Sky Rider
Park Van Tassel and the Rise of Ballooning in the West
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months
Prime members: New to Audible? Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Sky Rider
Buy for $17.19
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Charles Constant
About this listen
With a reputation as the hot-air balloon capital of the world and the home of the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta®, the southwestern desert city of Albuquerque frequently showcases 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.
©2021 Gary B. Fogel (P)2021 TantorListeners also enjoyed...
-
The Devil in the White City
- Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America
- By: Erik Larson
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 14 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 30,821
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 25,464
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 25,453
Two men, each handsome and unusually adept at his chosen work, embodied an element of the great dynamic that characterized America’s rush toward the twentieth century. The architect was Daniel Hudson Burnham, the fair’s brilliant director of works and the builder of many of the country’s most important structures, including the Flatiron Building in New York and Union Station in Washington, D.C. The murderer was Henry H. Holmes, a young doctor who, in a malign parody of the White City, built his “World’s Fair Hotel” just west of the fairgrounds.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A Rich Read!
- By D on 09-18-03
By: Erik Larson
-
The Aviators
- Eddie Rickenbacker, Jimmy Doolittle, Charles Lindbergh, and the Epic Age of Flight
- By: Winston Groom
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 17 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 3,301
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 2,987
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 2,975
Gifted storyteller Winston Groom, the best-selling author of Forrest Gump, has written the fascinating story of three extraordinary heroes who defined aviation during the great age of flight: Charles Lindbergh, Eddie Rickenbacker, and Jimmy Doolittle. These cleverly interwoven tales of their heart-stopping adventures take us from the feats of World War I through the heroism of World War II and beyond, including daring military raids and survival at sea, and will appeal to fans of Unbroken, The Greatest Generation, and Flyboys.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Too much a hagiography
- By Joseph Valenzi on 09-08-15
By: Winston Groom
-
The Johnstown Flood
- By: David McCullough
- Narrated by: Edward Herrmann
- Length: 9 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 4,175
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,332
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 3,313
At the end of the last century, Johnstown, Pennsylvania, was a booming coal-and-steel town filled with hardworking families striving for a piece of the nation's burgeoning industrial prosperity. In the mountains above Johnstown, an old earth dam had been hastily rebuilt to create a lake for an exclusive summer resort patronized by the tycoons of that same industrial prosperity, among them Andrew Carnegie, Henry Clay Frick, and Andrew Mellon.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A page-turner! HIstory that reads like a novel
- By Susan K Donley on 06-17-05
By: David McCullough
-
The Wright Brothers
- By: David McCullough
- Narrated by: David McCullough
- Length: 10 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 14,026
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 12,515
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 12,478
Two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize David McCullough tells the dramatic story behind the story about the courageous brothers who taught the world how to fly: Wilbur and Orville Wright.
On December 17, 1903, at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, Wilbur and Orville Wright's Wright Flyer became the first powered, heavier-than-air machine to achieve controlled, sustained flight with a pilot aboard. The Age of Flight had begun. How did they do it? And why?
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Disappointing
- By Sara on 07-10-16
By: David McCullough
-
Thunderstruck
- By: Erik Larson
- Narrated by: Bob Balaban
- Length: 11 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 2,501
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,913
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 1,911
In Thunderstruck, Erik Larson tells the interwoven stories of two men: Hawley Crippen, a very unlikely murderer, and Guglielmo Marconi, the obsessive creator of a seemingly supernatural means of communication. Their lives intersect during one of the greatest criminal chases of all time.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Reader cannot read
- By Bob on 12-08-07
By: Erik Larson
-
The Path Between the Seas
- The Creation of the Panama Canal, 1870-1914
- By: David McCullough
- Narrated by: Nelson Runger
- Length: 31 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,519
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,214
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,215
The Path Between the Seas tells the story of the men and women who fought against all odds to fulfill the 400-year-old dream of constructing an aquatic passageway between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. It is a story of astonishing engineering feats, tremendous medical accomplishments, political power plays, heroic successes, and tragic failures. McCullough expertly weaves the many strands of this momentous event into a captivating tale.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
No Stone Unturned
- By Tim on 06-25-13
By: David McCullough
-
The Devil in the White City
- Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America
- By: Erik Larson
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 14 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 30,821
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 25,464
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 25,453
Two men, each handsome and unusually adept at his chosen work, embodied an element of the great dynamic that characterized America’s rush toward the twentieth century. The architect was Daniel Hudson Burnham, the fair’s brilliant director of works and the builder of many of the country’s most important structures, including the Flatiron Building in New York and Union Station in Washington, D.C. The murderer was Henry H. Holmes, a young doctor who, in a malign parody of the White City, built his “World’s Fair Hotel” just west of the fairgrounds.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A Rich Read!
