The mystery of the changing N#

Much research was undertaken to learn as much as possible about the original balloons. Archives were searched for photos of this balloon. One still unsolved mysteries was uncovered during the research. The original build sheet graciously provided by Alyssa Sullivan, the current curator of the Raven archives, clearly states that the N# is N1979R and some photos do show the envelope sporting that number is four foot high characters. However other photos show it instead wearing the N# N1951R.

The R is no mystery as all Raven envelopes of that era sported a final R as a reference to Raven. However, Judy Nakamura uncovered the fact that 1951 was the year that Sid Cutter his first pilot rating. On the other hand 1979 does not seem to have any significance to either the balloon’s construction or to Sid’s career. Is it possible that Sid arranged with the FAA to have the N# changed sometime after its original certification?

We have reached out to some of the early Albuquerque balloonists for an answer and will update this website if we get any answers. Meanwhile, if anyone rading this has an answer, plese contact one of us.