A Felix the Cat balloon, followed by Terrible Turk and Willie Red Bird balloons are led down Broadway during the annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, 24th November 1932. Photo: George Rinhart ...

Interestingly, we wouldn’t see the first Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade balloon for three years. In 1927, the parade took to the skies, with Felix the Cat as the first balloon to travel the route.

Narrator:Felix Baumgartner's mission depends entirely on one of the least heralded but most remarkable pieces of equipment a balloon. Narrator:It's the oldest flying machine of them all.