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Readers! A November fund-raising drive!

 

It is unfortunately time for another November fund-raising campaign to support my work here at Behind the Black. I really dislike doing these, but 2025 is so far turning out to be a very poor year for donations and subscriptions, the worst since 2020. I very much need your support for this webpage to survive.

 

And I think I provide real value. Fifteen years ago I said SLS was garbage and should be cancelled. Almost a decade ago I said Orion was a lie and a bad idea. As early as 1998, long before almost anyone else, I predicted in my first book, Genesis: The Story of Apollo 8, that private enterprise and freedom would conquer the solar system, not government. Very early in the COVID panic and continuing throughout I noted that every policy put forth by the government (masks, social distancing, lockdowns, jab mandates) was wrong, misguided, and did more harm than good. In planetary science, while everyone else in the media still thinks Mars has no water, I have been reporting the real results from the orbiters now for more than five years, that Mars is in fact a planet largely covered with ice.

 

I could continue with numerous other examples. If you want to know what others will discover a decade hence, read what I write here at Behind the Black. And if you read my most recent book, Conscious Choice, you will find out what is going to happen in space in the next century.

 

 

This last claim might sound like hubris on my part, but I base it on my overall track record.

 

So please consider donating or subscribing to Behind the Black, either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. I could really use the support at this time. There are five ways of doing so:

 

1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.

 

2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation. Takes about a 10% cut.
 

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A plane you can drive to the airport.

A plane you can drive to the airport.

After landing the wings fold up and the plane becomes legal to drive on the roads. With video.

Genesis cover

On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.

 

The print edition can be purchased at Amazon or from any other book seller. If you want an autographed copy the price is $60 for the hardback and $45 for the paperback, plus $8 shipping for each. Go here for purchasing details. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.


The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
 

"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News

6 comments

  • I think that the transition is a pretty neat feat, but the entry price is too high, you can buy a used 172 for 30 to 40 thousand dollars and have many rental car companies either pick you up or deliver you a car waiting to go when you land most anywhere you choose to fly to, I hope that Terrafugia does well, but its really a niche market for this type of aircraft.

  • Pzatchok

    I would rather just carry a nice motorcycle with me.

    I have always wanted to get a pilots license.

    Any planes out their that could carry 2 people and 600 extra pounds?

  • Yes, but you won’t get a motor cycle through the door, however there are some homebuilt or experimental designs that will fit the bill. That being said, you should go to your local airport and inquire about a discovery ride, I think they are under40 dollars and the pilot will let you operate the controls. Flying does not have to cost a fortune, there are a lot of aircraft in the 15 to 25 k range that you could get 2 people and a folding bike into.

  • R. Cotour

    Its cool and well executed, but that first fender bender on the way to the airport will straighten every one out as whether this is a viable idea or not.

  • Pzatchok

    DHC-3 Otter

    I can make up a lift and rack to fit a full size motorcycle inside that plane. Get it in through the side door also. (As long as the door was about 50 inches tall and 32 inches wide.)

    Length 2,450mm (96.5″)
    Width 930mm (36.6″)
    Height 1,110mm (43.7″)
    Wheelbase 1,625mm (64″)
    Wet Weight 247kg (545 lb)

    And I could drop that total height down about 3 to 4 inches and the handle bar width down to about 30 inches.
    It might be tight but it would fit.

  • When I hit the mega millions lottery, that is the aircraft I will own!

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