by Tom Hamilton
Don Piccard's involvement with
lighter-than-air aviation began in 1933 when he flew in a gas balloon with
his mother, Jeannette Ridlon Piccard. Jeannette would become the first woman
to fly to the edge of space with a stratospheric flight to 57,579 feet on
October 23, 1934.
Piccard began his own aeronautic career in the U.S. Navy. During World War II he served as a balloon and airship rigger from 1944 to 1946. His practical experience allowed him to do some free balloon instruction before he left the service.
In 1947, while attending the University of Minnesota, Piccard managed to procure a World War II Japanese FO-GOS type balloon. These balloons, made from paper and silk, had been used by the Japanese to send incendiary bombs across the Pacific. Piccard added a small basket to the balloon. With the aid of a volunteer ground crew he made a two hour solo flight from downtown Minneapolis. Why two hours? It had to be a two hour flight to receive a pilot's certificate. With that flight Piccard became the first CAA licensed balloon pilot after World War II and the only active licensed pilot in the U.S. at that time.
With the Coupe Gordon Bennett gas balloon race being suspended in 1939 there was little interest in ballooning, outside of research, in the U.S. in the 1950s. Piccard lead the bandwagon to reinvigorate interest in ballooning. Piccard founded the Balloon Club of America, with only three other members. Tony Fairbanks from Pennsylvania soon joined and brought in a few more members.
In 1951 Piccard contacted Douglas Leigh of Sky Advertising in New York. Sky Advertising had purchased a large quantity of U.S. military surplus equipment, including several gas balloons. After long negotiations Piccard was able to take possession of the balloons. The surplus equipment included parts of some eleven balloons. Together with Tony Fairbanks they assembled parts for one airworthy balloon. Piccard and Fairbanks made the four hour maiden flight in the clubs "new" balloon on November 29, 1952.
The club would fly their balloon three or four times a year. Interest spread and the Balloon Flyers of Akron became the second balloon club in America. Together these two organizations would form the Balloon Federation of America, today the national organization for ballooning in America.
In the 1950's Piccard worked for G.T. Schjeldahl Company which was involved with high altitude research balloons including the ECHO balloons.
Piccard began experimenting with balloon design. In 1957 he flew a Pleiades-Type cluster balloon.
In 1960 he flew a Mylar envelope balloon.
Piccard continued to push the limits of gas ballooning. In 1960 and 1961 he established new FAI altitude records in class A-1 (now AA-1) and A-4 (now AA-4) rising to 1,140 meters and 10,504 meters respectively. In 1962 Piccard established a world record in the A-2 (now AA-2) rising to a height of 5,409 meters.
In 1960 Piccard learned of the prototype work that Ed Yost at Raven Industries was conducting with a new thermal balloon. He saw the potential for sport ballooning that hot air had over gas. In a 1962 letter to Louis Casey of the National Air and Space Museum Piccard described the potential for this new type of ballooning, "So, whether it is a quiet Sunday afternoon `picnic' flight or a full blown national race, here we have an economically and ideally suited sporting machine."
Piccard joined Raven Industries in 1962 as manager of the sport balloon program. Quickly, Piccard started to promote hot air ballooning. He organized the first hot air balloon event hosting three balloons had the St. Paul (MN) Winter Carnival in 1962. In 1963 Piccard was "Clerk of Course" for the first U.S. National Hot Air Balloon Championship held in Kalamazoo, Michigan. The event was sanctioned by the National Aeronautic Association.
In 1963 Piccard and Yost became the first to cross the English Channel in a hot air balloon.
These events brought the fledging sport more attention and interest.
When Raven's interest in sport ballooning waned, Piccard struck out on his own. He moved to Southern California and opened Don Piccard Balloons, Inc. in 1964. When he first arrived at Raven he made changes in the design of the original Vulcoon balloon. Now, with his new company he was free to pursue innovations that would make hot air balloons safer. The use of load tapes, Lobular gore design, lighter weight long life fabric, non-conductive materials were some of his early design features. The use of load tapes in the design and construction of balloons is the single greatest safety factor in hot air balloon history. All of these concepts are continued by today's manufacturers.
In 1965 he flew a Piccard Balloon to a new AX-6 world altitude record of 4,782 meters. In 1973 he set a new distance world record in category AX-3.
In the 1980s and 90s Piccard has been a consultant for new manufacturers. He worked closely with Solo Systems in the 1980s to develop an ultra-light balloon. New innovations in the burner design and venting system has been adopted by other manufacturers. The most notable is the redesign of the parachute top into a rapid deflation valve for final landing. The deflation system uses two lines to actuate the valve and to sleeve the parachute for deflation. The process is reversible and does not require any additional operator assembly. Other manufacturers are now developing their own designs based on Piccard's concept. In innovation of design and safety of flight this is the most significant develop in ballooning since the parachute top in the early 1970s.
Piccard holds numerous patents for balloon innovations. He continues today through Don Piccard Balloons, Inc. to hold a U.S. Type Certificate and still manufacturers balloons.
Piccard has been an active participant in balloon competitions. He first represented the National Aeronautic Association in balloon competitions in 1950 at the Andre Blitz Cup Race in Europe. He won the first Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta (today the world's largest hot air balloon event) in 1972. He was a participant in the first post World War II Coupe Gordon Bennett gas balloon race in 1979.
Piccard has made numerous first flights that have advanced the state of the art of both gas and hot air ballooning. His flights using various suspension systems and technical advances have included paper balloons, Mylar, and polyethylene balloons.
Piccard has made significant contributions to the volume of information about ballooning. He served in the late 1970s and early 1980s as a volunteer editor for the Balloon Federation of America's monthly newsletter to members. Today he is a contributing editor to Balloon Life magazine. In addition he is a frequent contributor of technical and historical information regarding ballooning on the Internet. He is always ready to provide insight and information to others.
Piccard has contributed time, money and artifacts to the National Balloon Museum in Indianola, Iowa and to the Soukup & Thomas International Balloon and Airship Museum in Mitchell, South Dakota. He is currently working with the National Balloon Museum to create a wing to display his extensive family collection on ballooning.
Piccard was award the FAI's highest honor for ballooning in 1962, the Montgolfier Diploma. He is a former National Vice President of the National Aeronautic Association.
Piccard is the dean of American ballooning. Over the past 51 years he has concentrated his enthusiasm and energy in ballooning. He brought back sport gas ballooning to the U.S. He grasped the potential of hot air ballooning as sport aviation. It was his efforts which got the ball rolling for what is today a growing segment of general aviation, a major tourism attraction for the many communities that host balloon events, sight-seeing excursions provided by balloon operators, commercial billboard for companies, and for those who want to fly for fun, the adventure of flight.
