The Zebedee List

September was another busy month for trading with the ‘top line’ Cameron Concept 70 quickly finding a new home along with a complete Z-105 and O-77 envelope from the List. Zebedee sold two baskets and a number of smaller items.

For October we report a substantial reduction in the price for G-HEAL, the LTL 1-31 envelope and Glen Everett can now add a bottom end to his Ultramagic H31, G-OINN if required. These are both timely changes with the approaching One Man Meet over the weekend of 9 – 11 October in the Cirencester area. (Details from onemanmeet@btinternet.com)

The latest Covid lockdown ‘sort-out’ at Zebedee is of basket covers, a number of which have been around the barn uncatalogued for some time (years!) They have been tabulated in approximate size order, based on the longest side measurement. Where they have pole socket cut-outs then these are in the same ‘sense’ as the cover measurements. Some are in very good condition, some adequate for everyday use and some a bit tatty but probably up to use when sending a balloon basket full of gear abroad either on sale or for a meet. Most have eyelets at the base and we can supply new elastic and hooks for you to fix it as you see fit.

It has been a particularly sad month for ballooning. ‘Grandfather’ of modern ballooning, American Don Piccard died mid-month at the age of 94. Having been part of the famous Piccard family he was involved with balloons from a very early age. From a UK perspective he flew with Ed Yost in 1963 on the first hot-air balloon crossing of the English Channel. The first ever balloon to be seen by your scribe, N5W ‘Golden Bear’ was a Piccard being flown by the man himself at the Dunstable Airshow in 1967. The year before G-ATTN ‘Red Dragon’, a Piccard had been imported to the UK as the first modern hot-air balloon to be flown here on the UK register. This was a year before the appearance of ‘Bristol Belle’.

Although we did not hear until mid-September our own Derry Moore died peacefully on 1st August at a care home near Southport. He was 96, but up until age 90 was still inspecting balloons including climbing onto basket edges to check the burner etc. Derry was first involved as a member of the ‘Tsuru’ group flying Cameron O-77 G-BCXM sponsored by Japan Air Lines in 1975, prior to getting sponsorship from his own employer BICC for Cameron O-77 G-BREL in 1987. He went on to become an Instructor, Senior BBAC Inspector and long serving member of the NATMAC committee on behalf of the BBAC. He had a special relationship with the Irish ballooning community, inspecting most of the balloons there – North and South, for many years. He assisted Zebedee for many years too with inspections including our Hungarian based 77. Condolences to all his many friends in the ballooning community and his family ‘up North’ especially niece Sue who helped him enormously in his later years.

Finally we record the sudden death of Tony Byrne from cancer here in Berkshire. He came to ballooning in the early 70s when at Portslade School where a small team led by Tony built two very successful radio controlled model balloons ‘Mercury’ and ‘Odyssey’, real trail blazers of the model balloon movement so popular today. He then moved up to ‘the real thing’ flying Thunder Ax7-77, G-BKDK ‘Appletise’ in the late 80s and later his own Sky 77 G-LOWS ‘Dawn Treader’. Tony was also a fixed wing pilot and shareholder in an AA-5B aircraft. Our condolences to his family and long term partner David.