Highest Altitude Balloon Record
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- Опубликовано: 13 сен 2024
- Charles Lindberg’s was not the only feat of aeronautics to come out of the St Louis area in 1927. Much less remembered but no less daring, were the efforts of an Army officer, Captain Hawthorn C Gray, to rise higher than any had before.
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Script by THG
#history #thehistoryguy #AirForce
Great Story! That quote: "Overshot my equilibrium" is classic! Hypoxia is certainly that. Ask anyone who went through the training in an altitude chamber. I found my personal hypoxia "warning" was my color vision goes black and white, but everyone's symptoms vary. It's dangerous nevertheless.
should’ve sent a baby giraffe because NASA studied The giraffe to develop the spacesuit, with their large heart and huge valves on the heart!
Then it may end up at Giraffe sick park for the rest of his life but oh well!
Unfortunately, one of the symptoms of hypoxia is deterioration of judgement. Many people are entirely unaware of what's happening to them right up to completely losing consciousness. The altitudes above which dangerous hypoxia is inevitable weren't idly named The Death Zone.
during hypoxia training at NASA in Houston they gave us a mickey mouse connect-the-dots page which I thought I drew just fine without an oxygen mask: My connected dots went 1-2- then jumped to 13-14-15 as somehow, I didnt notice the '1' in any of the teen numbers. I'm a university research engineer and normally numbers are my thing ...
I started to see red. Pulling G's brought on symptoms more quickly.
"Pfft, hypoxia. That's just one of those BUZZWORDS. We prefer to call it an unrequested oxygen deficiency."
Captain Gray was a true pioneer. Pushing the envelope to learn about man's interactions with the ocean of air around us.
Related but different -- as a Kid I remember my Dad had an an old National Geographic with a picture of a couple of men trying to escape from a spherical gondola as a balloon plummeted to earth. Your episode prompted me to look it up, and it was the January 1963 issue with a painting of "The high drama of the escape from Explore I". Explorer 1 and II were a series of 2 balloon altitude missions from July 1934, when they reached an altitude of 18,475 meters/60,613 feet. The balloon developed a tear which resulted in the capsule plummeting to the ground. The latter Explorer II would reach 22,066 meters/ 72,395 feet and resulted in the crew becoming the first humans to witness the curvature of the Earth's surface. Maybe a subject for a future episode!
I remember that issue of National Geographic
I, too, remember that issue. I was especially struck by the dramatic cover illustration: one of the aeronauts kneeling on the upper surface of the gondola pressing his foot against the chest of a second aeronaut stuck halfway out of the hatch by the pressure of the wind rushing upward as the remains of the balloon plummeted to the ground. In the background was a third aeronaut descending by parachute. Pretty dramatic stuff!
That was an outstanding illustration. I too remember it distinctly.
In 1880's paris was besieged and they had hundreds of balloon launches. Or even watching the recent felix Baumgardner (sp?) flight and launch the people died in attempts in the 1960s doing that.
My company just Celebrated the 80th anniversary of the building we work from, the last airship hangar built on the east coast during WWII.
that is awesome! I rather wish the old hangar stood at Scott, but it wouldn't have been functional, and it is a military base
Remembering the aeronauts ( I'm having flashbacks to Mark Twain and the mysterious stranger) is history that deserves to be remembered, but I'm also glad to hear of Corporal Scott and the Airfield named in his honor. I bet nobody really remembered him either.
Corporal Frank S. Scott is taught about in the Air Force as one of the few enlisted to have a base named for him. All primary enlisted PME has mention of him. I am happy to serve at Scott AFB, and love the history here. I didn't catch if this was said in the video, but Scott Field was the location on the 2nd largest aircraft hangar in the world until 1937. The only larger hangar at the time was the Naval Air Station Lakehurst in New Jersey, which was the site of the Hindenburg disaster.
As Scott Manley would say, "Fly Safe!"
Back in saddle, where are you? Class is starting
Well, one supposes that being constipated in Sin City might from time-to-time leave one unable to participate... 🤔🤷😏
This is true…
I have been a private pilot/commercial pilot/flight instructor since 1989. I have parachuted from perfectly good aircraft. I have visited airshows, museums, etc. I've been aboard aircraft carriers, seen an SR-71 land and do fly by's. I've met Frank Boreman of Apollo 8. I've even met Neal Armstrong and had him sign my logbook. I have read countless aviation books and magazines and viewed thousands of videos and I had never heard this story. Thank you, History Guy, for telling about this brave pioneer. He DESERVES to be remembered. Top flight all the way.
