About Ed Yost
Paul Edward Yost was the American inventor of the modern hot air balloon and is referred to as the "Father of the Modern Day Hot-Air Balloon." He worked for a high-altitude research division of General Mills in the early 1950s until he left to establish Raven Industries in 1956, along with several colleagues from General Mills. Yost and Fleta Ferne Burman Yost, Paul Edward Yost first became involved in lighter-than-air ballooning when he leased his single-engine plane to General Mills to track their gas balloons. In October 1955, Yost developed and flew the first prototype of the modern hot-air balloon in a tethered flight.
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