drax Power sponsored a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) event at the Skylark Nature Reserve. The Reserve was created by the company on land where the UK’s R-33 airship was built, near its power station in Barlow (North Yorkshire, Selby UK). In
celebration of the 100th anniversary of the maiden flight of the R-33 airship, Drax Power invited area children to build a 1:20 scale replica of the airship using willow cane. Prior to the event, The Lighter-Than-Air Society provided drawings of the R-33 to Drax Power to help them in the design of the project. Before starting the construction of the replica, the actual length of R-33 was measured out on the roadway, to give the participants a feel for the magnitude of the airship. The weather cooperated, providing a sunny day for the event.
The Lighter-Than-Air Society presented a slideshow commemorating the 90th anniversary of Round the World Flight of the Graf Zeppelin (LZ-127) on June 24. Close to 30 people attended the event. In addition to the presentation given by Eric Brothers and Alvaro Bellon, Wayne Buchanan curated a display of Graf Zeppelin items from the LTAS collection.
July 23 was a perfect evening; warm, and few clouds in the sky, as the members of the Board of Trustees and their spouses gathered by the south entrance of the Lockheed Martin Airdock in Akron. What followed was a spectacular tour of the inside of the building, where a series of government projects are in progress. We had the opportunity to see an aerostat being tested, as well as several electronic monitoring and testing units.
