On August 8, 1933 as a stunt during the Century of Progress International Exposition in Chicago, naval aviator Lt. Commander Thomas T. W. “Tex” Settle attempted to fly a balloon into the stratosphere. It was at the time to be the highest balloon flight ever attempted and naturally the press showed up along with a huge crowd to watch. Hours of ceremonies took place while the balloon was inflated at Soldier Field and when Settle finally took off – the balloon fell back to Earth minutes afterwards due to a gas valve that was accidentally left open. Thankfully the only thing injured was Settle’s ego.
Newsreel cameraman Fred “Red” Felbinger of Paramount News wrote about he and his colleagues covering that story that evening many decades ago.
In Felbinger’s own words:
The stratosphere flight…the ultimate in man’s reach for the heavens…Lt. Commander “Tex” Settle…U. S. Navy…a man’s man…prepares for an intrepid, adventurous solo into space…into the far nowhere…one of the few remaining mysteries to man…Soldier Field, Chicago, is chosen as his point of take off…the world hears of it in advance…and thousands of thrilled followers of one, ready to cast off, in the path of adventure, gather…
It is eight P.M….a tired sun is curling into crimson over the west collonades of Soldier Field as the trek leads to the chilly stone seats of the massive stadium…on the field trained regulars of the Army move in rhythm to entertain the crowd…a band blares out…to the north of the grounds, begins the slow process of inflating the massive balloon that will carry this modern knight of adventure into the vast void above Mother Earth…the constant hiss of the hydrogen tanks is audible as their precious contents start to expand the massive bag of rubber layed out, neatly on the field…to the north of Soldier Field the gates are suddenly swung open…several trucks roll down the runway…newsreeler’s grief wagons…
It’s now eight fifteen P.M….the beginning of a new assignment for the boys riding in those trucks. A stratosphere flight…telegraph wires have hummed for weeks now…advising the world…this event was about to transpire…and this is the night…so the newsreel trucks roll into the stadium…there’s Phil Gleason chauffering in the Fox truck…carrying his dead-eyed newsnooper, Eddie Morrison…Graham shoves in with the Daily News truck while his cameraman, Sam Savit, chews away on his eternal ceegar…Jack Darrock is down at the sizzling hydrogen tanks looking for some odd angles for his camera huskies…there’s Charlie Ford, lining up the “inkies” with the grips, Tony Caputo is climbing up on the Pathe truck, ready to set up his “groan box” for another heavy night…somebody said it’s going to take about six hours to inflate this massive balloon…but the newsreelers don’t mind…you see, it’s their racket…to wait no matter how long…but get that picture…it’s in their blood…they never squawk about hours…all they ask is a break…get that picture…then a rest…maybe a short one…maybe a long one…before the next assignment…So dusk settles over Soldier Field…
Nine P.M….Ten P.M….the crowd begins to grow slightly weary…more newsreelers arrive…Charlie Geis lugs his heavy equipment to the top of the stadium…Floyd Traynham grinds away on his trusty Akeley…
11 P. M….a radio announcer chins away to satisfy a crowd now getting bigger…and a bit more weary…but everybody sticks…it’s a big event in aviation history…man’s latest attempt to conquer new fields…Charlie Ford stands behind those inkies watching incessantly for strange cameras…Charlie Ford you see represents the sponsors of that flight…one newsreel has been barred…but Ford being a newsreeler knows that somewhere in that stadium, is hidden lens snoopers that will get the event for the barred outfit…it’s the racket…get your picture…whether you’re welcome or not…so the hours pass into oblivion…
It’s now getting around two A.M….a new day is but a pup…and when the clock gets around to three, Settle finally crawls into the gondola of the balloon, a few more last minute ceremonies and the command “Up ship!” is given…swiftly Settle ascends in his stratosphere balloon as a tired but still zealous crowd cheers huskily…Army searchlights play on the gas bag as it mounts higher and higher and as the mob starts to leave the huge stadium a tired army of newsreelers pack up their equipment and wish they had their film shipped…it’s been a long weary night…
Almost four A.M….the gang is moving the sound trucks out of the stadium gates…suddenly an alarming cry swings like a tidal wave through the mob…the balloon is coming down!…just west of the Loop district…everybody surges that way…ambulances scream down the streets…and tired newsreelers realize the day is not ended…an anti-climax to a story…and a new battle begins…getting sound trucks through one of Chicago’s biggest traffic tangles…it seemed every automobile in Chicago clogged into the highway leading to where Settle was forced down…sound trucks cutting in and out…over sidewalks…down railroad tracks…through a mob of 25,000 sightseers…then the dazzling white light of the magnesium flares…shot after shot…grinding away on a camera with one hand and fighting excited “coppers” with the other…The Lord bless the inventor of the Akeley camera handle…newsreelers have found another use for it many a time other than using it for panning purposes…and as dawn came over the railroad yards, completely tired newsreelers raced for the morning air mail…a stratosphere flight had begun…and ended…
Did you see the newsreel of it at your favorite theater?…It ran one minute and a half on the screen.
Floyd Traynham’s footage of the failed flight of the Century of Progress can be watched here.