National Balloon Race – 1960

This race was promoted by WCAU radio in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.It was held at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania on June 4, 1960.

There were only two balloon clubs in the United States at this time and both entered balloons in this race. The Balloon Club of America (BCA), incorporated in 1952 in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania and the National Lighter-Than-Air (NLTA), balloon club incorporated in 1956. The NLTA was affiliated with the Wingfoot Lighter-Than-Air Society of Akron, Ohio.

There were three balloons in this race.

Balloon #1 – BCA inflated their 80,000 cubic-foot balloon with cooking gas from an underground pipe connection.

Balloon #2 – NLTA inflated their 35,000 cubic-foot balloon. This balloon was being inflated from a hydrogen truck because cooking gas does not have enough lift for this size balloon.

Balloon #3 – BCA inflated the 19,000 cubic-foot balloon La Coquette. It was also being inflated from a hydrogen truck due to the size of the envelope.

After 6 hours of hard work, the three balloons were inflated and rigged. The radio station WCAU in Philadelphia provided for each balloon basket a disc jockey to act as the ‘official observer’, recording the flight time and exact landing spot.

At 1:00 in the afternoon, La Coquette lifted off heading in a northern direction. Pete Pellegrino was the pilot. Ed Harvey from WCAU radio flew with Pete. They landed in thirty-eight minutes inside the fence of Graterford State Prison. The warden allowed several prisoners to assist in the deflation and folding of the heavy balloon envelope.

The air temperature was becoming cool. A mist that was blocking the entire sky was moving toward the balloons from the right, and inside the mist, a large cumulus cloud was forming. Pete made the flight short due to the approaching rainstorm.

The 80,000 lifted off fifteen minutes after La Coquette. Tony Fairbanks was the pilot. Others on the flight were Eleanor Vadala, Bill Branson of WCAU radio, Mike Fairbanks and Augie O’Neil. Augie, age 75, obtained an airships pilot’s license authenticated by the signature of Orville Wright.

During the flight, the passengers released paper airplanes from the basket with instructions for the finder to call WCAU radio, but no one ever did call.

Tony landed in about thirty minutes near Harlesville, PA. As they started to deflate and pack up the balloon, the rain began to fall.

The NLTA balloon was piloted by Jim Contos and Roger Wolcott. Their official observer was Douglas Arthur with WCAU. Francis Shields with the BCA also flew. They also had a short flight due to the approaching storm and landed near Perkiomen Valley Airport.

Tony Fairbanks, the appointed Race Judge, declared that the 80,000 had won the race because it had traveled more miles than the other balloons. The La Coquette crew protested stating they had traveled almost the same number of miles. The NTLA crew protested because they felt it was unfair to have a Race Judge fly as a command pilot.

Tony, being a fair man, found both protests valid and declared every pilot and crew member who flew in each balloon the official National Balloon Champion of 1960.

The following is an article about this race. The bulletin/magazine origin is unknown.