- By D on 09-18-03
By: Erik Larson
-
The Aviators
- Eddie Rickenbacker, Jimmy Doolittle, Charles Lindbergh, and the Epic Age of Flight
- By: Winston Groom
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 17 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 3,301
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 2,987
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 2,975
Gifted storyteller Winston Groom, the best-selling author of Forrest Gump, has written the fascinating story of three extraordinary heroes who defined aviation during the great age of flight: Charles Lindbergh, Eddie Rickenbacker, and Jimmy Doolittle. These cleverly interwoven tales of their heart-stopping adventures take us from the feats of World War I through the heroism of World War II and beyond, including daring military raids and survival at sea, and will appeal to fans of Unbroken, The Greatest Generation, and Flyboys.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Too much a hagiography
- By Joseph Valenzi on 09-08-15
By: Winston Groom
-
The Johnstown Flood
- By: David McCullough
- Narrated by: Edward Herrmann
- Length: 9 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 4,175
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,332
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 3,313
At the end of the last century, Johnstown, Pennsylvania, was a booming coal-and-steel town filled with hardworking families striving for a piece of the nation's burgeoning industrial prosperity. In the mountains above Johnstown, an old earth dam had been hastily rebuilt to create a lake for an exclusive summer resort patronized by the tycoons of that same industrial prosperity, among them Andrew Carnegie, Henry Clay Frick, and Andrew Mellon.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A page-turner! HIstory that reads like a novel
- By Susan K Donley on 06-17-05
By: David McCullough
-
The Wright Brothers
- By: David McCullough
- Narrated by: David McCullough
- Length: 10 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 14,026
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 12,515
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 12,478
Two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize David McCullough tells the dramatic story behind the story about the courageous brothers who taught the world how to fly: Wilbur and Orville Wright.
On December 17, 1903, at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, Wilbur and Orville Wright's Wright Flyer became the first powered, heavier-than-air machine to achieve controlled, sustained flight with a pilot aboard. The Age of Flight had begun. How did they do it? And why?
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Disappointing
- By Sara on 07-10-16
By: David McCullough
-
Thunderstruck
- By: Erik Larson
- Narrated by: Bob Balaban
- Length: 11 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 2,501
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,913
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 1,911
In Thunderstruck, Erik Larson tells the interwoven stories of two men: Hawley Crippen, a very unlikely murderer, and Guglielmo Marconi, the obsessive creator of a seemingly supernatural means of communication. Their lives intersect during one of the greatest criminal chases of all time.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Reader cannot read
- By Bob on 12-08-07
By: Erik Larson
-
The Path Between the Seas
- The Creation of the Panama Canal, 1870-1914
- By: David McCullough
- Narrated by: Nelson Runger
- Length: 31 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,519
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,214
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,215
The Path Between the Seas tells the story of the men and women who fought against all odds to fulfill the 400-year-old dream of constructing an aquatic passageway between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. It is a story of astonishing engineering feats, tremendous medical accomplishments, political power plays, heroic successes, and tragic failures. McCullough expertly weaves the many strands of this momentous event into a captivating tale.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
No Stone Unturned
- By Tim on 06-25-13
By: David McCullough
-
One Summer
- America, 1927
- By: Bill Bryson
- Narrated by: Bill Bryson
- Length: 17 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 4,602
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 4,060
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 4,043
One of the most admired nonfiction writers of our time retells the story of one truly fabulous year in the life of his native country - a fascinating and gripping narrative featuring such outsized American heroes as Charles Lindbergh, Babe Ruth, and yes Herbert Hoover, and a gallery of criminals (Al Capone), eccentrics (Shipwreck Kelly), and close-mouthed politicians (Calvin Coolidge). It was the year Americans attempted and accomplished outsized things and came of age in a big, brawling manner. What a country. What a summer. And what a writer to bring it all so vividly alive.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Why 1927?
- By Mark on 10-18-13
By: Bill Bryson
-
The Great Bridge
- The Epic Story of the Building of the Brooklyn Bridge
- By: David McCullough
- Narrated by: Nelson Runger
- Length: 27 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,817
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,489
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,490
This monumental book tells the enthralling story of one of the greatest accomplishments in our nation's history, the building of what was then the longest suspension bridge in the world. The Brooklyn Bridge rose out of the expansive era following the Civil War, when Americans believed all things were possible.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
An Historian and not a Novelist
- By Tim on 06-01-12
By: David McCullough
-
Isaac's Storm
- A Man, a Time, and the Deadliest Hurricane in History
- By: Erik Larson
- Narrated by: Richard Davidson
- Length: 8 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,274
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,105
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,098
At the dawn of the 20th century, a great confidence suffused America. Isaac Cline was one of the era's new men, a scientist who believed he knew all there was to know about the motion of clouds and the behavior of storms. The idea that a hurricane could damage the city of Galveston, Texas, where he was based, was to him preposterous, "an absurd delusion." It was 1900, a year when America felt bigger and stronger than ever before. Nothing in nature could hobble the gleaming city of Galveston, then a magical place that seemed destined to become the New York of the Gulf.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Two versions on Audible
- By stephiemav42 on 03-10-21
By: Erik Larson
-
Nothing Like It in the World
- The Men Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad 1863-1869
