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{{Infobox Aviator
{{Infobox aviator
|name=Ward Van Orman
|name=Ward Van Orman
|lived=September 2, 1894 - March 11, 1978
|image=Ward Tunte Van Orman (1894-1978).JPG
|image=Ward Tunte Van Orman (1894-1978).JPG
⚫
|full_name=Ward Tunte Van Orman
|image size=150px
|birth_date={{birth date|1894|9|2}}
|caption=
⚫
|birth_place=[[Lorain, Ohio]]
⚫
|full name=Ward Tunte Van Orman
|death_date={{death date and age|1978|3|11|1894|9|2}}
⚫
|place of birth=[[Lorain, Ohio]]
|nationality=[[United States]]
|death_place=[[Akron, Ohio]]
|nationality=American
|place of death=[[Akron, Ohio]]
⚫
|known_for=Balloon races of 1920s-1933
|cause of death=
|first_flight_date=1918
|spouse=
|license_date=1918
|relatives=
⚫
|known for=Balloon races of 1920s-1933
|first flight aircraft=
|first flight date=1918
|f-flights= <!--stands for "famous flights"-->
|license date=1918
|license place=
|air force=
|battles=
|rank=
|awards=Won the [[Gordon Bennett Cup in ballooning]] in 1926, 1929, 1930<ref name=E2/>
|awards=Won the [[Gordon Bennett Cup in ballooning]] in 1926, 1929, 1930<ref name=E2/>
}}
}}


'''Ward Tunte Van Orman''' (born September 2, 1894 in [[Lorain, Ohio]] - died March 11, 1978) was an [[United States|American]] [[balloon (aircraft)|balloonist]]. A lifelong employee of [[Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company]] credited with invention of Goodyear's inlatable [[life raft]]<ref>Vaeth, p. 53</ref> and [[self-sealing fuel tank]],<ref name=E4>Elliott, p. 4</ref> Van Orman set an unrecedented record of winning five annual [[National Balloon Races]] (including the first ever [[Litchfield Trophy]] issued by Goodyear's Paul Litchfield in 1925), participating in ten and winning three [[Gordon Bennett Cup in ballooning|International Gordon Bennett Races]] (1926, 1929, 1930).<ref name=E2/>
'''Ward Tunte Van Orman''' (September 2, 1894 in [[Lorain, Ohio]] &ndash; March 11, 1978) was an American engineer, inventor and [[balloon (aircraft)|balloonist]]. A lifelong employee of [[Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company]] credited with invention of Goodyear's inflatable [[life raft]]<ref>Vaeth, p. 53</ref> and [[self-sealing fuel tank]],<ref name=E4>Elliott, p. 4</ref> Van Orman set an unprecedented record of winning five annual [[National Balloon Races]] (including the first ever [[Litchfield Trophy]] issued by Goodyear's Paul Litchfield in 1925), participating in ten and winning three [[Gordon Bennett Cup in ballooning|International Gordon Bennett Races]] (1926, 1929, 1930).<ref name=E2/>


