Don Piccard (balloonist)

Donald Louis Piccard (born January 13, 1926) is a Swiss-born American balloonist.

Don Piccard
Born (1926-01-13) 13 January 1926
Lausanne, Vaud, Switzerland
Nationality United States of America
Alma materUniversity of Minnesota
OccupationAviator
Known forBallooning
Parents

Piccard was born in Lausanne, Switzerland, to Jean Felix Piccard and Jeannette Piccard. He became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1931.[1] He first flew in a balloon in 1933, when he was enlisted as "crew" by his mother, the first woman to fly to the edge of space. He served as a balloon and airship rigger in the U. S. Navy during World War II.

1959 Balloon Gondola, Don Piccard

He was one of the driving forces behind the hot-air ballooning revival after the war while a student at the University of Minnesota. He made the first post-war free flight in 1947 with a captured Japanese balloon.[2] In 1948, he organized the first balloon club in the United States, the Balloon Club of America. This club, along with the Balloon Flyers of Akron, formed the Balloon Federation of America, today the national organization for ballooning.

On August 17, 1959, Piccard flew a red, white and blue balloon basket at a centennial commemoration of John Wise's Jupiter balloon flight of US Mail. In the same basket he set a gas balloon world record altitude of 34,642 feet on July 19, 1961 from Faribault, Minnesota. [3]

He pioneered plastic and Mylar balloons. In 1962, he set a new altitude record for a second-class free flight balloon, climbing to 17,000 feet.[4] On 13 April 1963, he and Ed Yost were the first people to cross the English Channel in a hot air balloon.[5] They lifted off from Rye, England crossed the channel and landed at Gravelines, France. [6] Piccard also promoted ballooning as a sport and designed balloons to that end, through his company Piccard Balloons.

He appeared as a "Mr. X" guest on What's My Line on September 1, 1963.

Piccard Family

See also

References
  1. National Balloon Museum
  2. Gettysburg Times. "Don Piccard To Try Balloon Ascension". September 13, 1947, p. 3. Retrieved on May 29, 2013.
  3. "Gondola, Balloon, Don Piccard". Airandspace.si.edu. AirandSpace. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
  4. Associated Press. "Piccard Takes Off Into The Blue: Balloonist Shatters Record". Sarasota Herald-Tribune, August 26, 1962, p. 4. Retrieved on May 29, 2013.
  5. Associated Press. "Record Balloon Flight Made By Americans". Gadsden Times, April 14, 1963, p. 1. Retrieved on May 29, 2013.
  6. "Paul Edward Yost". Findagrave.com. Findagrave. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
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