Evening star., 1934-05-08
LARGEST BALLOON
NEAR COMPLETION
Seven and One-HaIf Miles
of Rubberized Fabric
Being Cemented.

More than 30 men and women,
wearing grit-free cloth "slumber
shoes" and working in a giant room
supplied with strained air, row are
engaged in cementing seven and one
half miles of rubberized fabric into
a giant jigsaw puzzle which when
completed will be the worlds largest
free balloon.
The task. one of the most unusual
IN aeronautical history, is being COM
pleted at Akron, Ohio, in preparation
for the National Geographic Society
Army Air Corps Stratosphere flight,
which is expected this Summer to
carry two Army officers and q cargo
of scientific instruments 15 miles
above the earth.
Work Nears End.
Reports on the construction work.
received here by the society and
the Army. indicated that before the
end of this month the work of as
Sembling and testing the balloon bag
capable Of holding 100000 cubic feet
of hydrogen gas, will be completed
Not a stitch is being taken in put
ting together the nearly three acres
of cloth composing the bag 1t is al
together a "pasting job more than
300 gallons Of cement composed of
the pureSt rubber dissolved in gaSo-
line and benzol, being used to stick
together the 3.482 major pieces and
hundreds of smaller pieces OF fabric
which will compose the completed
bag.
Although the room in which the
work is being done is 300 feet long
and more than 100 feet wide. it is not
large enough to spread out the work.
Half Of three of the "Orange-peel'
and spread out. cover nearly half the
floor of the room. Twenty-Five sec
tiOnS of this size must be cemented to
this piece before the bag is finished.
Piled Into Rows.
So huge is the area of fabric that,
as fast as the sections are cemented
together and the joints tapped on both
sides, they are piled into long wind
rows Of pleats with only the new edge
exposed for cementing.
When the assembly is completed air
pumps will force thousands of cubic
feet of air under the fabric to float"
it off the floor for inspection Men
will go under the cloth and look
through it to strong light in search
Of thin spots which. if found, will be
reinforced with rubber patches.
Cloth for the balloon was woven
from specially selected cotton of un-
usually long fiber into strips 42la
inches wide and 300 feet long The
balloon will contain 1870 of these great
strips, or $4,000 running feet of cloth.
more than 3D. feet wide.
Every square foot of this cloth has
passed through a rubberizing machine
80 times. receiving each tins a very
thin film of pure rubber.
Cooper Supervises Work.
All of the work is being done under
direction of J. F. Cooper. regarded as
the greatest balloon building expert in
America. He has supervised the con-
struction of more than 1000 balloons
and airships during the past 20 years.
After the bag is cemented together
the work of attaching the "catenary
bands" will be undertaken. These
bands, of fabric, will be cemented
around the bag in two belts to hold
the reinforcing cords and the cords
from which the gondola will be
suspended. An appendix" or in
verted chimney of rubberized fabric, 8
feet in diameter and Is feet long, re-
mains to be attached to the bottom
of the bag. This appendix, remaining
open in flight, will permit the escape
of surplus gas when the balloon
reaches its maximum distension. at an
altitude of 5000" feet, and so prevent
bursting of the bag.
Thermometer in View.
Through the appendix the observers,
in their globular metal gondola, will
be able to see far overhead fastened
upside down in the top of the bag, a
giant thermometer which will show
the temperature of the hydrogen gas,
a vital factor in balloon navigation.
Packing the completed balloon for
its westward trip from Akron to the
take-off point, near the Rocky Noun
tsins, will he huge problem in itself.
The bag will pe the largest unit of
fabric ever transported and must be
folded with extreme care and protect
ed from chaflng. The bag will be car