Don Piccard
XAP Creator, Executive Officer, Primary Pilot
Don Piccard is a member of the well known Piccard exploring family of scientists, the son of Jean and Jeannette and the nephew of Auguste. XAP is the result of a life long interest in balloon development. His invention of the bulbous gore tetroon coupled with the combination of it with an orthodox hot air balloon comprise the basic enablement of XAP.
Piccard holds the FAI Spherical Balloon Pilot's License and an FAA Commercial Pilot's Certificate, rated in gas and hot air balloons. He holds numerous U.S. patents in balloon design, aircraft pick up, air supported structures and fluid packaging. He has acquired several FAA Type and Supplemental Type Certificates and Production Certificates (When acquired by an individual, the T.C. has been equated to a Ph. D. dissertation in its depth of creativity, research and extent.)
Piccard's experience includes design, construction and flight of a great number of different balloons including over a dozen record flights in altitude and distance. He was the first to pilot a manned polyester balloon, the first plastic Pleiades (cluster) balloon and the first Mylar Pleiades balloon. He has flown in balloons using Helium, Hydrogen, Coal Gas, Methane and even Anhydrous Ammonia as lifting agents. He has designed, built and flown balloons using the traditional net suspension, netless catenary curtain suspension and "Natural Shape" constructions. His experience includes flights with gas membranes of natural rubber, synthetic rubber and various urethane and acrylic plastic coatings as well as cotton, nylon, Dacron and even paper fabrics.
Piccard's innovations ("Firsts") in the balloon industry include the Velcro cuff deflation port ("Belly Button Rip Panel"), the quick fill sport gas balloon ("Natural Shape", N1 - The Jack Kelley - as an example), the hot air balloon skirt, hot air balloon load tapes, Kevlar suspension tapes, great circle Velcro rip panel seams, the bulbous gore and the new tubular gore, as some examples.
We don't know what XAP will bring, but we are confident that Piccard, and his well chosen team, will be able to extrapolate from this extensive previous experience to satisfactorily surmount any obstacles that occur.