==Biography==
==Biography==


Born in [[Lorain, Ohio]], Ward Van Orman was inclined to science and mechanics since childhood. At school he managed to save enough cash to enroll in [[Case School of Engineering|Case School of Applied Science]].<ref name=E1/> In 1917 he graduated with a perfect 4.0 [[Academic grading in North America|GPA]] and joined the staff of Goodyear in [[Akron, Ohio]].<ref name=E1>Elliott, p. 1</ref> His first invention, a leakproof cover for [[gasoline]] tanks, was filed in 1921 and patented in 1928;<ref>{{ cite web | url=http://www.google.com/patents?id=m61bAAAAEBAJ&printsec=abstract&zoom=4&dq=Van+Orman#PPA1,M1 | title=U.S. patent 1,662,018 | year=1928 }}</ref> eventually, he developed reliable [[self-sealing fuel tank]]s.<ref name=E4/> Later in life, Van Orman (who preferred to be called simply "Van")<ref name=E1/> considered his inventions, and not the record flights, his greatest accomplishments.<ref name=E4/>
Born in [[Lorain, Ohio]], Van Orman was inclined to science and mechanics since childhood. At school he managed to save enough cash to enroll in [[Case School of Engineering|Case School of Applied Science]].<ref name=E1/> In 1917 he graduated with a perfect 4.0 [[Academic grading in North America|GPA]] and joined the staff of Goodyear in [[Akron, Ohio]];<ref name=E1>Elliott, p. 1</ref> in 1918 he qualified for a balloon and [[airship]] [[pilot licensing and certification|pilot's license]]. His first invention, a leakproof cover for [[gasoline]] tanks, was filed in 1921 and patented in 1928;<ref>{{cite web | url=https://patents.google.com/patent/US1662018 | title=U.S. patent 1,662,018 | year=1928 }}</ref> eventually, he developed reliable [[self-sealing fuel tank]]s.<ref name=E4/> Later in life, Van Orman (who preferred to be called simply "Van")<ref name=E1/> considered his inventions, and not the record flights, his greatest accomplishments.<ref name=E4/>


During the 1925 International Race Van Orman performed world's first emergency ''night'' landing of a balloon on a deck of a steamship at high seas.<ref name=V39>Vaeth, p. 39</ref> The race took off June 9, 1925 at [[Brussels]]; at first the ''Goodyear III'' balloon floated over [[France]] towards [[Spain]] but then a change in wind dragged it into [[Atlantic Ocean]]. Van Orman's partner, Carl Wollam, desperate about inevitable death by drowning, intoxicated himself with [[cognac]] and attempted suicide at least twice.<ref name=V39/> As Van Orman struggled to restrain Wollam from jumping overboard, he noticed [[navigation light]]s of a ship that turned out to be a small German freighter, ''Vaterland''.<ref name=V40/> Van Orman flashed [[morse code]] message to the captain, who assisted the landing by turning on all available lighting and steering the ship towards the descending balloon.<ref name=V40/> The balloon safely landed on ''Vaterland'''s forward deck. Van Orman and captain Rudolf Norman remained friends for life.<ref name=E2>Elliott, p.2</ref> This flight was the longest in 1925 International Race, but Van Orman was disqualified and denied the [[Gordon Bennett Cup in ballooning|Gordon Bennett Trophy]] according to the race rules requiring ''landing'' literally on ''land''.<ref name=V40>Vaeth, p. 40</ref> Fifty years after this event, Van Orman was still bitterly hurt by the disqualification: "the memory of that unfair decision never has grown dim".<ref name=V40/>
During the 1925 International Race Van Orman performed world's first emergency night landing of a balloon on a deck of a steamship at high seas.<ref name=V39>Vaeth, p. 39</ref> The race took off June 9, 1925 at [[Brussels]]; at first the ''Goodyear III'' balloon floated over [[France]] towards [[Spain]] but then a change in wind dragged it into [[Atlantic Ocean]]. Van Orman's partner, Carl Wollam, desperate about inevitable death by drowning, intoxicated himself with [[cognac (drink)|cognac]] and attempted suicide at least twice.<ref name=V39/> As Van Orman struggled to restrain Wollam from jumping overboard, he noticed [[navigation light]]s of a ship that turned out to be a small German freighter, ''Vaterland''.<ref name=V40/> Van Orman flashed [[morse code]] messages to the captain, who assisted the landing by turning on all available lighting and steering the ship towards the descending balloon.<ref name=V40/> The balloon safely landed on ''Vaterland'''s forward deck.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=u-IDAAAAMBAJ&dq=Popular+Mechanics+1931+curtiss&pg=PA194 "Riding The Winds", by Van Orman, February 1931, Popular Mechanics] full story by author on the night landing on Vaterland</ref> Van Orman and captain Rudolf Norman remained friends for life.<ref name=E2>Elliott, p.2</ref> This flight was the longest in the 1925 International Race, but Van Orman was disqualified and denied the [[Gordon Bennett Cup in ballooning|Gordon Bennett trophy]] according to the race rules requiring landing to be on land.<ref name=V40>Vaeth, p. 40</ref> Fifty years after this event, Van Orman was still bitterly hurt by the disqualification: "the memory of that unfair decision never has grown dim".<ref name=V40/>
[[File:Van Orman, Morton May 31, 1928 pre-flight check.JPG|thumb|left|May 30, 1928. Van Orman (left) and Walter Morton check instruments prior to the fatal flight that killed Morton]]
[[File:Van Orman, Morton May 31, 1928 pre-flight check.JPG|thumb|left|May 30, 1928. Van Orman (left) and Walter Morton check instruments prior to the fatal flight that killed Morton]]
Van Orman picked a new partner, [[Walter Morton]], and easily won the 1926 National Race, qualifying for this year's International Race. He won the 1926 Gordon Bennett Trophy flying from [[Antwerp]] to [[Solvesborg]] in [[Sweden]].<ref name=V41>Vaeth, p. 41</ref> The win automatically qualified them to the next year's International Race, where Orman and Morton came third.
Van Orman picked a new partner, Walter Morton, and easily won the 1926 National Race, qualifying for this year's International Race. He won the 1926 Gordon Bennett Trophy flying from [[Antwerp]] to [[Solvesborg]] in [[Sweden]].<ref name=V41>Vaeth, p. 41</ref> The win automatically qualified them to the next year's International Race, where Orman and Morton came third.


