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YASID: Into space in a flying boat

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ba...@dontspam.silent.com

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May 18, 2016, 4:08:34 PM5/18/16
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In the late 60's early 70's I read a book which revolved around going
into space for medical reasons (good for your heart etc). At a news
conference our hero asks one of the leaders of the project how people
with heart problems would be able to GET into space because their
heart problems would kill them at umpteen Gee. The leaders look at
each other furtively, cough, say 'er', and quickly change the subject.

It turns out that the project is all about building a flying boat
bigger than the Howard Hughes Spruce Goose or the old Imperial Flying
Boats which can then fly into orbit gently. The craft are equipped
like cruise ships.

Nice piccy of the Imperial Flying Boats
https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2713/4447174390_888d1e7317_o.jpg

William December Starr

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May 20, 2016, 6:48:07 PM5/20/16
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In article <m7ipjbth5igerbcrg...@4ax.com>,
ba...@dontspam.silent.com said:

> In the late 60's early 70's I read a book which revolved around
> going into space for medical reasons (good for your heart etc). At
> a news conference our hero asks one of the leaders of the project
> how people with heart problems would be able to GET into space
> because their heart problems would kill them at umpteen Gee. The
> leaders look at each other furtively, cough, say 'er', and quickly
> change the subject.
>
> It turns out that the project is all about building a flying boat
> bigger than the Howard Hughes Spruce Goose or the old Imperial
> Flying Boats which can then fly into orbit gently. The craft are
> equipped like cruise ships.

I don't remember which book it was, but I'm certain that it was
Arthur C. Clarke.

-- wds

ba...@dontspam.silent.com

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May 21, 2016, 1:02:52 PM5/21/16
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On 20 May 2016 18:48:04 -0400, wds...@panix.com (William December
Thanks for the suggestion. Are you thinking of Prelude To Space? That
isn't it BUT this is:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Operation-Springboard-John-Ball/dp/1503158306

love that cover

The author also wrote, under his real name, the classic In The Heat Of
The Night.

ba...@dontspam.silent.com

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May 21, 2016, 1:22:22 PM5/21/16
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And aka Operation Space with another good cover
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18493210-operation-space

Quadibloc

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May 21, 2016, 6:07:41 PM5/21/16
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I'm glad you found the book you were looking for.

I couldn't guess what it might be, even though the post made me think of two
things I knew couldn't be it: John Ringo's collaboration Into the
Borderlands... and Jerry Pournelle's King David's Spaceship.

John Savard

Bill Higgins-- Beam Jockey

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May 23, 2016, 8:09:56 PM5/23/16
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On Saturday, May 21, 2016 at 12:02:52 PM UTC-5, ba...@dontspam.silent.com wrote:
> On 20 May 2016 18:48:04 -0400, wds...@panix.com (William December
> Starr) wrote:
> >In article <m7ipjbth5igerbcrg...@4ax.com>,
> >ba...@dontspam.silent.com said:
> >> It turns out that the project is all about building a flying boat
> >> bigger than the Howard Hughes Spruce Goose or the old Imperial
> >> Flying Boats which can then fly into orbit gently. The craft are
> >> equipped like cruise ships.
> >
> >I don't remember which book it was, but I'm certain that it was
> >Arthur C. Clarke.

I don't think so...

> Thanks for the suggestion. Are you thinking of Prelude To Space? That
> isn't it BUT this is:
> https://www.amazon.co.uk/Operation-Springboard-John-Ball/dp/1503158306
>
> love that cover

It's similar to, but not exactly like, the original cover, which I can't find an image of.

*Operation Springboard* by John Ball, was published in 1958.

I don't remember a lot about this book, but it was notable that the spaceship took the form of a "flying boat," that is, a seaplane. This was unusual in SF but very handy for landing on the oceans of 1950s Venus. The narrator is a young disabled court reporter-stenographer who is invited to accompany the Venus expedition. I seem to recall that it was a pretty decent adventure, but I haven't read it since I was twelve or so.

This story doesn't exactly fit the description in the original YASID posting, but there's a flying-boat-cum-spaceship and a medical subplot, so it might match.

