NathanA Failure
When they finally did a test run, it was unfortunate because their balloon didn’t work. After realizing that it did not work, they were very disheartened. Their precious hot-air balloon quickly collapsed. They soon discovered that the material they chose, the line, which Wetzel used for the balloon was too porous. It could not contain the air but rather it blew through it.
What Next?
After seeing their failure, they had to be quick to get rid of the evidence. Strelzyk dragged the balloon’s fabric and cremated it all in his furnace. Only his family members could see this so he did not arouse any suspicion. It took him a long two weeks to get this done. There was so much effort and money put into their plan and it all went down the drain in no time. So what next?
Trying Again
Wetzel and Strelzyk refused to get discouraged by all of this. It pushed them harder and they wanted to try again. The only thing they could do was to learn from their past mistake and hopefully build a better air-balloon. If they had used taffeta, it might have worked better. They again made their rounds all over the East German towns to buy their materials.
A Believable Alibi?
The two of them went 100 miles to the city of Leipzig in search of their fabric for their escape balloon. They cleverly concealed their plan by masking it, telling the shopkeepers that they wanted the materials for their sail for their sailing club. Since they knew they could somehow get caught by the Stasi, they were being very careful. Was their alibi believable?
A Second Time
They were definitely going to take a smarter approach this time around. They knew they had to be more time-efficient, so they finally changed their sewing machine to an electric sewing machine. After buying all that they needed, they calculated all the expenses to about $720. But with better equipment and experience, they got the job done in half the time.
Yet Another Obstacle
Also, after they had overcome their fabric dilemma, they still had to deal with yet another new problem. To add to their already frustrating task, they discovered that their hot-air balloon’s burner wasn’t strong enough! They had taken a few months to specify which kind of fuel they could properly use. However, they were going to stumble upon another obstacle.