The National Race of 1928, held on May 30 in [[Pittsburgh]], turned out a disaster. [[Lightning]] strikes downed three aircraft, including Van Orman's. A direct thunderbolt killed Morton instantly and ignited [[hydrogen]] in the gas bag.<ref name=V78>Vaeth, p. 78</ref> The balloon's basket fell from three thousand feet, supported by a "[[parachute]]" of what remained of its gas bag. Van Orman, unconscious in his basket,<ref name=E3>Elliott, p. 2</ref> survived the impact<ref name=V78/> without serious injuries.<ref name=E3/>
The National Race of 1928, held on May 30 in [[Pittsburgh]], turned out a disaster. [[Lightning]] strikes downed three aircraft, including Van Orman's. A direct thunderbolt killed Morton instantly and ignited [[hydrogen]] in the gas bag.<ref name=V78>Vaeth, p. 78</ref> The balloon's basket fell from three thousand feet, supported by a "[[parachute]]" of what remained of its gas bag. Van Orman, unconscious in his basket,<ref name=E3>Elliott, p. 2</ref> survived the impact<ref name=V78/> without serious injuries.<ref name=E3/>
Line 38: Line 28:
<blockquote>
<blockquote>
''I was looking directly at the flash... hardly thicker than my finger ... it passed within two feet of my eyes. I had time after the flash to look up over the edge of the 'rain dodger' we had spread across the top of the basket and note that the bottom of the bag apparently was still intact. Probably it was two or three seconds after the flash before the concussion knocked me unconscious. How high we were, I don't know.<br>When I came to, my head was lying outside the basket, with rain falling on my head. I felt Mortom beside me...''<br>
''I was looking directly at the flash... hardly thicker than my finger ... it passed within two feet of my eyes. I had time after the flash to look up over the edge of the 'rain dodger' we had spread across the top of the basket and note that the bottom of the bag apparently was still intact. Probably it was two or three seconds after the flash before the concussion knocked me unconscious. How high we were, I don't know.<br>When I came to, my head was lying outside the basket, with rain falling on my head. I felt Mortom beside me...''<br>
Van Orman, 1928<ref name=PM>{{ cite web | title=Can flyers conquer thundebolts? | url=http://books.google.com/books?id=098DAAAAMBAJ | publisher=[[Popular Mechanics]] | year=1928 | month=October | accessdate=2009-04-25 }} pp. 536-537.</ref>
Van Orman, 1928<ref name=PM>{{cite book | title=Can flyers conquer thundebolts? | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=098DAAAAMBAJ | publisher=[[Popular Mechanics]] |date=October 1928 | accessdate=2009-04-25 }} pp. 536-537.</ref>
</blockquote>
</blockquote>


