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Firefly Balloons
FireFly Balloons is an American hot air balloon manufacturer that started as The Balloon Works (TBW) in 1972 in Statesville, NC. The company is one of the oldest hot air balloon manufacturers in the United States, behind Raven Industries (founded by Ed Yost), SEMCO and Piccard Balloons. The origins of the company's designs can be traced to the work of Tracy Barnes in the late 1960s. Design and development Tracy Barnes' designs introduced many of the features found in modern hot air balloons. The parachute top, which replaced spring tops, explosive tops and inverting envelopes used previously, did much to improve the safety and maneuverability of balloons. Additionally, the T-3 burner offered a modern and high-powered burner with redundant capability in the event of a primary burner failure, in the form of the "Fire 2" jet. Barnes introduced the distinctive zig-zag envelope to reduce fabric waste and the use of glossy, heat resistant polyester instead of nylon Nylon ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Private Company
A privately held company (or simply a private company) is a company whose shares and related rights or obligations are not offered for public subscription or publicly negotiated in the respective listed markets, but rather the company's stock is offered, owned, traded, exchanged privately, or Over-the-counter (finance), over-the-counter. In the case of a closed corporation, there are a relatively small number of shareholders or company members. Related terms are closely-held corporation, unquoted company, and unlisted company. Though less visible than their public company, publicly traded counterparts, private companies have major importance in the world's economy. In 2008, the 441 list of largest private non-governmental companies by revenue, largest private companies in the United States accounted for ($1.8 trillion) in revenues and employed 6.2 million people, according to ''Forbes''. In 2005, using a substantially smaller pool size (22.7%) for comparison, the 339 companies on ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ed Yost
Paul Edward Yost (June 30, 1919 – May 27, 2007) was the American inventor of the modern hot air balloon and is referred to as the "Father of the Modern Day Hot-Air Balloon." He worked for a high-altitude research division of General Mills in the early 1950s until he left to establish Raven Industries in 1956, along with several colleagues from General Mills. Inventor Born on a farm seven miles south of Bristow, Iowa to Charles L. Yost and Fleta Ferne Burman Yost, Paul Edward Yost first became involved in lighter-than-air ballooning when he leased his single-engine plane to General Mills to track their gas balloons. He became a senior engineer in the development of high-altitude research balloons. In the 1950s, Yost's own interests turned toward reviving the lost practice of manned hot-air ballooning. This technology had first been invented in France in the late 18th century by pioneers led by the Montgolfier brothers, but under the Montgolfier system, the balloon's air ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Blimp Works
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the most frequently used word in the English language; studies and analyses of texts have found it to account for seven percent of all printed English-language words. It is derived from gendered articles in Old English which combined in Middle English and now has a single form used with nouns of any gender. The word can be used with both singular and plural nouns, and with a noun that starts with any letter. This is different from many other languages, which have different forms of the definite article for different genders or numbers. Pronunciation In most dialects, "the" is pronounced as (with the voiced dental fricative followed by a schwa) when followed by a consonant sound, and as (homophone of the archaic pron ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nylon
Nylon is a generic designation for a family of synthetic polymers composed of polyamides ( repeating units linked by amide links).The polyamides may be aliphatic or semi-aromatic. Nylon is a silk-like thermoplastic, generally made from petroleum, that can be melt-processed into fibers, films, or shapes. Nylon polymers can be mixed with a wide variety of additives to achieve many property variations. Nylon polymers have found significant commercial applications in fabric and fibers (apparel, flooring and rubber reinforcement), in shapes (molded parts for cars, electrical equipment, etc.), and in films (mostly for food packaging). History DuPont and the invention of nylon Researchers at DuPont began developing cellulose based fibers, culminating in the synthetic fiber rayon. DuPont's experience with rayon was an important precursor to its development and marketing of nylon. DuPont's invention of nylon spanned an eleven-year period, ranging from the initial research pr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Polyester
Polyester is a category of polymers that contain the ester functional group in every repeat unit of their main chain. As a specific material, it most commonly refers to a type called polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Polyesters include naturally occurring chemicals, such as in plants and insects, as well as synthetics such as polybutyrate. Natural polyesters and a few synthetic ones are biodegradable, but most synthetic polyesters are not. Synthetic polyesters are used extensively in clothing. Polyester fibers are sometimes spun together with natural fibers to produce a cloth with blended properties. Cotton-polyester blends can be strong, wrinkle- and tear-resistant, and reduce shrinking. Synthetic fibers using polyester have high water, wind and environmental resistance compared to plant-derived fibers. They are less Fireproofing, fire-resistant and can melt when ignited. Liquid crystalline polyesters are among the first industrially used liquid crystal polymers. They are use ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Piccard Balloons
