August 27, 1966 - Two flights - 80,000 - N9073H
First - Wings Field to George Washington Memorial Park in Whitemarsh, PA. - 1 hour - Pilot Tony Fairbanks, Passengers Lillian Fairbanks, Eleanor Vadala, Hank Willems, Ralph Block - Qualified Ralph Block for Free Balloon Pilot's License
Second - To Morris Arboretum, Chestnut Hill, PA - 1 hour - Pilot Francis Shields, Passengers Ralph Block, J. Clare, Stephen Dunn, Adrian Snoeks
In basket – Eleanor Vadala, Jean Fairbanks, Tony Fairbanks, Right holding sand bag – Francis Shields
From Wings Field - two flights in the 80,000 N9073H
May 30, 1966 - From Wings Field to Valley Green, Pennsylvania - 1 1/2 hours. Pilot - Francis Shields - Passengers - Fred Dolder, J. Boesman, Nini Bosman, Jim Nields
From Valley Green to Delties Woods, Burlington County, N.J. - 2 hours. Pilot - Francis Shields, Passengers - Henk Willems, Poppy Willems, Jim Nields, Mellie Lievwen - Jim Nields is with the NAA
From left Nica Fairbanks Francis Shields
Fred Dolder
Fred Dolder
Eleanor Vadala in front with white coat
3rd from left Fred Dolder, far right Pete Pellegrino
From left – Fred Dolder, Jean Fairbanks, Nica Fairbanks, Pete Pellegrino
Left – Fred Dolder
kneeling – Left Tony Fairbanks, Pete Pellegrino
Left – Fred Dolder, Nini Boesman behind him, Pete Pellegrino in yellow, Jim Nields
July 29, 1967 - Take off from the Philadelphia Navy Yard and landed 2 hours later in an unused airport.
N9074H - Pilots Tony Fairbanks and Eleanor Vadella.
Eleanor Vadella
ELEANOR VADALA AND THE PHILADELPHIA NAVAL YARD
It seems so long ago. July 29, 1967. It was a glorious day and a glorious event. The LaCoquette gas balloon being flown from the Navy Yard in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania for a 50th Anniversary celebration. The event is well documented with photographs taken by Anthony “Tony” Fairbanks who was the passenger for this historic flight. The pilot was Eleanor Vadala. The LaCoquette lifted silently into the air above with a clear view of the Delaware River and the Benjamin Franklin bridge. The balloon flew on a soft breeze for two hours over downtown Philadelphia with a gentle landing inside the grounds of the Budd Manufacturing Plant.
The Navy Yard formerly known as the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard began in 1776 on Front Street in Philadelphia and became an official naval site in 1801. Ships were built and launched from the Naval Shipyard. The LaCoquette was flown from the modern use of the facility, constructed in 1917.
The U.S. Navy Band traveled from Washington D.C. to give concerts at the Navy Yard on Saturday and Sunday. The press release which advertised the open house and the balloon launch is quoted below:
Balloon Flight and Ham Radio Station
On one of the two days, depending on wind conditions, there will be a flight by what is probably the most famous balloon of all time LaCoquette – that was featured in the motion picture “Around the World in 80 days.”Owned by the Balloon Club of America, headquartered at nearby Wings Field in Ambler, LaCoquette will be piloted by Miss. Eleanor Vadala, a materials research engineer at the Naval Air Engineering Center, and one of the two woman gas balloonists in the United States.
Another feature of the open house will be a radio station set up and operated by amateurs of the South Jersey area. It will be in operation during both days of the open house, talking to ships at sea and oversea bases.
The flight from the Naval Yard was just one flight in the illustrious ballooning career of Eleanor Vadala. Eleanor flew gas balloons with the Balloon Club of America from 1954 through 1973.
Eleanor’s first flight was in January 1954 with Don Piccard as pilot. Before obtaining her gas balloon pilot certificate in July 1963, Eleanor flew gas balloons and trained with Connie Wolf, Peter Pellegrino, Francis Shields and Tony Fairbanks.
Eleanor played a vital role in the Balloon Club of America as a working crew and later as a pilot. Few persons of today know her name or the hours and days that she participated in the necessary work of rigging, the inflation of these heavy gas balloons and the chase to retrieve the balloon and crew. When a gathering of club members was required for the several hours required to clean and then glue the inflation panel into the top of the balloon, Eleanor was always available. With the aircraft logbooks we have a record of most of the balloon flights of Eleanor. We can document at least eighteen flights in the large 80,000 cu.ft. balloons filled with cooking gas and three flights in the 19,000 cu.ft. balloons. In addition, Eleanor traveled to Holland in 1963 to fly gas balloons with Tony Fairbanks.
The flight from the Naval Yard is just one gas balloon flight for a young woman who fell in love with lighter-than-air free ballooning and had an aspiration to become a pilot. Thanks to a series of photographs kept safely in a shoebox for all of these years, we can revisit the gas balloon flight from the Naval Yard and honor Eleanor for who she is and her contribution to modern day ballooning in America.
Written by:Michael FairbanksVirginia Beach VAAugust 2016
Writers Note: Eleanor is today 92 years old and in good health. She lives in a small town in the suburbs of Philadelphia.
Writers Note: The photographs have been borrowed from the Fairbanks family ballooning web site: Tonyfairbanks.org
