Arley Fadness is signing copies of his recently published book "Balloons Aloft: Flying South Dakota Skies" from 2:00-4:00 p.m. and from 6-7:30 p.m. today (9/23) at the Cultural Heritage Center in Pierre. He was trained as a draftsman at the Boeing Airplane Company in Seattle while he went to college. He applied for a job and was hired as a draftsman by Ed Yost. Yost invented the modern hot air balloon and is considered the Father of the Modern Hot Air Balloon. Fadness served as chaplain at the 50th anniversary celebration of Explorer II that had been launched from the Stratobowl near Rapid City in 1935. In "Balloons Aloft: Flying South Dakota Skies," Fadness chronicles the risks, dangers and adventures of aeronauts who flew primarily in South Dakota skies. The publication of "Balloons Aloft" commemorates the 150th anniversary of the publication of Jules Verne's "Five Weeks in a Balloon." "Balloons Aloft" is the eighth book Fadness has written.
Arley Fadness
