They Sailed the Skies

"Between the two world wars, free ballooning was practiced for sport and science. Each year aeronauts - that is, lighter-than-air pilots - from the United States and Europe would compete in an international race to determine who could fly the farthest. The U.S. Navy eagerly participated in these events, and one of its officers, Thomas G. W. "Tex" Settle, would become world famous for his wins. The only airman in his time qualified to pilot a free balloon, a blimp, a glider, and an airplane, as well as to command a rigid airship, Settle was also the first American to fly a pressurized cabin into the stratosphere." "This book tells the story of Settle and Navy ballooning during the Golden Age of Flight against the backdrop of the American naval airship program. J. Gordon Vaeth captures the excitement, enthusiasm, and tragedies of this little-known aspect of naval aviation and the colorful personalities who pioneered the program. It is a story that lapses during the war years but resumes full force in the mid-1940s when two Lakehurst air station officers, Harris E. Smith and William J. Gunther, revived it with their flights. M. Lee Lewis and Malcolm D. Ross followed. Taking advantage of the new plastic balloon technology, they initiate a series of manned scientific flights into the stratosphere . For the armchair reader, the author vividly conveys what it was like to fly in all kinds of weather in a wicker basket suspended beneath a bag filled with flammable gas. An excellent collection of photographs illustrates the text."--BOOK JACKET.