Van Orman survived other, less inspiring incidents: once he was assaulted by an unidentified man, allegedly hired by one of Van Orman's competitors; on another occasion during [[prohibition]] period he landed balloon in the middle of an illegal [[distillation|distillery]] operation, and was confronted by [[bootleg]]gers wielding [[shotgun]]s who mistook him for a [[Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives|federal agent]].<ref name=E3/> During the 1933 National Race Van Orman's balloon flew deep into [[Canada|Canadian]] forests. He and his partners wandered through the wilderness, starving; back at home they were already considered dead. Finally, they reached a telephone line running through the forest; they chopped down a pole, severing the line, expecting that a repair crew will eventually locate them. After this incident Van Orman, a single parent (his first wife died in 1932), quit balloon racing forever.<ref name=E3/>
Van Orman survived other, less inspiring incidents: once he was assaulted by an unidentified man, allegedly hired by one of Van Orman's competitors; on another occasion during [[prohibition]] he landed a balloon in the middle of an illegal [[distillation|distillery]] operation, and was confronted by [[rum-running|bootleg]]gers wielding [[shotgun]]s who mistook him for a [[Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives|federal agent]].<ref name=E3/> During the 1933 National Race Van Orman's balloon flew deep into [[Canada|Canadian]] forests. He and his partners wandered through the wilderness, starving; back at home they were already considered dead. Finally, they reached a telephone line running through the forest; they chopped down a pole, severing the line, expecting that a repair crew will eventually locate them. After this incident Van Orman, a single parent (his first wife died in 1932), quit balloon racing.<ref name=E3/>


After retiring from active ballooning sport Van Orman served as a researcher with Goodyear until 1962. His works ranged from fuel tanks to developing waterproof fabrics for [[diving suit]]s<ref>{{ cite web | url=http://www.google.com/patents?id=s4dJAAAAEBAJ&printsec=abstract&zoom=4&dq=Van+Orman&source=gbs_summary_r&cad=0_0 | title=U. S. Patent 2,391,282 | year=1945 }}</ref> and airtight [[zipper]]s for [[pressure suits]].<ref name=E4/> In retirement Van Orman, a [[Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine|shriner]], travelled across the country as a [[motivational speaker]], periodically flying [[hot air balloon]]s until the final year or two of his life.<ref name=E4/> He died of a [[stroke]] in 1978 and was buried at Rose Hill cemetery in [[Akron, Ohio]].<ref name=E4/>
After retiring from active ballooning sport Van Orman served as a researcher with Goodyear until 1962. His works ranged from fuel tanks to developing waterproof fabrics for [[diving suit]]s<ref>{{cite web | url=https://patents.google.com/patent/US2391282 | title=U. S. Patent 2,391,282 | year=1945 }}</ref> and airtight [[zipper]]s for [[pressure suits]].<ref name=E4/> In retirement Van Orman, a [[Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine|shriner]], travelled across the country as a [[motivational speaker]], periodically flying [[hot air balloon]]s until the final year or two of his life.<ref name=E4/> He died of a [[stroke]] in 1978 and was buried at Rose Hill cemetery in [[Akron, Ohio]].<ref name=E4/>


Van Orman authored an autobiography, ''The wizard of the winds'' (ISBN 0878390324), published posthumously in 1978.
Van Orman authored an autobiography, ''The wizard of the winds'' ({{ISBN|0878390324}}), published posthumously in 1978.


