BALLOON JUMPING

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 27 December 1924, Page 7

BALLOON JUMPING

—; — —— AMERICA’S LATEST SPORT. DEFYING GRAVITY’S LAWS' A new sport, for which great claims are made, has suddenly appeared, in America It is “baby ballooning,” a few. dozen feet from the ground, attached to® a small balloon ; about as Big as a haystack, so readily- portable that it can be carried, folded, on the back, like a pack. This “poor man’s ballooning” is rendered possible by the intensive development of the helium mines, the two largest', areas-.’of which are in Kansas and Texas, during the war, so that helium gas, hitherto enormously expensive, now costs only 3d a cubic foot. T'he buoyancy of the baby balloon is so carefully adjusted to the weight of the wearer—for wear it he does attached to belts round the chest—that it has the effect of reducing his weight to a few ounces, without impairing, of course, his muscular capabilities. 'When you take a running jump on the ground vour leg muscles have to raise n weight of l(j or 12 stone or so. That is why yon do not. rise very high. But picture where you would go if you had to raise only 10. ounces! That is what happens when you go out balloon jumping at Lakehurse, New Jersey, or some of the other American aerodromes where pioneers have developed the technique of the 6port.

WHEN THE FAT MAN RISES. It is extremely amusing to watch and indescribably exhilarating to play. A fat man, whose balloon capacity is properly adjusted, rises light as" a fairy. • A mere touch of the toe sends his soaring over a 6ft fence. A very small jump sends him over a lofty oak or a house. An energetic spring may take him a good deal higher. As he now weighs only a few ounces, over and above what the helium capacity takes care of, he comes gently down again, without any shock. If the wind rises while he is bouncing about he merely slips a small lead weight or two in his pocket so that he will not be carried too far.

Even a baby balloon costs a good deal of money, of course, though a lot less than a real one. And it takes a lot of helium gas, at. 3d a cubic foot, to fill it. , Capital is now being raised, and it is likely that next summer the world will ring with the praises of this amusing defiance of the laws of gravity.