REPORT OF TRIP TO ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: FOIA Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 05416077
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: December 28, 2022
• Document Release Date: February 15, 2017
• Case Number: F-2008-00941
• Publication Date: January 16, 1963

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16 January 1963
MEMORANDUM FOR THE RECORD
SUBJECT: Report of Trip to Albuquerque, New Mexico
cLL,14"2.,
1. During the period of January 4 through JanUary 10 the undersigned
was in Albuquerque, New Mexico for the purpose of working with the contractor
on the two man hot-air balloon transportation system. The contractor on this
program is Raven Industries of Sioux Falls, South Dakota. During this time
period the following additional personnel were in attendance either during
part of, or for the entire working period:
TSD/CAB
C/TSD/EB
P. E. Yost, Project Engineer Raven
Frank A. Heidelbauer, Raven
Russel Pohl, Raven
J. R. Smith, Vice-President, Raven
Geno Mazcuso, Raven
Sgt. Jesse Spradley, Kirtland AFB
2. The contractor had two balloon systems prepared for test. These con-
sisted of two 50 foot diameter balloons; one made of nylon with a mylar
laminate and the other fabricated from an acrylic impregnated nylon; two
gondolas, one with two twenty-two gallon fuel tanks and the other with two
thirty gallon fuel tanks; and burners and associated components. Any of
these components are interchangeable in the systems. The different size
fuel tanks merely give extended burning time to the flight system. The
equipment weights were as follows:
Balloon 110 pounds
Burner 13 pounds
Gondola 40 pounds
22 gallon fuel tanks 37 pounds each
30 gallon fuel tanks 50 pounds each
Blower 7 pounds
Instrument Box 44 pounds
Fuel 41-TI pounds/gallon
The average fuel consumption is ten gallons per hour.
3. The periods of time in this report were spent as follows:
4 January - Travel to New Mexico
5 January - The first part of this day was utilized in laying out
all of the various components and a discussion of these components.
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Familiarization of the components was extended to the assembly and disassembly
of the system. Later inte day a short flight was planned for and
Yost but during the inflation one of the Raven personnel inadvertently stuck
his hand in the inflation blower severely injuring his hand. His hand was in-
jured to the extent that one finger was broken in four places and two fingers
were cut to the bone and several stiches were required to sew the lacerations
together. When this accident occurred the squib at the top of the balloon
was initiated allowing the hot air to escape and deflate the balloon. This
ended the days operation with the remainder of the day being utilized to pre-
pare the equipment for the following day.
6 January - A flight was made this day with and Yost as occu-
pants. The flight lasted for a period of one hour and five minutes. The
gondola with the two thirty gallon fuel tanks was used. The drift of the
winds carried this flight eastward across the city of Albuquerque toward the
mountains. Since there was a cloud cover over the mountains the occupants
decided to descend prior to reaching the mountains. As a result the descent
was on a street in the city. A momentary delay in firing the squib caused
the gondola to be dragged across the street against the curb Causing one of
the straps on the gondola to snap and resulting in the loss of one of the
fuel tanks. Although this gondola was extensively damaged neither of the
occupants sustained any injury.
7 January - A flight was made this day from a new launch site.
and Yost were the occupants during this flight which travelled in a
southerly direction and lasted for a period of one hour and forty-five minutes.
No unusual events occurred during this flight with a normal landing being
effected in an open field. At the completion of this flight time was taken
to prepare all of the components for the next days test. This preparation in-
cluded the refueling of the smaller tanks.
8 January - This days flight was made from the same launch point as the
previous days flight. Messrs. and Yost made this flight which lasted
for a period of one hour and ten minutes. Once again no unusual events
occurred with the landing being made in an open field atop a mesa. After
recovery we all r the original launch site, reinflated the balloon
and this time let ilot the system while in a tethered condition.
Later the undersigne was sc eduled to perform the same; however, the winds
increased in the late afternoon and this had to be aborted.
9 January - Once again a flight was launched from the same site;
however, this particular flight was made under slightly different conditions.
This flight was made with the white acrylic impregnated balloon and
and Yost served as occupants along with approximately two dozen bundles of
paper. This paper represented leaflets and in all weighed 96 pounds. These
leaflet were dropped from altitudes of 1000, 1500, and 3000 feet and a quick
survey was made of the dispersal pattern during their deseent to the ground.
At the completion of this flight (2 hours and twelve minutes) the occupants
touched down; however, the firing of the squib failed to open the top of the
balloon and when the landing rope was released, the two occupants were spilled
to the ground. With the releasq7,Ofhis weight the balloon system rose and
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flew for another twelve minutes before touching dot and permitting re-
covery. Examination showed that although the squib had fired, improper leather,
along with improper length of the leather held the top too tightly together
causing the malfunction. It might be added that this was the initial flight
for this particular balloon. During the inflation it was noted that the
"1100-B00" was not proper on this balloon sot was sewed shut for this
flight.
n1.0 January - Due to high winds this day a flight could not be made.
and Yost had been scheduled to try to make an endurance flight this
particular day. Since this flight could not be made, the time was valuably
utilized for a discussion of this transport system. A list of changes to
be considered was made These proposed changes are listed below:
(1) Alter the leather on the top tie off to more reliably Assure
opening.
(2) The needle valve has to be changed from stainless steel
to prevent freeze up.
(3) Velcro will be placed on the "HOO-H00" for the initial in-
flation.
(4) A second ..14Agrtn the skirt will be tried to ease the
initial inflation.
(5) Adjust the "BOO-BOO" on the acrylic balloon for more
useful operation.
(6) Put hardware cloth around the fan to prevent future
accidents such as the one that occured during these tests.
(7)
(8)
(9)
Place handles on the ends of the fuel tanks.
Put filter in the fuel lines.
Replace the leather straps with nylon straps.
(10) Mount the portable burner on the blower for ease of
operation and inflation.
(11) Modify the rope release for ease of use during the
landing operation.
(12) Investigate possibility of a new and better safety pin.
(13) The skirt on the acrylic balloon must be rotated.
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(14) Look into a means for securing the fuel hose clamp.
(15) Investigate the use of a noise deflection plate.
(16) Examine a means for preventing the condensation drippage
onto the personnel during flight. It may be possible to feed this con-
densation back into the burner which would tend to increase the
efficiency of this burner. (This drippage may appear as a minor
nuisance, but in high humidity areas could prove to be quite im-
practical.)
(17) Calibrate the gauges on the tanks.
4. In addition to the above changes and after these changes are incor-
porated, the undersigned requested that Raven conduct the following tests:
(1) A flight endurance test
(2) A step out test
(3) A minimum personnel (2 man) launching test
(4) A noise reduction test. (During these current tests the
noise of the blower was quite evident on the ground.)
5. Return to Headquarterswas made on the afternoon of 10 January.
CC:
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