Los Angeles herald., 1907-08-14
BIGGEST BALLOON
READY FOR FLIGHT
TO BE USED BY BEN FRANKLIN
ASSOCIATION
Car Will Have Capacity for Twelve
Persons and Members of
Club Will Make First
Ascension

PHILADELPHIA, Aug. 12.-Americas $
biggest balloon, built by Philadelphia
veteran aeronaut, Prof. Samuel A. hlng,
has been finished and is now drying out
in the Wissahickon school yard. Inc
date of it's flight will probably be IN
about week.
The balloon has been christened the
ben Franklin 1t has a capacity OF
90. 900 cubic feet and will carry twelve
people.
with hand-power blowing machine,
Professor King and an assistant have
inflated the big gas bag with air at the
Wissahckon school yard, where sun ana
wind will dry the varnish in which the
envelope has been soaked.
The veteran aeronaut is proud OF MS
work. since he has realized his ambition
to be the builder of Americas largest
balloon. He has followed his own ideas
in the construction of the big aerostat
and believes he has made several i'm
provements on the French models.
Talks of His Work
"The French people build their balloons
round like an apple, with stem at the
bottom for attaching the gas main, ne
said This one is built on the lines of
balloons that 1 used for years. 1t is
pear-shaped, and the gas is injected at
the stem, which hangs at the lower END
of the envelope.
1.-THE rip cord, which is a safety device
now used on nearly all gas balloons, was
an invention of mine several years ago.
This is an arrangement by which all the
gas can be let out of the envelope IN a
moment by simply pulling string, and
makes a landing in a strong wind much
safer. On the Ben Franklin the rip cord
opens a vent thirty feet long extending
from the top of the envelope down a
third of its length.
"I have used 1900 square yards of can
vas and $50 pounds of cotton twine IN
building this balloon. The cloth is in
sixty-two cores, each ninety feet in
length, with a seam running the full
length of each gore, besides cross-seams
for reinforcement which extend around
the bag. This made about two miles of
sewing. The envelope has a capacity of
$4,000 cubic feet of gas, and, as the COM
pany charges 81 per thousand, 1t will
mean a cost of $92 for gas alone for each
trip.
Will Make First Trip
Professor King will himself superin-
tend the first ascension, and nearly all
the members of the Ben Franklin asso-
citation are expected to be in the party.
Members of the club are: DR.. T. Chal-
mers Fulton, president; Henry S. Gratz,
first vice president; Dr. George S. Sim
norman, second vice president; Fritz
Renter, third vice president; George
Weisbrod, st., treasurer; ]. Edwin Rech
secretary; David H. Schuyler, Arthur e
Atherholt, DIR. Henry Fisher. William N
Jennings, Louis w. Schmidt, DR.. James
Van Buskirk, Cornelius Haggerty, Jr., G.
Lewis Mayer and Guernsey Stevenson.
This club was organized and the bal
loon built purely for pleasure, although
the big aerostat will probably be used
for scientific research. The members of
the association are all amateurs, and no
professional aeronaut will be permitted
to join.
1t is expected that the Ben Franklin
will be used for ascensions in several
cities after it's trial here, and it will
probably be taken to St. Louis in Octo-
ber for the aeronautical carnival which
Is to be held In connection with the in
ternational balloon race for the Gordon
Bennett cup.