==Notes and references==
==Notes and references==
{{ reflist|2}}
{{reflist|2}}


==Sources==
==Sources==
* {{ cite book | author=Vaeth, Joseph Gordon | title=They sailed the skies: U.S. Navy balloons and the airship program | url=http://books.google.com/books?id=92PGEp5cW38C&dq=tex+settle&lr=&as_brr=3&ei=eybqSdWwGZ6GyATL4fAk | publisher=Naval Institute Press | year=2005 | id=ISBN 1591149142, ISBN 9781591149149 }}
* {{cite book | author=Vaeth, Joseph Gordon | title=They sailed the skies: U.S. Navy balloons and the airship program | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=92PGEp5cW38C&q=tex+settle | publisher=Naval Institute Press | year=2005 |isbn=978-1-59114-914-9}}
* {{ cite web | author=Elliott, Michael | title=Akron's Monarch of the Skies | url=http://ascpl.lib.oh.us/internetresources/sc/pursuits/pursuits8-1.pdf | publisher=Akron-Summit Public Library | year=2009 }}
* {{cite web | author=Elliott, Michael | title=Akron's Monarch of the Skies | url=http://akronlibrary.org/images/Divisions/SpecCol/images/PastPursuits/pursuits81.pdf | publisher=Akron-Summit Public Library | year=2009 }}


{{Goodyear Company}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Van Orman, Ward}}
[[Category:1894 births]]
[[Category:1894 births]]
[[Category:1978 deaths]]
[[Category:1978 deaths]]
[[Category:Balloonists]]
[[Category:American balloonists]]
[[Category:Case Western Reserve University alumni]]
[[Category:Case Western Reserve University alumni]]
[[Category:Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company]]
[[Category:Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company people]]
⚫
[[Category:American inventors]]
[[Category:People from Akron, Ohio]]
[[Category:People from Akron, Ohio]]
[[Category:People from Lorain, Ohio]]
[[Category:People from Lorain, Ohio]]
[[Category:Balloon flight record holders]]
[[Category:American aviation record holders]]
⚫
[[Category:20th-century American inventors]]

Latest revision as of 17:18, 9 June 2024

Ward Van Orman
Born(1894-09-02)September 2, 1894
Lorain, Ohio
DiedMarch 11, 1978(1978-03-11) (aged 83)
Akron, Ohio
NationalityAmerican
Known forBalloon races of 1920s-1933
AwardsWon the Gordon Bennett Cup in ballooning in 1926, 1929, 1930[1]
Aviation career
Full nameWard Tunte Van Orman
First flight1918
Flight license1918

Ward Tunte Van Orman (September 2, 1894 in Lorain, Ohio – March 11, 1978) was an American engineer, inventor and balloonist. A lifelong employee of Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company credited with invention of Goodyear's inflatable life raft[2] and self-sealing fuel tank,[3] Van Orman set an unprecedented record of winning five annual National Balloon Races (including the first ever Litchfield Trophy issued by Goodyear's Paul Litchfield in 1925), participating in ten and winning three International Gordon Bennett Races (1926, 1929, 1930).[1]

Biography

[edit]

Born in Lorain, Ohio, Van Orman was inclined to science and mechanics since childhood. At school he managed to save enough cash to enroll in Case School of Applied Science.[4] In 1917 he graduated with a perfect 4.0 GPA and joined the staff of Goodyear in Akron, Ohio;[4] in 1918 he qualified for a balloon and airship pilot's license. His first invention, a leakproof cover for gasoline tanks, was filed in 1921 and patented in 1928;[5] eventually, he developed reliable self-sealing fuel tanks.[3] Later in life, Van Orman (who preferred to be called simply "Van")[4] considered his inventions, and not the record flights, his greatest accomplishments.[3]

