| Show Q g ai 0 N kev my Z dav 4 N 1 IA at A 1 wg el mam RE 00 07 R ak M 0 A 14 ell W V V K UNA 1111 IN 1 1 14 R 1 2 R Z H s ii all un 0 w n 7 stratosphere balloon poised for the takeoff take off prepared by national geographic society washington D C service night flight by a huge balloon abe into the stratosphere will be made in the summer of 1035 jointly by the national geographic society and the united states army air corps capt albert W stevens will be in command of the balloon which will be piloted by capt orvil orall A anderson like the expedition of last summer the flight of 1035 1935 will take oft off from a natural basin in the black hills eleven miles southwest of raold city S D preparation for such a flight Is a stupendous task from the inception of the last flight in the fall of 1033 1933 with the guidance of the scientific committee appointed by president grosvenor of the national geographic society biety no pains were spared to produce the best possible instruments and equipment for collecting scientific data in the stratosphere the instruments were to be of full laboratory size to insure the greatest attainable accuracy this meant that some would be both bulky and heavy to house these many large instruments it became necessary to design a gondola larger than any that had previously been sent aloft finally it became apparent that to lift the gondola and its cargo of apparatus high into the stratosphere a very large balloon would be required experts were consulted skilled in such construction and a contract was given to design and build a larger balloon than any previously constructed a bag which when fully inflated would contain cubic feet of gas it required five months to fashion this gigantic bag and into it went two and a third acres of rubber impregnate ed cloth made from long staple cotton while it was being built work was begun on the gondola a globe of dow metal I 1 lighter ahter than aluminum and in a score of laboratories and workshops from new york to california specially designed instruments were being construct ej meanwhile a site tor for the base camp ot of the stratosphere fit flight lit had been chosen in western south dakota three considerations determined this choice the point was far enough west to permit the balloon to drift even or miles to the eastward and still come to earth in relatively level levei country the record of the region was promising for good summer flying weather and the site was sheltered from surface winds making the Strat early in june a camp was established in the deep cliff encircled cat wal ural bowl near rapid kaaid city it quickly became known as the Strat P capt orvil A anderson was on the scene from the start under his capa blah bl direction the camp developed from ra an almost deserted basin into a bustling little village of more than a hundred inhabitants within a few weeks it had its drainage system and sawdust paved streets a waterworks water works two elect electric rid lighting systems a sewage disposal plant parking spaces traffic officers a hospital and ambulance there was even a fire department with a full size hose wagon two professional fire fighters a dozen tire fire extinguishers and a volunteer corps to operate them providing a safeguard against accident in handling quantities of explosive gas two weeks after the camp was started captain stevens went out by plane from washington taking some special instruments A few days later maj william 13 kepner flew into rapid city and the flight personnel was complete F freight car loads and truck loads of tho the equipment necessary tor for a stratosphere flight had been converging on the Strat for weeks three railroad cars filled with heavy steel cylinders containing compressed hydrogen arrived in rapid city thanks to the generous operation cooperation co of tile the national guardsmen guardsman Guards men of south dakota and their fleet of trucks these tons of steel were soon neatly piled along one edge of the camp collecting the equipment the gondola rolled in by truck after a journey of more than a thousand miles from midland mich and was installed in the commodious gondola house the entire front of which could be opened up A few days later another truck brought in a huge box bos containing the balloon bag which wel weighed ched two and a half tons carefully packed in a waterproof container the largest truck of all to traverse the winding road down into the basin arrived the foli following owIng week the liquid oxygen generator truck of the army air corps it supplied the essential liquid oxygen used to make breathable air inside the gondola during the flyers stay in the stratosphere several airplane loads of instruments were flown to rapid city and dally daily freight and express packages arrived their contents varying from froin machine shop tools to delicate vacuum tubes the last of the preparatory work was completed on july 9 from that time on the flight could have taken place any day so far as the equipment was concerned but it was essential that the ali flight lit be made during very special and ana unfortunately rare weather conditions covering the area for seven or eight hundred miles east at last on july 27 the ion long awa awalt ed high pressure area had drifted in from the west and promised for the next day the conditions wanted both at the Strat and to the east when at noon major kepner announced officially that the weather was satisfactory for the flight and that the inflation would begin that evelln evening the camp was galvanized into activity off for the stratosphere guests were barred from the floor of the bowl only men with definite Q jobs to perform were permitted in the camp the balloon box was opened and the huge billowy mass of fabric was spread out on the circular saw dust covered canvas protected bed that had been prepared for it bus load after bus load of soldiers arrived from fort meade they were the men of the ground crew who were to hold the balloon in leash while the hydrogen poured into it on all sides the preparations moved ahead like clockwork at dusk the floodlights flood lights in the great ring that ex tended around the floor of the basin were turned on and a little later the hydrogen gas was started through the canvas tubes into the vast maw of the balloon by shortly after five there remained only a few last minute tasks to be performed the careful placing of rope ends for valve and rip cords cord s the lashing on of a small mall sack the loading of warm flying alyin g clothes and parachutes captain anderson and captain stevens climbed into tile the gondola major kepner to its rope enclosed top the better to direct the takeoff take off the outer ropes were dropped only the gondola and ten small hand ropes attached to it held the gigantic bag of gas to the earth major kepner directed the final ground activity of the flight before th the e ascent the weighing slackened blackened to test the off ropes hopes were balloons lift ballast was adjusted until the upward pull seemed just right cast off I 1 then came the order away for the th the balloon was stratosphere |
