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The History of Hot Air
Ballooning |
The First Acensions
Why flight?
Since
the beginning of time, man has wanted to float through the sky like
a bird. From fashioning huge feathered wings to creating complex
machines, many people have tried to take to the skies unsuccessfully
throughout history. However, it was the Montgolfier brothers of
France that discovered the secret.
What was the
secret?
The Montgolfier brothers were paper makers in
France in the 1700's. It is said that one of the brothers got the
idea for creating a balloon after watching an article of clothing
being lifted into the air from the smoke of a nearby fireplace.
Their balloon project was begun.
How did it
work?
The brothers, using paper and linen, constructed
their balloon. On June 5th of 1783, a crowd gathered to watch as
they positioned it over an open straw fire, hoping the balloon would
fill with hot smoke and float away, proving their theory. To
everyone's amazement, it worked! What many spectators didn't know
was that it wasn't the smoke that was making the balloon
soar.
What causes balloons to
fly?
In reality, it was the heat generated by the fire
that caused their little balloon to fly over the countryside of
France. When the air inside of a balloon is heated more than the air
outside the balloon, it is less dense, and therefore rises. That
explains the name "lighter than air flight" - the air inside the
balloon is lighter than the rest!
Who were the first balloon
passengers?
After several more test flights, the
Montgolfier Brothers decided it was time to send some passengers
aloft. The first balloon passengers were not people - but a duck, a
chicken, and a sheep! Then, on November 21st, 1783, a physicist
named Jean-Francois Pilatre de Rozier and an army major named the
Marquis Francois d'Arlandes took flight in a Montgolfier balloon.
The flight was watched by nearly all of Paris, including King Louis
XVI, and Marie Antoinette! After 25 magical minutes of flight, they
landed safely outside Paris, and with much celebration.
New experiments in
flight
Birth of the Gas
Balloon
It was a short time later, in December of
1783, that another adventurous man, Jacques Alexandre Charles, made
an ascension in a different type of balloon - the gas balloon.
Charles' balloon was similar in shape, but instead of being filled
with hot air from a fire, it was filled with lighter than air
hydrogen gas. This style of balloon is referred to as a "Charliere"
balloon, named for Charles. After one of the Montgolfier brothers
sent up a small test balloon, Charles ascended safely from the
Tuileries Gardens with one passenger, the Duke of Chartres. After a
successful two hour journey, Charles dropped his passenger off and
ascended to a height of some 9,000 feet! His success left many
scientific minds to wonder which aeronaut's methods were the most
favorable - the Montgolfier's or Charles'?
The first "ride
balloon"
There was a great deal of interest and
experimentation going on in France at this time. Everyone wnated to
master this mysterious and magical art of flying. In 1784, Joseph
Montgolfier launched a new, giant balloon called "La Flesselles"
from Lyons. Its 22 foot wide wicker basket carried 7 passengers
aloft to a height of over 3,000 feet. It is said that though the
flight was a bit rough at times, all passengers were thrilled with
the voyage.
Ballooning spreads across the
globe
Experimental flights were now being conducted in
nearly all of Europe. Both men and women adventurers built balloons
to take them to the skies. Balloon mania even reached the United
States, and in June of 1784, the first aerial voyage was made in the
States from Baltimore. The passenger was a 13 year old
boy.
After a successful free flight in England was
made by Vincent Lunardi in September of 1784, a new goal was set by
a pair of intrepid aeronauts - Jean-Pierre Blanchard and his
companion, Dr. Jeffries. On January 7th, 1785, they completed an
aerial crossing of the English Channel. The team traveled from Dover
to Calais in a Charliere Balloon.
The Rozier
Disaster
Another style of balloon was created, not a
Montgolfier, with it's open flame, or a Charliere with it's bag of
hydrogen, but a combination of the two - a Roziere Balloon. Pilatre
de Rozier, following in the footsteps of Blanchard and Jeffries,
hoped to cross the English Channel from the opposite direction.
Shortly after his June 15th , 1785 ascension, the deadly combination
of hydrogen and fire exploded, killing both de Rozier and his
passenger. This was to be the first balloon related death. Much
debate surrounded his death about the safety of a Roziere Balloon.
Interestingly enough, over 200 years later, it would be a Roziere
Balloon that would carry aeronauts Bertrand Piccard and Brian JOnes
safely and successfully around the world! But we are getting ahead
of our story...
Ballooning Popularity
"Soars"
By the late 1700's balloon ascensions were
taking place all over. Balloons were used for battle reconnaisance,
a school of Aeronautics was formed in France, and balloons were
called on to celebrate the coronation and the marriage of the
Emporer Napolean. In 1793, Blanchard made a flight before George
Washington, in Philadelphia. In 1836, a distance record of some 373
miles was set in a balloon piloted by Charles Green. He travelled
from London to Holland aboard his balloon "The Royal
Vauxhall".
With all the excitement ballooningmiles was set
in a balloon piloted by Charles Green. He travelled from London to
Holland aboard his balloon "The Royal Vauxhall".
With all the excitement ballooning spurred,
would-be aeronauts began to think of greater acheivements. In July
of 1859, the American pilot John Wise made a voyage from St. Louis
to New York state, covering a distance of 803 miles in 20 hours. It
was his dream to take his balloon "The Atlantic" across the Atlantic
Ocean!
Next... A Century of Records, and the Birth
of Modern Ballooning! | 