The Coolidge examiner., 1934-07-06
Pr~s.srsa b. NAtis-ai Csez-nrhir R.-ls,y
M aahlnNlaa. n .-m So NerrLre

lrseaafed ~ NAtlFrsi ssesrn fhtr Rp-te,y.
WaahlrUfua. y C--W~l service
TINE huge balloon. which viii
be used 10 the s'raIosphere
Eight sponsored Jointly by the
National Geographic society and
the United States army air corps. Is
the largest ever constructed. II
viii take the air from a protected
spot In the Black iills near Rapid
city. s. y.
The balloon was made In a vast
room In an Akron fohlol factory.
whose windows were sealed. whose
air was strained through canton
flannel. and where Esen and women
employees wore Tritfree "slumber
shoes % cloth as they walked over
rubber lmprcgnated fabric The bag
IS capable % holding three million
cubic feet q, hydrogen gas This
capacity Is nearly three and a hair
Jmes that os the largest free bal.
ioon hitherto built.
The finished bag which was
rushed wcstwari TO the point %
takeoT by truck. win lift two In
trepld officers aud a cargo % spc-
claliy designed scientific lns,rn.
ments near fifteen miles above sea
level
Not n stitch was taken In putting
together more than two and n third
acres of cloth. Instead OF being a
JOB for seamStress or a sall.maker.
the task was closest TO that OF a
news editor pasiiHg together pages
of copy" or a librarian mendlng
torn page. Every one % the 3.5o0
major pieces into which the fabric
was cut. and each % the scores OF
smaller fragments. was ccmentcd
with the greatest care 20 It's next.
door nelghbors with rubber cement
The next step was 90 cover the CO
rnepted seams of this Jigsaw pnr-
zle with fabric hacked rubber tape
on both sides when these opera.
iions were completed the seams
were actually stronger than the
neighborlng fabric.
More than 900 gallons Of cement
the purest rubber dissolved In
gasoline and benxol--were required
20 put the balloon together.
lnmensity Of the Balloon.
Although the balloon room In
which the great balloon was made
Is 200 feet wide. that area was not
a large enough one In which 10
spread out the completed bag. Por.
tions OF the bag as large as racing
yacht main-saIls. assembled on the
floor during construction. repre-
sented relatively small fragments
81 the balloon area. Half of three
orange peel" sections. or cores"
cemenied together and spread out.
covered nearly half the fioor OF the
balloon room Yet - sections
equally As large had 20 be cement
ed on to this piece before the bag
was finished.
Owing IN the huge size OF the bal
loon segments. final construction
operations required piling them In
long windrows OF pleats with only
the edges exposed for cementlng.
After large sections OF the balloon
were put together. thousands OF
cubic feet Of air were pumped un-
der the fabric 10 float Il OF the
floor for inspection. Men under the
cloth looked through Il to strong
light, finding any thin spots
Cloth for the balloon was made
from specially selected cotton OF
unusually long. strong fibers. II
was woven In strips 4aia inches
wide and 800 feet long. One hun
dred and thirty OF these massive
rolls were used In cutting out the
balloon--Sa.OO0r running feet or more
than seven and a third miles OF
cloth. Every square foot OF the
amazing acreage OF cloth passed
through a rubberizing machine 20
times. each time receiving a very
thin coat Of rubber.
More than eighty employees
worked on the balloon under bal
BODYBUILDING expert. who. during
the past - years. has supervised
the construction OF more than
thousand balloons and airships for
the army and navy.
Packing the completed balloon for
It's westward trip was no small
problem. II was probably the larg-
est unit Of fabric that was ever
transported. II required folding
with extreme care and It's surfaces
and folds had 10 be protected so
that there would be no rubbing.
condola Is OF Dowmetal.
Without a single rope. and with
out its valves. the bag weighs ap-
proximately 4.T00 pounds. With