Ed Yost
USA- Biography of Ed Yost
- The Revival of Hot Air Ballooning
- Ed Yost's Mission
- The First Flight and Success
- Legacy and Later Years
Biography of Ed Yost
Ed Yost, born on July 30, 1919, dedicated his life to aviation. He is considered the creator of the world's first modern hot air balloon - a balloon with a propane burner. Yost lived a long and adventurous life, full of dangers and challenges, but also filled with happiness and accomplishment.
The Revival of Hot Air Ballooning
Since the flights of the first Montgolfiers in 1783, hot air balloons were considered highly unreliable and complex structures, which led to their decline in usage. They were replaced by more reliable and affordable gas balloons at that time. Attempts by individual enthusiasts to revive flights on Montgolfiers were not particularly successful. After World War II, there were only a few dozen balloonists in the world. Helium was expensive, and flying with hydrogen was not permitted everywhere. Aviation experts believed that the sport of ballooning would soon disappear.
Ed Yost's Mission
Ed Yost, however, set out to prevent the decline of ballooning and create an inexpensive and practical hot air balloon. In 1955, he attempted to solve this problem with a kerosene burner, as some engineers had tried to do in the 1930s. Kerosene burners were complex to operate, so Yost developed a completely new burner design using a new fuel - liquid propane.
The First Flight and Success
With financial support from the US Navy, Yost designed a new tear-shaped envelope for the hot air balloon. Equipped with his burner and two propane tanks, he successfully made the first flight on the new generation of hot air balloons on October 22, 1960. While the US Navy did not offer Yost a contract for his balloons, American balloonists flooded his newly established company with orders. Ballooning in the US and around the world was revived with Yost's new hot air balloon.
Legacy and Later Years
Eventually, Yost's company was overtaken by more commercially savvy entrepreneurs, and it merged with "Aerostar" in the early 1980s. However, Yost continued to improve the technical aspects of his balloon designs, fly on Montgolfiers, set records, and teach young enthusiasts. In 1995, his name was inducted into the FAI Hall of Fame, alongside the Montgolfier brothers and Count Zeppelin, while he was still alive. On May 28, 2007, Ed Yost passed away at the age of 87.
