On May 10, 1964 Barnes designed and constructed a polyethelene A-3 size balloon. The balloon called "Barnes 14A" had a light-
weight insulating foam cabin. Barnes' design resulted in an aerostat that weighed less than 250 pounds including envelope, cabin, ballast, instruments, and pilot. On that flight he achieved an altitude of 38,650 feet and established 7 world altitude records. When the FAI later increased the number of balloons sizes from 10 to 15 he was awarded a total of 11 records for this flight for balloon sizes AA-3 through AA-13. It was the first manned hydrogen filled polyethelene balloon. These flight records still stand today.