Balloon record?! This should be interesting! The imagination provides so many possibilities.
✌️😑🛸👽
Thanks. The story of the PreAstronauts is a fascinating one and unfortunately largely forgotten.
There is also an interesting book "Man High" about all those late 1950s high alt balloon flights. In a documentary interviewing Kittenger, he said his commanding officer did all kinds of various things to get resources as USAF didn't think much of those early flights on same importance as other programs. But in meantime their team was accumulating data and experience with equipment and operations. All of sudden when the space race was on, several other USAF units come out saying they are centers of expertise.
As an Air Force Brat, I love hearing about the history of the Army/Air Force. Having lived on or near bases names after top brass and military heroes(Kirtland, McLellan, Ramey, Mather, Davis-Monthan and Luke), I love hearing about the men and women that made history that is soo often forgotten but deserves to be remembered. Thank you for everything you do!
damn, sounds like a shitty career! JK! I spent the first half of my career overseas, and will be finishing it up at Scott.
Thank you for mentioning the 75th anniversary of the Air Force, I didn't know that! My late grandpa was a retired Air Force major who met my grandma because of the Air Force. He was stationed at a joint RAF/ USAF base in Oxford, England and my grandma was brought over to teach the American kids on base. They both came from Florida, although far enough apart that I doubt they would have met otherwise. They got married in Oxford and then came back to the U.S. before my mom was born.
If it was heart failure, it could as well happened while sitting in his chair at home. If I could choose where and when, it would be going while fulling a lifelong dream and doing something as cool as this!
Heart failure due due to hypoxia is a thing too.
The low partial pressure at altitude kills a lot of climbers on Mt Everest…(and that’s at half the height of this balloon).
"...fulfilling..."
I've enjoyed watching your videos over the past few weeks...but I have even more respect for you as you ended this video with a nod to the USAF and the upcoming 75th Anniversary! As you aptly stated, "Aim High! Fly Fight Win!" Thanks again from this USAF Veteran!
The FAI thing about the pilot needing to land with his craft was why the Soviets kept secret the fact that Yuri Gagarin ejected and landed via parachute after his space flight.
And -- as a USAF vet -- thanks for the shout out to my branch!
So by that standard, John Glenn WAS the first official man in space. Interesting how those standards are applied. You can do the thing but if you don't land in the craft you didn't do the thing. But then again, safety wasn't the biggest concern of the organizations that keep the records I guess.
@@hokutoulrik7345 Actually, by your metric, it would've been Alan Shepard, not John Glenn.
FAI was wrong about it...Gagarin flew above the Karman Line...he was first in space...period. Note that they've never changed it.
@@samsignorelli sorry, I am tired, I meant Shepard not Glenn.
@@hokutoulrik7345 Heh...no worries!
A good story. In 2009, I completed the first Master of Nursing Thesis relating to Aeromedical Transportation and Hypoxia. My cover has a lithograph of the "Fatal Ascent of the Zenith" from the Journal Nature of 1875. This was the first recorded death from aviation related hypoxia.
I love history ♥️
Love from DeKalb Mississippi USA 🇺🇸
The first aerial crossing of the South Atlantic was made by the Portuguese naval aviators Gago Coutinho and Sacadura Cabral in 1922. Coutinho and Cabral flew from Lisbon, Portugal, to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is a fantastic story, and a piece of history that deserves to be remembered.
Loving all your different opening graphics!
I cannot express strongly enuf how dear this man's personal life, sacrifices, achievements and knowledge made so much that was good about my later life happen, even possibly - one guy: Captain Hawthorne Gray, DFC USA. Hawthorne personally pioneered and occupied the unknown that came to be named the stratosphere where, second only to the sea, was an alien "world" that was so different from our native environments, that it required not only NEW knowledge, but the suspension, (temporarily) of OLD knowledge simultaneously as well, i.e., old habits, assumptions while learning, just survival in the strange, new and terrifying environment. The coming years of world war yielded an all out international effort to "gain the high ground" for any and all victories, so much so, that only 2 generations later, my father flew the B-47 "Stratojet": so different from ANYTHING before it that rose to the occasion, of going (boldly) where no one goes", the culmination of which designed almost every aspect of my coming life experience - stratospheric (military) aviation. "Oh Captain, my captain, . . ." Say his name: Hawthorne Gray, USA.
His signs and symptoms describe pulmonary embolism. Perhaps PE or an AMI got him if his lung blockage through a clot.
What a sad ending to a magnificent story.
