Nine Lives

Nine Lives recounts personal ballooning experiences such as an open-basket flight to the 39,000-foot level of the Florida stratosphere, burner failure over the Chilean High Andes, balloon flight in the dreaded horizontal mode, burner meltdown at thirty thousand feet, mile-high top-pop, envelope dehiscence at five thousand, shootout in a Florida swamp, and many other daunting mishaps, each of which transported the author into a state of High Anxiety. . . but which also lead to three...
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Nine Lives recounts personal ballooning experiences such as an open-basket flight to the 39,000-foot level of the Florida stratosphere, burner failure over the Chilean High Andes, balloon flight in the dreaded horizontal mode, burner meltdown at thirty thousand feet, mile-high top-pop, envelope dehiscence at five thousand, shootout in a Florida swamp, and many other daunting mishaps, each of which transported the author into a state of High Anxiety. . . but which also lead to three world altitude records, and receipt of the highest honor awarded in international ballooning, the Diplome Montgolfier.