--
Bill Higgins | "I've seen things you wouldn't believe.
Fermi National | Movie rental stores. Payphones.
Accelerator Laboratory | I once used a paper map. All of it
Internet: | lost in time, like tears in rain."
hig...@fnal.gov | --Twitter user Will___Ferrell, 3 Mar 2013

Quadibloc

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May 23, 2016, 9:32:38 PM5/23/16
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On Saturday, May 21, 2016 at 4:07:41 PM UTC-6, Quadibloc wrote:

> I couldn't guess what it might be, even though the post made me think of two
> things I knew couldn't be it: John Ringo's collaboration Into the
> Borderlands... and Jerry Pournelle's King David's Spaceship.

Oops, David Drake's collaboration Into the Borderlands.

John Savard

Dimensional Traveler

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May 23, 2016, 10:20:52 PM5/23/16
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Are you sure you didn't mean 'Into the Hinterlands'?


--
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ba...@dontspam.silent.com

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May 24, 2016, 6:39:49 PM5/24/16
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On Mon, 23 May 2016 17:09:54 -0700 (PDT), Bill Higgins-- Beam Jockey
<higg...@gmail.com> wrote:

>On Saturday, May 21, 2016 at 12:02:52 PM UTC-5, ba...@dontspam.silent.com wrote:
>> On 20 May 2016 18:48:04 -0400, wds...@panix.com (William December
>> Starr) wrote:
>> >In article <m7ipjbth5igerbcrg...@4ax.com>,
>> >ba...@dontspam.silent.com said:
>> >> It turns out that the project is all about building a flying boat
>> >> bigger than the Howard Hughes Spruce Goose or the old Imperial
>> >> Flying Boats which can then fly into orbit gently. The craft are
>> >> equipped like cruise ships.
>> >
>> >I don't remember which book it was, but I'm certain that it was
>> >Arthur C. Clarke.
>
>I don't think so...
>
>> Thanks for the suggestion. Are you thinking of Prelude To Space? That
>> isn't it BUT this is:
>> https://www.amazon.co.uk/Operation-Springboard-John-Ball/dp/1503158306
>>
>> love that cover
>
>It's similar to, but not exactly like, the original cover, which I can't find an image of.
>
>*Operation Springboard* by John Ball, was published in 1958.
>
>I don't remember a lot about this book, but it was notable that the spaceship took the form of a "flying boat," that is, a seaplane. This was unusual in SF but very handy for landing on the oceans of 1950s Venus. The narrator is a young disabled court reporter-stenographer who is invited to accompany the Venus expedition. I seem to recall that it was a pretty decent adventure, but I haven't read it since I was twelve or so.
>
>This story doesn't exactly fit the description in the original YASID posting, but there's a flying-boat-cum-spaceship and a medical subplot, so it might match.

This was the original cover (and, I think, the original title) from
1958-ish
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18493210-operation-space

I thought the YASID was pretty close to being spot-on given that the
whole purpose of a YASID is that the OP does not remember everything.

Anonymous

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May 25, 2016, 5:45:32 AM5/25/16
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In article <k761kb96124dhvqj2...@4ax.com>
Unless there was more than one juvenile novel written about a kid
getting into a flying boat spaceship, I read that book. It made
sense up to a point, but I was skeptical of the amount of extra
stuff that scheme ended up making them take into space with them.

What year was that book written in? And does anyone know why it has
two titles, "Operation Springboard" and "Operation Space?"


Adamastor Glace Mortimer

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ba...@dontspam.silent.com

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May 25, 2016, 5:38:35 PM5/25/16
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First pubbed in 1958 as "Operation Space". I expect the new name,
"Operation Springboard", is something to do with the new publisher. It
says "Edited by Dan Thompson" who also did the new cover and seems to
be the supremo of the publisher Thunderchild Publications. It is the
"edited by" bit that makes be uncertain about buying the ebook.
"Edited by" can mean anything. Look at some of the Baen/Eric Flint
edits (James H. Schmitz in particular).
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