Two families in East Germany, longing for freedom, built their own hot air balloon out of masses of taffeta, bought secretly in preparations that took more than a year. They planned to flee and cross into West Germany in a daring plan put into action in September 1979. They set out in their craft on a moonlit September night – after a failed attempt when they ran out of gas in the air and crashed into the bushes below. However, they managed to reach the West in their second try, making it out of the country in a highly dramatic feat just before the East German police caught up with them. The t…