This fragmentary, silent film appears to be part of a home movie. We believe the film shows the start of the National Balloon Races, possibly at the Akron-Cleveland board track on Route 8, north of Cuyahoga Falls. This track normally hosted automobile races but balloon races took place there between 1923-1936. The presence of the ship “Good Year VI” may indicate that this film was shot in 1927, but it’s hard to say with certainty. The 1927 race featured ships from the USA as well as entries from Germany, Belgium, France and Spain.
The film starts with a shot of a Goodyear blimp before showing balloons arranged in the stadium. At :39, a primitive flight simulator is shown in use; it can rotate about three axis. At :56, large inflatable helium or hydrogen balloons are shown and one is launched skyward. At 1:23, the Good Year VI balloon is shown being prepared for launch. At 1:47, a U.S. Army balloon is launched, followed by others. At 2:36 a balloon marked “St. Louis” is launched.
If this was the 1927 race (it’s possible), the winner that year was Detroit pilot G. Hill. Hill won the James Gordon Bennett balloon trophy race by piloting his huge balloon an estimated distance of 725 miles from the starting point, landing in Baxley, Georgia. That was a full 50 miles farther South than the second plane Good Year VI.
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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com