During the 1925 International Race Van Orman performed world's first emergency night landing of a balloon on a deck of a steamship at high seas.[6] The race took off June 9, 1925 at Brussels; at first the Goodyear III balloon floated over France towards Spain but then a change in wind dragged it into Atlantic Ocean. Van Orman's partner, Carl Wollam, desperate about inevitable death by drowning, intoxicated himself with cognac and attempted suicide at least twice.[6] As Van Orman struggled to restrain Wollam from jumping overboard, he noticed navigation lights of a ship that turned out to be a small German freighter, Vaterland.[7] Van Orman flashed morse code messages to the captain, who assisted the landing by turning on all available lighting and steering the ship towards the descending balloon.[7] The balloon safely landed on Vaterland's forward deck.[8] Van Orman and captain Rudolf Norman remained friends for life.[1] This flight was the longest in the 1925 International Race, but Van Orman was disqualified and denied the Gordon Bennett trophy according to the race rules requiring landing to be on land.[7] Fifty years after this event, Van Orman was still bitterly hurt by the disqualification: "the memory of that unfair decision never has grown dim".[7]

May 30, 1928. Van Orman (left) and Walter Morton check instruments prior to the fatal flight that killed Morton

Van Orman picked a new partner, Walter Morton, and easily won the 1926 National Race, qualifying for this year's International Race. He won the 1926 Gordon Bennett Trophy flying from Antwerp to Solvesborg in Sweden.[9] The win automatically qualified them to the next year's International Race, where Orman and Morton came third.

The National Race of 1928, held on May 30 in Pittsburgh, turned out a disaster. Lightning strikes downed three aircraft, including Van Orman's. A direct thunderbolt killed Morton instantly and ignited hydrogen in the gas bag.[10] The balloon's basket fell from three thousand feet, supported by a "parachute" of what remained of its gas bag. Van Orman, unconscious in his basket,[11] survived the impact[10] without serious injuries.[11]

I was looking directly at the flash... hardly thicker than my finger ... it passed within two feet of my eyes. I had time after the flash to look up over the edge of the 'rain dodger' we had spread across the top of the basket and note that the bottom of the bag apparently was still intact. Probably it was two or three seconds after the flash before the concussion knocked me unconscious. How high we were, I don't know.
When I came to, my head was lying outside the basket, with rain falling on my head. I felt Mortom beside me...
Van Orman, 1928[12]

Van Orman survived other, less inspiring incidents: once he was assaulted by an unidentified man, allegedly hired by one of Van Orman's competitors; on another occasion during prohibition he landed a balloon in the middle of an illegal distillery operation, and was confronted by bootleggers wielding shotguns who mistook him for a federal agent.[11] During the 1933 National Race Van Orman's balloon flew deep into Canadian forests. He and his partners wandered through the wilderness, starving; back at home they were already considered dead. Finally, they reached a telephone line running through the forest; they chopped down a pole, severing the line, expecting that a repair crew will eventually locate them. After this incident Van Orman, a single parent (his first wife died in 1932), quit balloon racing.[11]

After retiring from active ballooning sport Van Orman served as a researcher with Goodyear until 1962. His works ranged from fuel tanks to developing waterproof fabrics for diving suits[13] and airtight zippers for pressure suits.[3] In retirement Van Orman, a shriner, travelled across the country as a motivational speaker, periodically flying hot air balloons until the final year or two of his life.[3] He died of a stroke in 1978 and was buried at Rose Hill cemetery in Akron, Ohio.[3]

Van Orman authored an autobiography, The wizard of the winds (ISBN 0878390324), published posthumously in 1978.

Notes and references

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c Elliott, p.2
  2. ^ Vaeth, p. 53
  3. ^ a b c d e f Elliott, p. 4
  4. ^ a b c Elliott, p. 1
  5. ^ "U.S. patent 1,662,018". 1928.
  6. ^ a b Vaeth, p. 39
  7. ^ a b c d Vaeth, p. 40
  8. ^ "Riding The Winds", by Van Orman, February 1931, Popular Mechanics full story by author on the night landing on Vaterland
  9. ^ Vaeth, p. 41
  10. ^ a b Vaeth, p. 78
  11. ^ a b c d Elliott, p. 2
  12. ^ Can flyers conquer thundebolts?. Popular Mechanics. October 1928. Retrieved 2009-04-25. pp. 536-537.
  13. ^ "U. S. Patent 2,391,282". 1945.

Sources

[edit]
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