Inventor Name
Myers, Carl
Repository
National Air and Space Museum
Smithsonian Institution
Archives Division
Room 3100, MRC 322
PO Box 37012
Washington, DC 20013-7012
202-633-2320
http://www.nasm.si.edu/research/arch/
Physical Description
.23 cubic ft.
Summary
Meteorologist, photographer, balloonist. Myers and his wife, Mary ("Carlotta, Queen of the Air") began experimenting with balloons in 1875 and made their first ascension in 1880. He constructed and flew a variety of balloons and airships, developed a varnishing machine for producing fabrics impervious to hydrogen gas; produced a portable system for generating hydrogen, patented an apparatus for guiding balloons, and he made the first balloon ascension using natural gas for lift. He manufactured balloons for the Weather Bureau's rainmaking experiments and supplied the Signal Corps with 21 balloons for use in the Spanish American War. The images are of balloons, airships, views of the Carl Meyers Balloon Farm, and portraits of family and visitors, including Thomas C. Benbow, noted aeronaut. Correspondence is to George E. Curtis, head of the US Weather Bureau.
