Sky Rider: Park Van Tassel and the Rise of Ballooning in the West

by Gary B. Fogel, Dick Brown (Foreword by)

Overview

With a reputation as the hot-air balloon capital of the world and the home of the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta®, the skies of the southwestern desert city of Albuquerque frequently showcase the magic and adventure of ballooning. This legacy links back to the 1880s and a man by the name of Park Van Tassel. Through his pioneering flight, Van Tassel not only opened the skies to future generations across New Mexico, but he also opened minds to the possibility of manned flight throughout the American West.

A charismatic, P. T. Barnum-like showman, Van Tassel rose from obscurity to introduce the new science of ballooning and parachuting throughout the West. Van Tassel toured extensively—from California to Utah, Colorado, and Louisiana and later embarking on an international journey that took him to Hawaii, Australia, Southeast Asia, India, Africa, and beyond. Sky Rider weaves together the many threads of Van Tassel's extraordinary life journey, situating him at last in his rightful place among the prominent aerial exhibitionists of his time.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780826362827
Publisher:	University of New Mexico Press
Publication date:	09/15/2021
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Gary B. Fogel is an adjunct professor of aerospace engineering at San Diego State University and the CEO of Natural Selection, Inc. He is also the author or coauthor of Quest for Flight: John J. Montgomery and the Dawn of Aviation in the West, The Torrey Pines Gliderport, and Wind and Wings: The History of Soaring in San Diego. He lives in San Diego, California.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations
Foreword
Dick Brown
Preface
Acknowledgments

1. Ascension
2. Albuquerque
3. Touring the West
4. World's Fair
5. San Francisco
6. On the Road Again
7. Falling with Grace
8. Separation
9. North by Northwest
10. Back to Utah
11. Back to Albuquerque
12. Hawaii
13. Australia
14. Queens of the Air
15. On to Adelaide
16. Division
17. Competition
18. Redirection
19. The Long Road Home
20. Other Aeronauts
21. California, Here I Come . . .
22. Aftershock
23. City of Oakland
24. Golden Years

Epilogue
Glossary
Notes
Index

Editorial Reviews

"Sky Rider has a place on the shelves of balloon enthusiasts, historians, and readers interested in a man who never gave up."—Melody Groves, Roundup Magazine



"If you are looking for a good book on the extraordinary career of Park Van Tassel, your search is over. Gary Fogel offers a full account of the colorful adventures of the man who introduced Albuquerque to the balloon."—Tom D. Crouch, author of Wings: A History of Aviation from Kites to the Space Age

"Sky Rider traces the history of ballooning in the American West and worldwide through the biography of one of its most colorful showmen—Park Van Tassel. Fogel shows how a barkeep-turned-aeronaut popularized aerial entertainment through balloon launches, parachute drops, and trapeze shows."—Marilee Schmit Nason, Former Curator of Collections at the Anderson-Abruzzo Albuquerque International Balloon Museum

From the Publisher