Pioneering Aeronaut Don Piccard passes at 95

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I'm not sure how many LTA Pilots we have on Ferrari Chat but those who are on here will certainly recognize the name. Don was the son and nephew of the famous Swiss brothers who at one point held both the absolute altitude record in their balloon as well as the depth record in their bathyscaphe. His mother Jeannette was also a record holder in her own right. Don was one of the three people jointly credited with the invention of the modern Hot Air Balloon. He and Ed Yost were the first to cross the English Channel in a hot air balloon. (Don's nephew Bertrand was the first person to fly a balloon around the World). Don later opened a Sport Balloon manufacturing business in California. I was, at one point, one of his dealers having owned and learned to fly in a Piccard AX-6. One of Don's baskets was featured on the album cover of The 5th Dimension'***** "Up, Up and Away in my Beautiful Balloon."
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One of my favorite pictures of Don was this shot from one of his sales brochures. You can see I'm dating myself when you see what he's holding in his hand.
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Yes, a slide rule. Don's balloon designs were very distinctive; very bulbous; nary a straight line on any cut panel. Don retired to Minnesota later in life but was a fixture; dare I say character, in ballooning circles right up to his passing this on Monday September 14th.

I have many fun memories of meeting Don over the years, but one time in the 70's in Indianola, IA at the annual National Balloon Meet, he was driving a Mercedes 450SLC. I kept walking around it trying to figure out what it was about the car that was off. It took me a few circles to realize his front license plate said HELIUM and his rear plate said HOT AIR. That's the kind of clever fellow he was.