From the Loyal Sunrise, of Fort Fairfield, Maine, October 21, 1863.
Northern Maine Fair Balloon Ascension – 1908
May 22, 2023
From the Fort Fairfield Review, August 26, 1908
Portland, ME., Balloon Ascension – 1873
May 6, 2023
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Portland (ME.) Daily Press
June 27, 1873
Portland (ME.) Daily Press
June 30, 1873
Cape Cottage Park Balloon Ascension – 1898
May 4, 2023
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The Portland Daily Herald
August 20, 1898
Click here to see: Joseph La Roux Willimantic, Conn. 1896
Auburn, ME. – September 12, 1911
November 23, 2022
Auburn, Maine – September 12, 1911
In the early morning hours of September 12, 1911, H. Percy Shearman, president of the Williams College Aeronautical Society in Williamstown, Massachusetts, took off in a balloon from nearby Pittsfield, Massachusetts. The purpose of the flight was to try and reach the Canadian border to break a previous record set by famous aeronaut Leo Stevens.
Shortly after sunrise the balloon was caught in a strong storm system involving rain, hail, and cold air currents. Shearman rode out the storm, but at some point he was benumbed by the cold and realized he had to land. He tried to use the outlet valve to allow gas to escape, but it wasn’t working, so he tried the emergency rip cord and found that that too was now inoperable. In desperation he climbed up through the ropes with a knife and slashed the balloon. As he did so he was hit in the face by the escaping poisonous gas. He fell back unconscious into the gondola as the balloon quickly lost altitude and came down on a Estes farm in the outskirts of Auburn, Maine. There he was discovered and brought to Lewiston Hospital for treatment.
It was reported that the distance between Pittsfield and Auburn was about 200 miles, making this the longest solo balloon flight to date in New England.
Source:
Daily Kennebec Journal, (Maine), “Lands In Auburn – Aeronaut Shearman Has terrible Experience”, September 13, 1911.
Norwich Bulletin, (Conn), “Aeronaut Benumbed By Cold And Rain”, September 13, 1911.
First Balloon Constructed In Maine – 1889
June 25, 2022
First Balloon Constructed in Maine
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From the Aroostook Republican
September 18, 1889
Portland Daily Press
Sept. 2, 1889
Staunton Vindicator
April 26, 1889
Lewiston, Maine – September 8, 1908
March 14, 2015
Lewiston, Maine – September 8, 1908
On the evening of September 8, 1908, Professor Joseph La Roux was scheduled to demonstrate an airship (the Tiny Davis) before a crowd of 15,000 people at the Maine State Fair. However, due to a late afternoon drop in air temperature, La Roux, who weighed 172 pounds, was too heavy for the ship, and it was decided that a an assistant, Fred L. Owens of Haverhill, Massachusetts, would take his place. (Owens only weighed 118 pounds.)
It was nearly 6 p.m. when Owens took off in the airship. His intention had been to rise to an altitude of a few hundred feet, start the gasoline powered motor, and make a few turns in the air before landing back at his starting point on the ground. However, once aloft, the gasoline engine to the airship malfunctioned and failed to reach full power leaving the ship to the mercy of the air currents.
Owens sat helplessly as the ship rose to 3,000 feet and drifted in an eastwardly direction. He tried working the engine but to no avail. He finally had to pull the rip cord on the bas bag and allow the gas to escape, scraping some tree tops as the ship fell. The airship came down in the village of Bowdoia Center, 22 miles from its starting point.
Sources vary: Owens was born either in 1886 or 1890. He began his aeronautical career around 1903, and became affiliated with Professor La Roux about a year later. One source says he was from Haverhill, Mass., and another had him living at 58 Harwood St., Boston, Mass.
In October of 1905, he’d made a six-parachute jump at Trenton, New Jersey, earning him the championship of the world title.
Almost a year after his adventure in Maine, Owens found himself in a similar situation over Baltimore, Maryland. In this instance thousands watched and followed his progress as his airship was buffeted by strong breezes before finally crash-landing on the roof of a drug store. He was not injured.
Another misadventure occurred in Savannah, Georgia, on November 4, 1909, when he made a forced landing in a railroad yard.
Sources:
Daily Kennebec Journal, (Augusta, ME.), “Aeronaut Owen Has Very Narrow Escape”, September 9, 1908.
(Woonsocket) Evening Reporter, “Boy Has Wild Ride When Airship Runs Away”, Sept. 9, 1908.
Daily Kennebec Journal, (Augusta, ME.), “Owens Tells His Story”, September 10, 1908.
The Washington Herald, “Aeronaut Falls To Top Of Store”, August 1, 1909.
The Birmingham Age Herald, “Wild Adventure of Aviator”, November 5, 1909
Casco Bay, ME – July 4, 1887
March 15, 2017
Casco Bay, Maine – July 4, 1887
At 5 p.m. on July 4, 1887, the balloon “Columbia” made an ascension from Lincoln Park in Portland, Maine, with two men aboard: the pilot, Professor Charles H. Grimley, and an unnamed passenger who was a reporter for the Boston Globe newspaper.
When the Columbia was fifty feet in the air it was caught by a strong wind and pushed into some telegraph and telephone wires briefly becoming entangled before breaking free. It then climbed to 3,000 feet where it began drifting eastward towards the waters of Casco Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. To be blown out to sea would have meant certain death, so Professor Grimley opened the valve to the balloon hoping to land on one of the islands in the bay. As the balloon began to drop he threw out a long drag rope to slow their speed. The rope whipped and snapped through the water but did little to halt their progress.
The balloon then reportedly began crossing over “Windward Island” where a some men made an attempt to grab hold if it, but they were pulled to the ground and dragged along with it and were forced to let go. (It should be noted here that contemporary maps do not list a Windward Island for Casco Bay, and it’s possible the island mentioned was actually Cushing, or Peaks Island.)
The rope continued to slash its way through the tree tops but failed to catch in the branches. Finally the rope caught on a tree and a grouping of rocks which briefly stopped the balloon and held it, but the strong wind kept rocking the balloon and before long the rope broke and the Columbia continued up and onward out over the water. Finally enough gas had been released through the open valve to cause it to plunge into the water. The gondola, with the men inside, was almost completely submerged as fierce winds continued to buffet the balloon and push it across the bay while both men held on for their lives.
By this time the men were well away from shore and without life jackets. Fortunately their plight was seen by those aboard the yacht Mermaid, and the boat gave chase. The Mermaid eventually caught up to the balloon and managed to rescue both men. The balloon was not recovered.
Professor Grimley told the press it was the most exciting and dangerous trip he had ever made.
Sources:
The Worthington Advance, (Worthington, Minn.) July 28, 1887
Griggs Courier, (No. Dakota) “Recent Ballooning, July 28, 1887
