by Tom Hamilton
Having executed a perfect Immelmann
turn in an airplane at age seven, "soloed" at age 12 without formal
training, flown a hang glider off a 12,000 foot cliff after one day of practice,
and required only a few hours to master a Lear jet, Larry Newman figured
that learning to fly a balloon would only take a couple of days of on-the-job
training.
"You and Max are capable of flying the balloon," Larry told an astonished Ben Abruzzo. "Right now I don't want to take the time and I'm not really interested. I'll learn on the flight."
So began the ballooning career, at age 31, of Larry Newman. An accomplished pilot with thousands of hours in all types of airplanes and considered one of the best hang glider pilots in the world, Newman was about to embark on an adventure that would record his name in the history books.
Prior to Double Eagle II launching from Presque Isle, Maine, Larry Newman had spent about 15 minutes in a hot air balloon. Not until after the flight would he begin his balloon lessons. In October, 1978 he soloed and received his balloon license. His examiner was Sid Cutter.
Newman's friendship with Ben Abruzzo lead to his involvement with Double Eagle II and Double Eagle V. The later flight was the first crossing of the Pacific Ocean by balloon, made in November, 1981. Ben Abruzzo, Larry Newman, Ron Clark, and Rocky Aoki completed the 5,768 mile flight, a distance record that stood until Steve Fossett's second around-the-world attempt landed in India with a distance of more than 10,000 miles.
While there had been many attempts to cross the Atlantic before Double Eagle II made the first successful crossing, Double Eagle V was the first time anyone had tried to fly a balloon from Asia to North America. It was not a cake walk. Icing prevented the balloon from flying as high as the original flight plan called for. At one point the balloon envelope had an estimated 6,000 pounds of ice on it. The flight was in danger of coming up short of the California coast until the ice started melting at lower, warmer, altitudes. Once over the coast line the team had to try and land the 400,000 cubic foot balloon in one of the worst storms to hit California in 20 years.
Quietly, after these two great expeditions, Newman began working on another projectan around-the-world balloon flight. In 1986, now working as an airline captain for America West, he announced his Voyage of Peace balloon project. At the time he hoped to launch from San Francisco, California as early as January 1987. He hoped to have Russian and Chinese co-pilots on the flight.
Eventually Richard Branson, who had made his own history by crossing the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans in hot air balloons with Per Lindstrand, became Newman's primary sponsor. The project was renamed Earthwinds. Engineers at Raven Industries recommended a double balloon system. The two balloon system consisted of a helium balloon above and a ballast balloon below the gondola.
The theory was to use air pumped into and out of the bottom envelope as ballast. The gondola also carried cryogenic helium that could be used to replenish the gas in the upper balloon.
In November, 1990 Newman and his team tested a scale model of the concept with a 34 hour flight from Tillamook, Oregon. Newman, Branson, and Vladimir Dzhanibekov (Russian Cosmonaut) planned to launch from Akron, Ohio. Using a blimp hangar the balloon was inflated, but winds from Lake Erie scrubbed the launch in February, 1992.
Earthwinds moved its operation to Stead Field outside of Reno, Nevada. From here Newman would make four attempts to fly the double balloon system around the world. By now Barron Hilton had become the primary sponsor.
One flight was aborted when bolts gave out on inflation. The three other flights all ended within hours after problems developed with the bottom ballast balloon. After the last flight attempt on New Year's Eve, 1994, when the ballast envelope ruptured, Hilton withdrew his support of the project.
In 1995 Newman announced that he was looking for a sponsor for a balloon flight to 140,000 feet where he and another parachutist, with a camera, would exit the balloon and skydive back to earth. The pair would free-fall for more than six minutes to break the free-fall record of 80,000 feet. Both would be wearing space suits.
In 1996 Newman almost lost his life in a parachuting accident. He has recovered and hopes to bring his twin projects to fruition some day.
For more about Larry Newman see Double Eagle II - A Retrospective - Larry Newman
Highlights
1959 First solo in airplane
1978 Double Eagle II Atlantic crossing
1978 Balloon license
1981 Double Eagle V Pacific crossing
1990-94 Earthwinds RTW project
US Congressional Medal for Aviation Achievement
French Medal for Aviation Achievement
