Plastic Ballooning

In the December, 1997 Postflight, Jim Winker, retired Vice-President of Raven Industries, discussed the first flight made using a plastic balloon. That first flight was made November 3, 1949 by Charlie Moore.

Mr. Winker recently visited with Charlie Moore and talked to him about this flight. He asked about, "that gadget hanging below him" during the flight. The gadget was a ballaster, which to Winker surprise was the primary purpose in making the flight. It was designed to be used on unmanned balloons and this flight was a "checkout" to see how well it operated. As it turned out, it wasn't very effective for that flight. And the results were not necessarily valid for unmanned flights away. Photographic documentation of the fight appears on this page.

Editor.

Charile Moore

Charlie Moore with ballaster prior to flight.

Charlie Moore with Tao Baumann

Charlier Moore on launch