History

In 1972, around the time of the founding of the Albuquerque Aerostat Ascension Association (AAAA) Sid Cutter decided to have a balloon build that would symbolize Albuquerque's version of the well known Hare and Hound balloon competition. Raven, Int. Company build the 105,000 cubic foot envelope with two Warner Brother's characters chasing each other around the balloon. The balloon was an instant hit and is fondly remembered by pilots and spectators of that era. It went on to have an exciting career including a role in a Katherine Hepburn movie and the repair of an aerial cable in Hawaii. According to the FAA's aircraft log, N1979R was originally regsitered to Ed Yost's company, Yost Manufacturing of Harrisburg, South Dakota, as a Raven S60-A (104,000 cubic foot volume), serial number 108, manufactred in 1972. For some unknown reason, the FAA lists the certification date as July 13, 1974, about 2 years after the manufacture date. The FAA log also states that N1979R was exported to Canada on May 12, 1975 with no further entries until March 8, 2022 when the current aircraft was registered as an S-57A (90,000 cubic foot volume) with Serial number 104-90 to Barbara Fricke and Peter Cuneo. Now, Quoting from Sid Cutter's entry in Who's Who in Ballooning 1983 Robert Rechs

"Epic Flight 1974 (solo) from Kaneohe, Hawaii. Initial ascent was on a 1,600 foot tether line, to repair antenna cable across Horseshoe canyon of the Pali Mountains. The tether was cut as a maturing thunderstorm approached. An attempt was made to outclimb it, but the balloon was sucked into the center. Violent wind, and heavy rain encountered, before the balloon broke out of the storm, and landed safely."

Kim Vesely reports: "Peter I believe this was the incident that allegedly caused the red colored stain to the balloon..."