High altitude flight is nothing to take lightly. I did a fair amount of high (25,000ft.)
flight in an unpressurized Twin Cessna for an Aerial Photography outfit. still have sinus issues from that. Amazing story.
great retelling of history. I'm an USAF brat and we were stationed at Scott AFB in 1981/1982. until this story, I had no idea of the installation's place in aviation history. AIM HIGH.
As an old USAF type, a shortened famous quote, known knowns, known unknowns, & unknown unknowns. The beauty of the USAF. Even our failures are meaningful and successful. It’s amazing how far aviation and space travel have come since the bicycle brothers figured out how to control flight.
Adventurer David Hempleman-Adams was the first to fly an open wicker basket balloon solo over the Atlantic, from Canada to the United Kingdom in 2003. In two previous attempts, he started out in the Pittsburgh area. My brother-in-law was in the balloon crew that launched him. Adams hit dead air over Connecticut the first time, and I get a surprise call to go help him out and recover the balloon when he crash lands in Hebron, Connecticut, about 20 miles from my home. The civil air patrol was relieved that they no longer had to be responsible for the balloon. In his second attempt, he took off from Pittsburgh again, and hit dead air over Palmer, Massachusetts, landing there. I got the call to help him out AGAIN, although I at least knew about the flight this time. He was both quite disappointed and very happy to see me!
My Grandfather was flying airmail for Robertson (St Louis)next door to Scott at the same time. 1927-1929. This is real cool history
I am often called names like daredevil, insane, having a death wish, etc., because I enjoy hang gliding and parasailing. These are actually quite safe hobbies, as the construction and materials used to build these things are top notch and technology helps design them to high standards. The things these early aviators did shows they were made of high carbon steel and were true daredevils. Just . . . WOW!
I have flown, skydived, cave explored, scuba diver, snow skied, water skied, sailed, but I never wanted to be in a balloon where fickled Mother Nature had more control over the outcome than I did. 😁
Ballooning is tempting Fate to much.
@@PlanetEarth3141 Agreed. Never had much motivation/inclination to go ballooning. As you say, too much at the behest of Mother Nature's whims.
And there's one thing that can never be taken away from them. They were the first of their kind! Other people might surpass what they did, but they can never be the first ones too do it.
excellent, thank you
Imagine being at 43000 ft in a picnic basket
It does look rather fragile. The actual basket is in the National Air and Space Museum.
This was such interesting information. Thanks, THG!
Someone recently found the groundbreaking shovel for that famous balloon hangar. It was stolen shortly after the groundbreaking from the Wing Headquarters a century ago and found recently in an antique shop in Bourbon, MO. Truly fascinating! That news just came out today on KTVI (Fox2).
Outstanding sir! Thank you!
Wow!! How Badass is he!! Totally Awesome!! Makes one feel a huge sense of pride and honor to be an American.
In giving his life willingly for his country, his fellow humans and pushing the boundaries of knowledge this man is a hero. A real hero, not the PC definition of hero.
Thank you for the lesson.
Thank You, to you and your staff. The History channel has nothing on a great teacher and narrator such as yourself. This is one of the best channels on the RUclips. Thanks again👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👍🏾🖖🏾
Congratulations, another great video. Thank you!
One symptom of hypoxia is greatly increased confidence. Gray may have had hypoxia-induced delusions and not realised that he was in danger. I once experienced this myself when piloting a glider in unusual uplifting air currents.
Aviation Fascination Thank you for sharing 💙
Great video as always HIstory Guy Team!
Gray Army Airfield at Joint Base Lewis McChord was named in his honor!
You should do an episode on Captain Irving Johnson. Now there's a Badass!
Love your videos
Interesting! I had never heard this story before. I was especially surprised to hear about the balloon being cited near Sparta, TN on his last flight. I live just North of there and did much of my flight training out of the Sparta airport (Upper Cumberland Regional.)
"Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of earth,
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I've climbed and joined the tumbling mirth of sun-split clouds -
and done a hundred things You have not dreamed of -
wheeled and soared and swung high in the sunlit silence.
Hovering there I've chased the shouting wind along
and flung my eager craft through footless halls of air.
"Up, up the long delirious burning blue
I've topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace,
where never lark, or even eagle, flew;
and, while with silent, lifting mind I've trod
the high untrespassed sanctity of space,
put out my hand and touched the face of God."
This sonnet is the official poem of the Royal Canadian Air Force and the Royal Air Force. It was written by John Gillespie Magee, Jr., an American volunteer pilot with the Royal Canadian Air Force in the Second World War, who served in a Spitfire squadron until he was killed on 11 December 1941 after he bailed out too low following a collision with another aircraft near Ruskington, Lincolnshire county, England. He was 19 years old. What a loss to the literary world.
