Ed Yost invented the modern propane-fueled hot-air balloon system.
American engineer Paul Edward Yost developed the key equipment that made modern hot-air ballooning practical: a lightweight envelope, a basket, and a propane burner capable of repeatedly heating the air inside the envelope. On 22 October 1960, Yost made the first flight of a modern hot-air balloon near Bruning, Nebraska.
Earlier balloons, including the Montgolfiers’ designs, used fires of straw, wood, or other fuel beneath the envelope. Those methods produced smoke and made sustained control difficult. Yost’s burner provided a compact, controllable heat source that could be operated during flight.
Yost’s work is often confused with the invention of the first hot-air balloon itself, which belongs to the Montgolfier brothers in the eighteenth century. His major contribution was creating the practical modern form used for sport, sightseeing, and competition today.