Red Gate Posted 10 September , 2019 Share Posted 10 September , 2019 I wonder if anyone can give me any help regarding balloon flights in England in 1917/18. I have been given access to a diary of a balloon pilot, Henry Truman. Some of the flights recorded in the diary were made in the day but most were undertaken at night mainly from London, Birmingham, Manchester and Nottingham and seem to have been intended to report back on the extent of a blackout and the efficiency of searchlights in picking them up. Most flights were clearly with a free balloon although some were from a static balloon. In one such flight he jumped out using the Spencer Parachute which he states to be the first parachute jump from a kite balloon in England. He generally quotes a reference for the balloon used in each flight such as B19 or B26 or mentions a name, Banshee. Does anyone have information on the type of balloons used, any photos or any more information about this programme of work? Thanks. Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Errol Martyn Posted 11 September , 2019 Share Posted 11 September , 2019 A dairy for a pilot doing free-balloon flying in WWI would be fairly rare, I should think. Could make for a good article in the Cross & Cockade Journal of the First World War Aviation Historical Society? Errol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete-c Posted 11 September , 2019 Share Posted 11 September , 2019 17 hours ago, Red Gate said: I wonder if anyone can give me any help regarding balloon flights in England in 1917/18. I have been given access to a diary of a balloon pilot, Henry Truman. Some of the flights recorded in the diary were made in the day but most were undertaken at night mainly from London, Birmingham, Manchester and Nottingham and seem to have been intended to report back on the extent of a blackout and the efficiency of searchlights in picking them up. Most flights were clearly with a free balloon although some were from a static balloon. In one such flight he jumped out using the Spencer Parachute which he states to be the first parachute jump from a kite balloon in England. He generally quotes a reference for the balloon used in each flight such as B19 or B26 or mentions a name, Banshee. Does anyone have information on the type of balloons used, any photos or any more information about this programme of work? Thanks. Peter Hopefully this may be of some help. Banshee is mentioned on page 12 of the attached site. http://reservesandcadetsni.org.uk/sitefiles/resources/pdfs/bravereportissue21rnasww1.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
helpjpl Posted 16 September , 2019 Share Posted 16 September , 2019 (edited) 1. A working drawing of the Banshee - page 18: https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=hR7OAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA18&lpg=PA18&dq=%22Banshee%22+balloon&source=bl&ots=3hrt6Wj_i2&sig=ACfU3U0tkGjFJRh8WrJjmIIZo_v4xpas5Q&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjIq6uZ49TkAhVjQUEAHUMkDSQQ6AEwD3oECAYQAQ#v=onepage&q&f=false 2. This may be of interest. Hurlingham Club 1914: https://player.bfi.org.uk/free/film/watch-balloon-race-at-hurlingham-1914-online 3. The Spencer parachute: JP Edited 16 September , 2019 by helpjpl The Spencer parachute Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red Gate Posted 16 September , 2019 Author Share Posted 16 September , 2019 Thanks to you all for your replies Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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