2-636-851 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

A huge balloon was necessary for Professor Piccard's ascent, c1936 (c1937).. Jean Felix Piccard (1884-1963) was a Swiss-born American chemist, engineer, professor and high-altitude balloonist. Piccard invented clustered high-altitude balloons and the plastic balloon. In 1936 he flew a cellophane balloon, 25 feet wide, and made of tapered 33-foot gores and 1-inch 3M Scotch transparent tape. The balloon floated at 50,000 feet, and in ten hours travelled over 600 miles before landing near Huntsville, Arkansas. From Wonders of World Aviation, Vol. 1, by Clarence Winchester. [The Amalgamated Press Ltd, London, c1937]