Flight 12: Released from Lakehurst, New Jersey, 0714 EST, August 5, 1947
Recovered at Smyrna, Delaware
This flight saw the first use of several new items. The balloon was the first .001" polyethylene cell flown; a 397 mc (T-69) transmitter was flown, with radio direction-finding equipment used to track the balloon; a 3 mc (AM-1) transmitter was tested for the first time and the first model of a minimum-pressure switch was provided to activate the automatic ballast valve. The equipment train for this flight is illustrated in Figure 9.
[figure]
Figure 9: Train, Flight 12
Measurements in the hangar prior to release indicated that lift losses from leakage and diffusion were about 200 grams per hour, and in addition
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