Photo by Signal
Сот»,
U. 8. Army.
Hauling down the barrage balloon with a portable winch. Ground crew
standing by as the winch operator rolls in the 316th-inch cable.
Barrage Balloons
Extensive training has lieen un¬
derway for some time at Canifi
Davis, the Army’s only barrage
balloon renter
time.
lit/ GERTRUDE
MILITARY HISTORY is be¬
ing made in North Carolina
through the initial experi¬
ments at Camp Davis with the Ameri¬
can army’s only barrage balloon
center.
First results with this newest
branch of the Coast Artillery have
not been successful in every particu-
at the present
S. CARRAWAY
lar, for live of the 40 huge cigar-
shaped neoprene bags have broken
from their cable moorings and one of
them wrought much damage for a
trail of 170 miles towards Norfolk.
But, on the whole, results have been
so satisfactory that plans are being
made to expand greatly this type of
aerial defense.
Both the English and the Germans
have found barrage balloons to be of
vital importance for effective defense
against enemy dive bombers and low-
level flight
1ютЬегз.
The object is to
keep the balloons flying high, so high
that the enemy planes will be unable
to come lower for fear of striking
the balloons or the balloon cables
and thus causing n crash. This means
that their bombs must be dropped
from high altitudes, and consequently
their aim cannot be so accurate and
disastrous.
The big balloons, inflated with he¬
lium. are flown up above vital spots
to be defended. If the United States
should be attacked, for instance, they
would Ik* immediately a.ssigiied for
defense of such places as the Panama
Canal. New York harbor, Washing¬
ton’s public buildings, overseas bases,
power plants, essential bridges, rail
terminals and industrial centers.
Though similar in appearance,
there are two different kinds of bal¬
loons. Both are made of neoprene, a
.synthetic rubberized fabric. The bal-
lonet type is divided into two compart¬
ments, a gas chamber above and an
air chamber below. Expansion of the
gas at higher altitudes expels part
of the air ns the balloon rises. The
dilatable type has no air chamber, but
provides for gas expansion by rubber
cords stretched from one side of the
balloon to the other.
The balloons are also classified ns
either “low-altitude” or “high-alti¬
tude” types, dvpending on the air
strata in which they are moored. A
third classification refers to their mo¬
bility. Those operated from a special
vehicle which has a gasoline engine
and a winch to coil the balloon cable
are called "mobile." Those equipped
with a truck from which the power
unit and the winch are demounted for
erection on ihe ground are called
“fixed.”
Uses 30,000 cu. ft. of Gas
Requiring an extensive ground in¬
stallation. with specially-prepared bal¬
loon bed and anchored winch, the
enormous bags, approximately SO feel
long and 36 feet in diameter, inflated
with about 30,000 cubic feet of gas.
are anchored and controlled by small
ЗШЬ
steel cables. Bulky as they
are, it is not practical to move them
around instantaneously, but their po¬
sitions can be easily changed. Protec¬
tion from lightning is obtained by
grounded copper wires.
These barrage balloons do not carry
crews or passengers. No persons arc
in them or on them. Nor do they
bear guns or explosives. Designed for
defense, not attack, they arc primarily
