Show Z Y k aY i z x i v 3 4 t is isI I 4 lYa dY dYa wp x YX a bi P Gondola for Stratosphere Flight by N Geographic D C U CU U Service huge balloon which will be T used in the stratosphere light flight sponsored by b the NatIOn NatIOnal al Geographic society and the United States army all air corps is the theIa Ia gest c eser er constructed It will take e ethe the all air from a protected spot In the Ule Black Hulls near liell Rapid City South Dakota The balloon was made In n a cast ast room In an Akron Ahron Ohio factory whose windows wIndo s were sealed whose air was strained through canton flannel and where men and women employees WOle grIt free slumber shoes of cloth as they walked over o rubber Impregnated fabrIc The bag Is capable of holding three million cubIc feet of hydrogen gas This rIlls capacity IS nearly three and anda a halt half s that of Ute the largest free balloon to buIlt Zhe he finished bag whIch was rushed westward to the point of takeoff by b truck will lIft t two 0 Intrepid officers and anda anda a cargo of specially designed scientific Instruments near fifteen miles above sea leveL leyeL Not ot a stitch was as taken In putting together lore th n tn two 0 and a third acres of cloth Instead of being a job for a e b or a sail the task wa was closest to that of a news ed edItor editor pasting together paes of o COl copy or a librarian mending a torn page I age Everyone ver one of the 0 3 5 O major pieces pIece in into into to which the fabriC was cut and nd each of the scores of smaller fragments was cemented with the gl greatest care to Its ne nest t door neighbors rubber cement The next step was as to CO corer cr the cemented seams eams of thIs jigsaw pur With fabric backed rubber tape on both side sides hen these operations were completed the seams were actual actually actually ly stronger than the neighborIng fabrIc More than OO gallons of cement cement- the purest rubber cd In gaso gasoline gasoline line and were required to put Ute the balloon together Immensity of the Balloon Although Ute the balloon room In which the great balloon as matte made is s three hundred feel long and In places more than a hundred feet slide Ide that area was not a large enough one in which to spread out the completed bag Por POl Portions of the bag ns as large e ns as racIng yacht maIn sails assembled on the floor during construction represented ely small fragments of the ba bal balloon loon area arel halt of three oran orange e peel sections or gores gores cemented together and spread d out covered ered near nearly ly Iy half the floor of the balloon room Yet twenty five fi sections equally a as large had Irad to be cemented on ti t this pIece before the bag was finished Owing to the huge of true the bal balloon loon segments final construction opet opel reqUired piling them in long Indro s of pl pleats ts with only the edges e exposed posed for cementing After large sections of the balloon sere ere put together thousands of cubic feet of air was pumped under the fabric to float It off ocr the floor for inspection Men under the cloth looked through It to strong light finding ans am thin spots These sere ere reInforced with rubber patches Cloth for the balloon was made from specially selected cotton of unusually long strong fibers It was VO loosen en In strIps 42 4 Inches wide ide and feet long One hundred and thirty of these massive rolls roUs were used In cuttIng out the balloon runnIng feet or more than se seen en and a third miles of cloth Every Ivery square foot of the amazing In ing acreage ge of cloth pas passed ed through a arub rub rubberizing machIne thirty times each time Ing a very ver thin coat of rub rubber rubber ber More than SO employees ees worked on the balloon under a balloon building expert rho ho during the tle past twenty Sears ears has th the construction of more than a thousand balloons and airships for the army and navy Packing the completed balloon for Its westward est estar ar trip was no sm III problem rem lem It as probably the largest unit of fabric that was C eser er transported It required folding with Ith care and It its surfaces and amI folds had to Ile be protected so that there would ue be no noru ru rubbing Gondola Is of metal DoY Without a single rope and without Its vanes es the bag weighs approximately matey 4 pounds WIth ropes and valves but without the gondola and Its trappings the balloons balloon s weight Is slightly 0 oser er OJ pounds When the balloon rises from the earth wIth all Its attachments and load It w ill weigh nearly eIght ton tons 1 he gondola Is a huge hollow ball 8 feet 4 Inches In diameter that has been built up by wel welding ng together eight sectIOns shaped like pieces of at 01 orange ln e pee peel The fhe shell sheH of dow dow- metal IS slightly less than three sL sL- sL of In an Inch thick At first glance ance the big mewl metal ball baB seems to be built of steel stee and It Is almost ns as strong as though It were ere But ut the shell as It stands without Its various fitting e hs only 4 O pounds If It were ere made of steel it could weigh practically lIy n a ton The two largest openings In the ion gon gondola dola just above c the equator line are manholes one ne each for Maj VII Wll slam lam U Kepner and Capt Albert W Stevens Ste the crew The manholes are arc fitte fitted with covers which sill be clamped down until air tight by bv a hea heay heasy y bolt easily tightened an and laos loos loosened ened by hand from On the theny slay ny dO dOn n from the strat- strat stratosphere stratosphere when hen breathable all air has been reached these manhole co corers coers ers be lifted from flom theIr hinges and thrown attached 0 d to as parachutes ballast 1 numerous small portholes hm e been provided In the Ule shell of the ball Some are covered ered wIth glass and wIll ser o as windows s In n some the lenses of cameras Ire are mounted wIth sit Ill tight and mothers in others scion instruments have ha been placed One glass covered pOl port t Is situated h h the act e top of the sphere so that Major Kepner the balloon pilot can look 1001 up through It and through the open bottom of the balloon append and can read a large thermometer dial near the top of the bag which tell him lum at ail times the temperature of the Ule hydrogen gas Zhe he opening In the bottom of the metal ball was ns for a large aerial camera which wIll make fre- fre frequent frequent quent photographs of the earth straight downward 11 Part way up the Ule cun cursed sIde of thE gondola Is another camera opening for the taking of oblique photographs Shelves for Apparatus A selles of sheh es tun base e been en pro sided l ed Inside the ball between bet een upright posts and the shell and on n them ill w Ill lie be stored the dozens of pieces of selen scientific apparatus batteries battene o gen flasks and other paraphernalia needed for the t hours of scientific housekeeping house house- keeping m in the stratosphere e the edge of the floor wilt BI be piled fort forty pound sacks of lead dust for bar last The most unusual assortment of sc Insh Instruments that hIs e eser eer er b been n brought together to fathom the secrets of the upper mans air of them pro bled with electric brains and pho photographic e were eyes e ere built and lS is at Wright field In the huge machine shop and laboratory y of the United States army all air corps In this pa pay load of nearly a ton tonof tonof of apparatus lies Hes the reason for the most ambItIOUS stratoSPhere stratosphere yet planned All of the ark at Dayton ton on the devices to gather scientific data was as done under the personal persona supers ISIOn of Cap Captain Lain Stevens Stenn famous pho photographer and er ho ss ho has him himself himself self designed ned some of the Instruments Probably the most Important In tru meat ment Invented by Captain tp Is Isa isa I a balloon sake ah e of unIque desIgn lIel e- e It has been necessary to oper opel operate ate a valse vahe In the top of at a balloon bag by m means ns of a rope from the gondola far below As balloons have ha Increased In size this t type pe of salve e has become less and less satin factory Captain Stevens salse e will willbe be opened by me of a long rubber hose Into which compressed fas as ill be admitted hen the air pressure pi Is released the valve closes close I lie he prInciple Is like that used for operating air brakes The salve al ve has been tested through feet of rubber hose In Ina Ina a cold hose temperature as minus 45 degl degrees ces centigrade It perfectly |