Thank you for the poem and the information about the author. It's beautiful.
@@jojohnston4113 You are welcome. It seemed appropriate for the occasion.
It also has been used many years by the United States Air Force. I first saw it when I enlisted in 1975.
@@bobmartin4942 Yes, though never officially adopted, it should be.
Great story; bonus because of the story's relation to Scott Field, aka (now) Scott A.F.B., where I lived for nearly three years when my USAF-NCO dad was stationed there (late '88 - early '91).
Much has changed here, for sure!
@@samuelmahoney6878 no doubt, as to my understanding. When I lived at Scott AFB, the base had a lake. The house I lived at was on "Ware Ave.," the last street of housing before reaching the lake. It was so awesome that I could just walk to the lake from my backyard during the time that I lived there.
If I'm not mistaken the lake was drained, and most (if not all) of the houses in that area by the lake were demolished, plus there is a new(er) flight-line further past where the lake used to be.
@@skyden24195 the lake is there, but the rest is accurate! The old housing streets exist, as well as some old picket fences. The base is also much larger. The other flight line is now Mid-America Airport with the only airline running being Allegiant, but Boeing also has offices there.
@@samuelmahoney6878 Nice to know the lake is still there. I don't know from who/where I heard that it was drained. Do you know if maybe it was drained at some time in order to clean it out so to speak? I may have heard something like that. Regardless, nice that it's still there. The airport designations is a bit surprising and not so much since March ARB (to which I now live near) contracts for DHL as well as UPS; maybe other shipping companies. So I guess sub-letting flightline use, or something like that, is a thing now. 😄
@@skyden24195 I haven't heard about it being drained. The first time I visited Scott was back in 2006, then I got stationed here in 2013. Around Scott Lake is a family camp with RV hookups, pavilions for events, and a boy scout camp. They also keep the lake stocked for fishing.
Wall change again, what is up with the thunder bolt. :) Thank you and have a great week.
Wow. That’s tough.
I knew nothing about any of this. What an interesting video. Thank you!
NASA Studied the giraffe to develop the spacesuit because it has huge valves in the heart, to keep it from pumping too much blood! Should’ve sent one of those!
It can always retire at giraffe sick Park!
Thanks
Wow!that was sad. "Come Josephine in my flying machine."
The Coxwell/Glaisher attempt is beautifully presented in the 2019 film "The Aeronauts", although Coxwell was replaced by a fictional female pilot named Amelia Wren, played by Felicity Jones.
Already at "Special designed knife" I knew it would go wrong.
Dude has two big balloons down below that didn't weigh him down and rise to the challenge, indeed he flew high, bravo
His blood boiled at that altitude. Wiley Post realized the pressure suit to prevent this limitation.
Brooks Field was named for Sidney Books. It is sad to see it is a shopping center these days. Nice story.
so many things get lost in time. History may or may not remember either. thank you for reminding us ALL stay safe
Eight Miles High, and when he touched down, they found the remains of Hawthorne Gray...
Record breakers always are at risk. Simply becaues no one has ever done that before.
Bittersweet event.
The air strip on the army side of Joint Base Lewis (Army) McChord (USAF) is named in his honor.
thank you‼️®™️ 👏👏
Great story
Tremendous moxie demonstrated by CPT Gray (no relation) in his quest.
A fine example of going boldly where no man has gone before. Have you ever done a piece on the Battle of Castle Itter, May 5, 1945? If not, would you consider doing one? It sounds fascinating; Wehrmacht troops joining with US Army to fight an SS division!
The FAI changed their rule about landing with the aircraft after Gagarin's first spaceflight. The Vostok he flew in was designed for him to parachute out of it. FAI under the "must land in the craft" rule couldn't award him for all the records he achieved and realized their mistake and changed the rules.
Amazing times we live in. I’m a pilot for one of the majors. Routinely cross the pond at 41,000 and .86M as comfortably as sitting in my living room. Always mindful of how hostile the environment is just outside the windscreen. Looking forward to seeing you in O’fallon on the 14th.
And to think that most of the passengers worry about the things that can go wrong like flight crew late on arrival, cabin crew not serving their drink, airline losing their luggage. Environment outside the window... nah.
May the fourth be with you
He set the record as he landed with the craft/balloon!
John, Australia.
New content idea - “Copper Kings” turn of the century mining Tycoons, i,e, of Butte, Montana. Bonus “ Our Lady of the Rockies”
So if I understand correctly, there will be no more early releases to patreon funders, but by some other funding site?