- By: Stephen E. Ambrose
- Narrated by: Jeffrey DeMunn
- Length: 15 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,121
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 805
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 805
Nothing Like It in the World is the story of the men who built the transcontinental railroad. In Ambrose's hands, this enterprise comes to life. The U.S. government pitted two companies - the Union Pacific and the Central Pacific railroads - against each other in a race for funding, encouraging speed over caution. As its peak the work force approached the size of Civil War armies, with as many as 15,000 workers on each line. The surveyors, the men who picked the route, lived off buffalo, deer, and antelope.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
A tragic waste
- By Joshua Tretakoff on 04-11-03
-
Fly Girls
- How Five Daring Women Defied All Odds and Made Aviation History
- By: Keith O'Brien
- Narrated by: Erin Bennett
- Length: 12 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,313
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,159
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,156
Between the world wars, no sport was more popular, or more dangerous, than airplane racing. Thousands of fans flocked to multi-day events, and cities vied with one another to host them. The pilots themselves were hailed as dashing heroes who cheerfully stared death in the face. Fly Girls recounts how a cadre of women banded together to break the original glass ceiling: the entrenched prejudice that conspired to keep them out of the sky.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
For women, and dads
- By Cecilia Avanelle on 08-08-18
By: Keith O'Brien
-
The Last Viking
- The Life of Roald Amundsen
- By: Stephen R. Bown
- Narrated by: Stephen Hoye
- Length: 12 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 476
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 421
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 419
The Last Viking unravels the life of the man who stands head and shoulders above all those who raced to map the last corners of the world. In 1900, the four great geographical mysteries - the Northwest Passage, the Northeast Passage, the South Pole, and the North Pole - remained blank spots on the globe. Within twenty years Roald Amundsen would claim all four prizes.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Outstanding.
- By Leon Miller on 12-01-15
By: Stephen R. Bown
-
The Age of Gold
- The California Gold Rush and the New American Dream
- By: H.W. Brands
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 17 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 412
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 304
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 309
When gold was discovered at Sutter's Mill on the American River, it completely transformed the territory of California. Hundreds of thousands of people sped to California by any means possible, and small cities sprung up to service their needs as they sought the precious metal. By 1850, California had become a state; it had also become a symbol of where the nation was going.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Very Enjoyable
- By Claire on 01-15-04
By: H.W. Brands
-
The Twenty-One Balloons
- By: William Pene du Bois
- Narrated by: Hal Hollings
- Length: 3 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 262
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 202
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 199
Professor William Waterman Sherman intends to fly across the Pacific Ocean. But through a twist of fate, he lands on Krakatoa, and discovers a world of unimaginable wealth, eccentric inhabitants, and incredible balloon inventions. Winner of the 1948 Newbery Medal.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Wonderful!
- By JW on 04-16-21
-
The Galveston Hurricane of 1900
- The Deadliest Natural Disaster in American History
- By: Charles River Editors
- Narrated by: Steve Rausch
- Length: 1 hr and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 34
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 31
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 31
The hurricane that struck Galveston, Texas, on September 8, 1900, killed between 6,000 and 12,000 people. Prior to advanced communications, few people knew about impending hurricanes except those closest to the site. In the days before television or even radio, catastrophic descriptions were merely recorded on paper, limiting our understanding of the immediate impact. Thus it was inevitable that the category 4 hurricane would cause almost inconceivable destruction.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
The Hurricane
- By scott massey on 06-14-24
-
35 Miles from Shore
- The Ditching and Rescue of ALM Flight 980
- By: Emilio Corsetti III
- Narrated by: Fred Filbrich
- Length: 7 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 108
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 95
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 94
On May 2, 1970, a DC-9 jet with 57 passengers and a crew of six departed from New York's JFK International Airport en route to the tropical island of St. Maarten, but four hours and 34 minutes later, the flight ended in the shark-infested waters of the Caribbean. It was, and remains, the only open-water ditching of a commercial jet. The subsequent rescue of survivors took nearly three hours and involved the coast guard, navy, and marines.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
a new perspective on air travel
- By Midwestbonsai on 03-30-17
-
The Flight
- Charles Lindbergh's Daring and Immortal 1927 Transatlantic Crossing
- By: Dan Hampton
- Narrated by: John Pruden
- Length: 8 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 116
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 105
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 104
On the morning of May 20, 1927, a little-known pilot named Charles Lindbergh waited to take off from Roosevelt Field on Long Island. He was determined to claim the $25,000 Orteig Prize promised to the first pilot to fly nonstop from New York to Paris - a contest that had already claimed six men's lives. Just 25 years old, Lindbergh had never before flown over water. Yet 33 hours later, his single-engine monoplane, The Spirit of St. Louis, touched down in Paris.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
The Flight: Charles Lindbergh
- By none on 12-08-18
By: Dan Hampton
-
Higher
- A Historic Race to the Sky and the Making of a City
- By: Neal Bascomb
- Narrated by: Richard M. Davidson
- Length: 11 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 145
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 62
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 63
This riveting, true account of the 1929 race to build New York City's tallest skyscraper evokes the glory of an exciting time long past.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Outstanding Audio Book!!!
- By Tim on 11-16-05
By: Neal Bascomb