Enterprise (balloon)
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The ''Enterprise'' was a gas inflated
aerostat An aerostat (, via French) is a lighter-than-air aircraft that gains its lift through the use of a buoyant gas. Aerostats include unpowered balloons and powered airships. A balloon may be free-flying or tethered. The average density of the cra ...
built by Prof. Thaddeus S. C. Lowe along with his father Clovis Lowe in 1858. It was the second balloon built by Lowe at his Hoboken, N.J. facility and named with the express approval of his wife Leontine because of the money and time they put into creating it. The ''Enterprise'' was built of the India silk, lightweight cording, and Lowe's patent (recipe kept secret) varnish which could keep the balloon envelope gassed up for as long as two weeks.


Cincinnati to South Carolina

The ''Enterprise'' was one in a set of smaller balloons taken to
Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...
in March 1861 for use as a pre-flight test for a proposed transatlantic flight planned to take place in June 1861. Lowe had already made a successful test flight in his super-gigantic balloon, the ''City of New York'' (renamed ''Great Western''), in June 1860. However, his attempts to take off on a transatlantic attempt in September were thwarted by weather, which damaged the balloon to an extent the attempt would have to be delayed until the next spring. Prof.
Joseph Henry Joseph Henry (December 17, 1797– May 13, 1878) was an American scientist who served as the first Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. He was the secretary for the National Institute for the Promotion of Science, a precursor of the Smith ...
of the
Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...
advised Lowe to take test flight from a point west to the eastern seaboard. This would maintain the interest in his investors. Lowe decided on Cincinnati. Lowe's balloon used the normal easterly winds, below the
jetstream Jet streams are fast flowing, narrow, meandering air currents in the atmospheres of some planets, including Earth. On Earth, the main jet streams are located near the altitude of the tropopause and are westerly winds (flowing west to east) ...
. It was his intent to wait for perfect conditions, that is, a wind blowing west through which he would fly and catch the easterly wind home. It was a month before the conditions came about. Lowe was hailed from a dinner being held in his honor to begin inflation. At 4 a.m. on April 19, 1861, Lowe boarded the ''Enterprise'' with a container of hot coffee wrapped in a blanket, another of water, and a batch of freshly printed Cincinnati newspapers which would be proof of his flight should he succeed. Lowe ascended through the west wind and into the dark. By morning he was spotted over
Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...
. He had attained altitudes in excess of 20,000 feet according to his instrumentation, and had flown some 900 circuitous miles to a landing in Unionville, South Carolina. There he was taken under house arrest as a Yankee spy, and it was a few days deliberating his fate until which time a local college professor could vouch for Lowe's work as a scientist. Lowe was given safe passage back to Cincinnati to pick up his balloons. It was at this point that he was asked to, and ultimately offered his services to the Union Army.


Washington, D.C. to Bull Run

Lowe was called to
Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
by the Secretary of the Treasury
Salmon P. Chase Salmon Portland Chase (January 13, 1808May 7, 1873) was an American politician and jurist who served as the sixth chief justice of the United States. He also served as the 23rd governor of Ohio, represented Ohio in the United States Senate, a ...
. By June 11 Lowe had an audience with Lincoln and offered a demonstration of his balloon. With the use of a telegraph key and operator, Lowe ascended in the ''Enterprise'' 500 feet over the White House and transmitted: :''Balloon Enterprise in the Air'' :''To His Excellency, Abraham Lincoln'' :''President of the United States'' :''Dear Sir:'' :''From this point of observation we command an extent of our country nearly fifty miles in diameter. I have the pleasure of sending you this first telegram ever dispatched from an aerial station, and acknowledging indebtedness to your encouragement for the opportunity of demonstrating the availability of the science of aeronautics in the service of the country. :''I am, Your Excellency's obedient servant,'' :''T.S.C. Lowe'' Lowe was held up in Washington for a time while decisions on the use of balloons were being made. At the same time, there were other applicants seeking the position of Chief Aeronaut. Lowe tried to convince the military that special duty balloons would need to be built for military purposes and that even his own ''Enterprise'' was not up to the task. So as not to shrug from his purpose at hand, Lowe took the ''Enterprise'' out with General McDowell's army to the site of the
Battle of First Bull Run The First Battle of Bull Run (the name used by Union forces), also known as the Battle of First Manassas
. In his first free flight demonstration, Lowe's landing was rebuffed by Union soldiers who could not make out any type of military insignia for Lowe and his balloon — as he had none — and was forced to land behind enemy lines. Fortunately he was rescued before the enemy could find him. In this escapade the ''Enterprise'' was badly damaged, but Lowe was finally given orders to build a proper balloon. Eventually the ''Enterprise'' was put back into light service with Lowe's father, Clovis, and assistant Capt. John Dickenson (Navy retired) in Washington, D.C. After Lowe was able to build seven proper military balloons, the ''Enterprise'' was decommissioned.


Legacy

L class blimp The L-class blimps were training airships operated by the United States Navy during World War II. In the mid-1930s, the Goodyear Aircraft Company built a family of small non-rigid airships that the company used for advertising the Goodyear name. ...
''Enterprise'' under US Navy designation L-5 was one of five Goodyear commercial blimps pressed into World War II service. The others were the ''Resolute'' (L-4), ''Reliance'' (L-6), ''Rainbow'' (L-7), and ''Ranger'' (L-8),


Notes

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References

*Block, Eugene B., ''Above the Civil War'', Howell-North Book, Berkeley, Ca., 1966. Library of Congress CC# 66-15640 *Hoehling, Mary, ''Thaddeus Lowe, America's One-Man Air Corps'', Julian Messner, Inc., New York, N. Y., 1958. Library of Congress CC# 58-7260 Individual balloons (aircraft)