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Show s ... ... .... v Wrfe P W'Tvz .'-7 The Admiral surveys Park City in his maiden propane-powered balloon flight. 'No. .'c f ! i lN " 3 . W K . j . t I I ' ; 1 ' :'" - ' ' ':f; . . ' t- tr'i' i h -?: v ' : : : ;. f . ? f -'v- , . ... - . . .... a ' O - ' I c Local pilot and Park City Balloon Club president, Gene Moser, shows the Admiral how the propane balloon is constructed. Ballooning is still a thrill for retired admiral by Ten Gomes When retired 77-year-old Rear Admiral Richard Andrews, USN, flew in a rainbow-striped propane-, propane-, heated hot air balloon over the Park Meadows Golf Course recently, he labeled the experience,-quite - a thrill, really." , The surprise is that a ride in a hot air balloon could be thrilling to a man whose naval career saw him as a pilot for lighter-than-air craft, guest on a VIP voyage of the airship Hindenburg, officer in charge of the landing crew on the fateful day of the Hindenburg's last flight, and distinguished distin-guished submarine and battleship commander. As the multi-colored balloon envelope was laid on the ground prior to the launch early Tuesday moming, the Admiral, as he is affectionately called, shook his head and said, "This sure is different from the way we did things in the Navy." Andrews explained that in the '30s, when experimentation with lighter-than-air craft was in its heyday, the Navy used helium to fill its various airships and balloons. - Huge hangars were built at various military installations on both coasts to house the enormous airships whose mission it was to fly over the ocean to spot enemy submarine activity. "It would take about 30 sailors to walk one of those ships out of the hangar-they remained inflated to ready them for a takeoff." Andrews recalls his piloting days with fondness. "After five years in the Navy I was fortunate enough to be selected for lighter-than-air training at Lake-hurst, Lake-hurst, New Jersey. During that summer of 1936 I flew as a student pilot in airships (blimps), kite balloons and free balloons, which I later soloed in. Once we took off at 4 p.m. in a helium balloon for a short, rather routine flight, and got caught by a surprise wina. We kept right on flying until we found a safe place to land the next morning. It was just over the-border in-anada." In addition to ground school and regular duties at Lakehurst, Andrews An-drews was assigned to assist in the ground handling of the German airship Hindenburg, which used the Lakehurst facilities on its regularly-scheduled regularly-scheduled bi-monthy flights. The huge airship carried more than 250 passengers in great comfort. A dining room featured china, crystal and a baby grand piano. And there were handsomely-appointed handsomely-appointed staterooms, glass windows win-dows for viewing and a carefully-monitored carefully-monitored compartment for smoke-ers. smoke-ers. That summer Andrews was invited along on the only VIP flight of the Hindenburg in the United States. "You can imagine the thrill, to be ordered to go aboard as a student pilot under instruction. I was allowed in the control room during takeoff and I will never forget the thrill I experienced as this huge ship majestically rose from the ground and eased off on her course as she built up speed and gained altitude." By the following summer Andrews had qualified as a lighter-than-air pilot. With another officer, he was to be rewarded for his good year by accompanying the Hindenberg to Germany as observers. But first Andrews was placed in charge of the ground crew of more than 100 who would bring the craft to the ground prior to its scheduled departure. Because of poor weather conditions, condi-tions, the Hindenburg did not approach the airfield at the expected time on the morning of May 6, 1937. Instead the pilot was ordered to take the craft south in the hope that conditions would change with the passing of an approaching front. "The conditions at midday were not better," recalls Andrews, "and the ship was told to come back at sunset when normal or better conditions were expected." Around sunset, Andrews recalls, the ship made two passes over the field in an attempt to land. "By this time people were getting a little restless. Spectators, waiting relatives and friends, and newsman and photographers saw it as another delay, not completely understood or appreciated." Andrews remembers the final approach of the ship. "It was riding on an even keel. The passengers could be seen waving from the windows, and the German officers could be seen in the control room. Suddenly a belch of smoke and flame appeared on the rudder on the port side. The ship began to tilt upward with the tail lowering. And then the ship began to sink as a whole. Those of us under the ship ran to port to get out from under." Passeng irs and crew fled, running out from all sides of the craft before it exploded. Thirty-six people were killed. And with them went further plans for naval experimentation in lighter-than-air craft. Andrews retired in 1960. He lives in North Carolina and was in Park City last week to visit his two children, Dick Andrews and Leilani Davis. As for his ride in the propane-heated propane-heated air balloon, he found the degree of pilot control "remarkable." "remarka-ble." "We didn't even have to throw any sand overboard," he laughed. |