Leo Stevens | New England Aviation History

Near Providence, RI – November 19, 1910

April 10, 2015

Near Providence, RI – November 19, 1910

On November 19, 1910, the balloon Cleveland, took off from North Adams, Massachusetts, with five men aboard. The craft was piloted by Leo Stevens, and carrying four Williams College students as passengers.

Strong winds on the ground delayed the ascension for nearly an hour, but when it finally took to the sky the balloon “shot up like a rocket” before being carried away in an easterly direction. Three hours and thirty-five minutes later the balloon was over Rhode Island approaching Providence when it began to lose altitude. Ballast was dropped, but the balloon continued to fall, and appeared to heading for a large lake. The aeronauts were forced to strip off their clothing to lighten the weight in order to avoid a water landing. The tactic worked, and the balloon sailed across the lake before crashing onto the far shore.

Upon impact, one of the occupants, H.P. Scharman was pitched out and received serious injuries. Thus relieved of significant weight, the balloon suddenly rose upwards leaving Scharman behind. It then continued onward several hundred feet, propelled forward by heavy winds, before it slammed into a stone wall. The crash sent the others tumbling out causing relatively minor injuries.

Source: New York Times, “Balloon Up In Gale, Spills Aviators”, November 20, 1910

Dalton, MA – July 29, 1908

October 10, 2015

Dalton, Massachusetts – July 29, 1908

On July 29, 1908, a large gas balloon, Heart of the Berkshires, ascended from the Pittsfield Aero Park with three men aboard. There was Leo Stevens, the owner, and Allen R. Hawley, both of New York, as well as C. R. Van Sicle of Pittsfield.

As the balloon drifted over the nearby town of Dalton, it was suddenly caught in a powerful updraft and rapidly carried to an altitude of 7,00o feet, and was still rising. Stevens did what he could to slow the balloon by releasing some of the gas form the envelope, all the while the drag rope, which usually hung below the gondola, was being slapped against the side of the balloon by the strong draft threatening to tear a hole in it.

When the balloon reached 10,000 feet the updraft died away, but now, with the envelope relieved of much of its buoyant gas, the balloon began a rapid descent. All excess weight was jettisoned from the gondola to slow the fall, which included ropes, ballast bags, and anything else they could think of. The rate of fall slowed, but it was clear they couldn’t remain airborne.

As they neared the ground they saw they would be coming down in a field where men were at work cutting hay. One was operating a large mowing machine which it appeared the balloon was heading straight for. Stevens and the others tried to shout warnings, but the operator evidently couldn’t hear them. At the last moment he looked up and saw what was happening, and barely got out of the way in the nick of time.

The balloon struck the ground, but no injuries were reported.

Source: (Woonsocket, R.I.) Evening Call, July 30, 1908, pg. 1