Which one?
Love your programs!
Where's the wife been?
I also enjoyed her programs!
Better late then never I’ll watch this one and then todays episode
For The History Guy: Could you please do a segment on Thomas Lewis Johnson? Thankyou
We will research him.
@@TheHistoryGuyChannel Thankyou
Random comment/suggestion:
I'm from Staten Island, can you do an episode on the Conference House?
Lance and Josh,
Love what you are doing!
I want to know more about an accident that happened prior to the 1972 Olympics. I knew a player on the US team (Huffer Christiansen) he told me the Russians lost an entire team due to a plane crash. They replaced them in short order and went on with the games! Never heard that before, is it true?
Thanks, David J
I am not sure what this would be. There was a crash that killed several Soviet Olympic hockey players in 1950, and of course the famous crash involving the Chilean soccer team in the Andes was in 1972.
Very enjoyable and poignant!!!🙏👍👻
What a brave man.
Truly history that deserves to be remembered
...ballooning is great....but...it has its ups and downs....
Tim People are always talking about how good it is but I think it's a lot of hot air.....
Look how far we've come in aviation, yet we still find ways to kill each other, can mankind overcome?
Lol I just realised I have the same light up lightning bolt as you 😄
thanks
Wander where Joy Kittenger, fits, in the Balloon record stacks, 1960, open gondola to 102,800 feet. ?
There are several streets and such named "Hawthorne" I wonder if they are named after him.
I didn't know about the Golden Gate connection. I grew up not far from there. It is on a large flood plain. Did he get wet?
Iirc they made a movie about Henry Cockswell and James Glacier, but the cast Cockswell as a female... yeah the Aeronauts was the movie.
Just an fyi, you've become a .GIF lol. I typed in "What's next" and a snippet came up captioned "What could possibly come next?" lol. Noice 👍
Awesome. We have hundreds of gifs on Tenor. tenor.com/official/thehistoryguy
It Is History Lance Geiger GIFfrom It Is History GIFs
I Think Captain Gray may have been Killed by Pirates.
Sky pirates? I hadn’t considered that…
@@TheHistoryGuyChannel I Agree that Pirates Always make a Story more Interesting.
I Really Enjoy the work You and your Wife Do. It is Entertainment with Depth and Real World Value.
Best Wishes from Montana M.H.
Wonderful story! Can you confirm that this was endorsed by the USAF? Did you receive compensation from them? Fly high :)
I Love History!
I was yet here and history will remember I wasn't first lol
Perhaps you can get around to featuring the ascents of the Piccards. Just sayin' -- --
They took off from Riker's island.
Charlie Lindbergh wasn't actually the first successful transatlantic flight - I believe the first year that occured in was 1919. They landed in Ireland, two RFC pilots
Lindbergh’s was the first solo transatlantic flight.
@@TheHistoryGuyChannel His was also the most publicised of course. The two first pilots were called Alcock and Brown, interesting guys, and it'd make quite a good video in my opinion
I mention Alcock and Brown's flight in this episode: ruclips.net/video/swIev-LlORQ/видео.html
@@TheHistoryGuyChannel That's great! Will watch it now. Thanks!
Can you do a show on Bowditch?
What was the Army doing running a lighter than air program in 1927? Observation balloons were already obsolete. And these were not blimps or Zeppelins like the Navy program. 🤔
Yes, the Army operated blimps. The Army and Navy agreed that the Army would operate semi-rigid airships for inland and coastal patrol, while the Navy focused on rigid airships. The Army airship program was terminated in 1936, although airships operated until 1939.
The Army was quite successful in the balloon races of the 1920s. They tended to enter more teams and finish ahead of the Navy.
@@TheHistoryGuyChannel Well, we learn something new every day. This certainly one of them. 🤓👍
I find no reference to a Fort Worth Star Tribune. The current, and for the term of my memory, Fort Worth, Texas newspaper is The Star-Telegram. Not to be picky, just that errors in historical accounts frequently start insignificant and grow, either inadvertently or intentionally and insignificant errors are used to discredit otherwise accurate reports.
Sorry, you are correct. It is the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
John Alcock and Arthur Brown flew across the Atlantic in 1919
Hello and greetings fellow aeronauts ! O to be aloft in a lighter than air aircraft truly the purest form of aviation ! amazing fantastic
A great memorial to a brave man.
As a Commercial pilot if you are cruising at 41,000 feet and lose cabin pressure; you have but a few seconds to get the oxygen on before loosing consciousness. These record breakers paid the price for what?