Donald Louis Piccard (January 13, 1926 – September 13, 2020) was a Swiss-born American balloon pioneer, promoter, innovator, designer, builder, and pilot. Piccard was born in Lausanne, Switzerland to Jean Felix Piccard and Jeanette (Ridlon) Piccard. He became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1931. Don Piccard first flew in a balloon in 1933, when he was enlisted as "crew" by his mother. She was the first woman to fly to the edge of space and the first American woman to earn a balloon pilot's license. Don Piccard served as a balloon and airship rigger in the U. S. Navy during World War II and at Naval Air Station Lakehurst during the Korean War. First post-WW2 balloon free flight Despite not graduating, Piccard was one of the driving forces behind the ballooning revival after the war while a student at the University of Minnesota. He made the first post-war free flight on February 16, 1947 with a captured Japanese Fu-Go balloon, earning his balloon pilot certification fro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
SEMCO
Ricardo Semler (born 1959) is the CEO and majority owner of Semco Partners, a Brazilian company best known for its radical form of industrial democracy and corporate re-engineering. Under his ownership, revenue has grown from 4 million US dollars in 1982 to 212 million US dollars in 2003 and his business management policies have attracted widespread interest around the world. ''Time'' featured him among its Global 100 young leaders profile series published in 1994 while the World Economic Forum also nominated him. ''The Wall Street Journal'' ''America Economia'', The Wall Street Journal's Latin American magazine, named him Latin American businessman of the year in 1990 and he was named Brazilian businessman in year 1990 and 1992. ''Virando a Própria Mesa'' ("Turning Your Own Table"), his first book, became the best selling non-fiction book in the history of Brazil. He has since written two books in English on the transformation of Semco and workplace re-engineering: ''Maverick'', ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Raven Industries
Raven Industries, Inc. is an American company that manufactures precision agriculture products, high-altitude balloons, plastic film and sheeting, and radar systems. The company was founded in 1956. They are headquartered in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Stock in the company was traded on Nasdaq until 2021 when it was acquired by CNH Industrial. History Established in 1956 to make high-altitude balloons, Raven was launched by a group of General Mills employees, including General Mills High Altitude Research division employee Ed Yost. Yost claimed to pick Sioux Falls for its favorable wind conditions. After its establishment, the company's product offerings expanded to include items such as commercial and recreational hot air balloons, electronics manufacturing, large plastic storage containers for use in agriculture, pickup toppers, and winter outerwear. Raven, along with Piccard Balloons and Semco were among the first manufacturers of hot air balloons that kicked off the resu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aerospace
Aerospace is a term used to collectively refer to the atmosphere and outer space. Aerospace activity is very diverse, with a multitude of commercial, industrial and military applications. Aerospace engineering consists of aeronautics and astronautics. Aerospace organizations research, design, manufacture, operate, or maintain both aircraft and spacecraft. The beginning of space and the ending of the air is considered as 100 km (62 mi) above the ground according to the physical explanation that the air pressure is too low for a lifting body to generate meaningful lift force without exceeding orbital velocity. Overview In most industrial countries, the aerospace industry is a cooperation of the public and private sectors. For example, several states have a civilian space program funded by the government, such as NASA, National Aeronautics and Space Administration in the United States, European Space Agency in Europe, the Canadian Space Agency in Canada, Indian Space Re ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Statesville, NC
Statesville is a city in and the county seat of Iredell County, North Carolina, United States, and it is part of the Charlotte metropolitan area. Statesville was established in 1789 by an act of the North Carolina Legislature. The population was recorded as 95 in the 1800 Census. The population was 28,419 at the time of the 2020 census. History In 1753, Scots-Irish Presbyterians and German Lutherans, who had originally settled in Pennsylvania, began arriving in what would become Statesville in 1789Keever, Homer M.; ''Iredell Piedmont County'', with illustrations by Louise Gilbert and maps by Mild red Jenkins Miller, published for the Iredell County Bicentennial Commission by Brady Printing Company from type set by the Statesville Record and Landmark, copyright, November 1976 to plant crops in the fertile soil where game and water were also plentiful. The settlement, known as Fourth Creek Congregation, was named for the freshwater stream running to the north of the present-day c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hot Air Balloon
A hot air balloon is a lighter-than-air aircraft consisting of a bag, called an envelope, which contains heated air. Suspended beneath is a gondola or wicker basket (in some long-distance or high-altitude balloons, a capsule), which carries passengers and a source of heat, in most cases an open flame caused by burning liquid propane. The heated air inside the envelope makes it buoyant, since it has a lower density than the colder air outside the envelope. As with all aircraft, hot air balloons cannot fly beyond the atmosphere. The envelope does not have to be sealed at the bottom, since the air inside the envelope is at about the same pressure as the surrounding air. In modern sport balloons the envelope is generally made from nylon fabric, and the inlet of the balloon (closest to the burner flame) is made from a fire-resistant material such as Nomex. Modern balloons have been made in many shapes, such as rocket ships and the shapes of various commercial products, though the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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