Even in this day and age of airplanes, space
shuttles and drones, hot air balloons still
capture the imagination.
Majestic, large, and often colorful, there’s
something truly incredible about watching
a hot-air balloon in flight.
And it was with hot air balloons that man
first ventured into the heavens.
Despite this, while most can name the inventors
of the first airplane to achieve sustained
flight, few have any idea who invented the
first hot air balloon capable of carrying
a human.
Allow us to rectify this.
In the pre-modern world, there were plenty
of examples that can be considered a precursor
to hot air balloons.
For example, sometime starting around the
fourth century BC, the Chinese first started
using “fire balloons” or what we know
today as “Chinese lanterns” as signals
during warfare, to send letters and to commemorate
festivals.
Using virtually the same concept as hot air
balloons, the lanterns are lifted up by a
candle that heats air.
As for a more scientific approach to things
in more modern times, in early 17th century,
Galileo proved that air had weight.
After that came a series of experiments and
ideas around creating something that was lighter
than air.
Considered the “father of aeronautics,”
Jesuit Italian priest Francesco Lana-Terzi
drew up plans for what is basically a flying
boat.
According to Lana-Terzi’s written and drawn
explanations, the system used round spheres
with air vacuumed out, therefore making them
lighter than air, and thus making the vessel
float.
While impractical given technology of the
age, he was on the right track.
Several decades later in 1709, in front of
King John V Portuguese priest Bartolomeu de
Gusmão showed off a small paper balloon that
levitated to the palace ceiling.
But this was a far cry from being able to
transport a human.
This bring us to the late eighteenth century
when the Montgolfier brothers took up the
task of perfecting hot-air balloons.
Born into a family of paper manufacturers
in Annonay, France, Joseph and Ètienne were
set for a comfortable life producing scrolls
until, as legend has it, Joseph keenly observed
a phenomenon while watching laundry dry over
a fire.
With smoke rising from the fire, billows of
air formed in the clothes’ fabric, pushing
the garment up and creating bubbles of air.
Not quite understanding what was happening,
he believed that the smoke had a special gas
in it - which he named after himself, Montgolfier
Gas.
Whether that's all really how inspiration
struck or not, thinking that such a flying
instrument concept could be used for military
advantage, he got his brother on board to
investigate further what Joseph would later
call a “cloud in a paper bag.”
June 4, 1783 was the first demonstration of
a Montgolfier balloon in the marketplace of
their hometown of Annonay.
Made from taffeta, fabric and paper materials
and weighing 500 pounds, the balloon actually
floated to an estimated altitude of 6,000
feet (1.8 km).
Knowing they were on to something, they made
their way to Paris to showcase their invention.
And so it was that in September of 1783, King
Louis XVI and his wife Marie Antoinette, along
with 130,000 curious French citizens - stood
in the Palace of Versailles’ courtyard to
witness a demonstration of this modern marvel.
Thirty feet in diameter, the colorful balloon
was made from taffeta (a type of silk) and
coated with a fireproofing alum varnish.
It was decorated with golden flourishes, bright
yellow suns (for King Louie, who was known
as the “Sun King”) and zodiac signs.
A wicker basket was suspended from the bottom
of the balloon, in which resided the first
living passengers to experience a hot-air
balloon ride.
While Louis XVI had apparently suggested using
prisoners for this test flight, what the brothers
actually decided to use was a duck, a rooster
and a sheep.
With a rousing cheer, the balloon was filled
with hot air, untethered and lifted off.
After the balloon landed safely in the woods
after an eight minute and two mile flight,
the animals were described as not having suffered
a bit, reportedly, “to say the least, much
astonished.”
(Though we’re guessing, contrary to what
was reported, this would have been a bit of
an exaggeration with regards to the duck.)
The first hot-air balloon flight with passengers
was a success.
A month after animals, physics and chemistry
teacher Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier
was the first human to take a trip in a tethered
hot air balloon.
On November 21, 1783, Rozier was joined by
a French military officer named Marquis d'Arlandes
in a Montgolfier hot air balloon.
After several practice runs to get the feel
for how to work the balloon, de Rozier and
d’Arlandes finally made the first untethered
flight with human passengers, leaving at 2:00
p.m. from the garden of the Château de la
Muette to the Butte-aux-Cailles.
This 25 minute flight covered about 5 1/2
miles (9 km) with the balloon reaching an
altitude of nearly 3,000 feet (0.9 km).
At the completion of the flight, there was
enough fuel left to have allowed the balloon
to go nearly four to five times as far, but
parts of the balloon itself started to catch
on fire, so they chose to land early.
Upon landing, the pilots drank champagne to
celebrate, which started the tradition still
sometimes maintained by balloonists to this
day.
None other than American great Ben Franklin,
who was serving as United States’ ambassador
to France, was in attendance for this historic
moment when man first slipped the surly bonds
of earth.
Franklin later wrote in his journal about
what he witnessed that day,
“We observed it lift off in the most majestic
manner.
When it reached around 250 feet in altitude,
the intrepid voyagers lowered their hats to
salute the spectators.
We could not help feeling a certain mixture
of awe and admiration.
“
However, with flight came danger.
On June 15, 1785, Rozier accomplished another
first - the first to die in a balloon accident
when his balloon (filled with hydrogen and
hot air) exploded while he attempted to fly
across the English Channel.
And so it was that another Frenchman, Jean-Pierre-François
Blanchard and his American financer for the
trip, John Jeffries, became the first to cross
the English Channel in a balloon, though not
without difficulty.
In fact, as the trip progressed, it became
very apparent they were too heavy, and unfortunately
for the duo, neither could swim.
Thus, they ditched their ballast bags first,
then when still skimming just above the water
ditched a bag of mail they were supposed to
deliver.
Next, they chucked a bottle of brandy they
had overboard.
Next went a barometer, a thermometer, and
a telescope.
Still not rising much, Blanchard stripped
completely naked, while Jeffries decided to
keep his undergarments, but threw the rest
overboard.
They also ditched their anchor and eventually
steering equipment.
Yet through all of this, still they found
themselves dangerously close to the water.
That’s when Jeffries later stated, “We
were able to obtain, I verily believe, between
five and six pounds of urine, which circumstance,
however trivial or ludicrous it may seem,
I have reason to believe, was of real utility
to us.”
Even with all of this, the bottom of the basket
still touched the water just as they were
coming into site of the shore.
It was at this point that the two men grabbed
their cork life jackets, preparing to sink.
As luck would have it, however, a large gust
of wind came up and pushed the balloon up
into the air and towards the shore.
Ultimately the craft settled over the Felmores
Forest where the balloon caught some branches
and the pair ultimately safely landed.
They soon found some locals willing to lend
them some clothes and give them a ride into
town.
Becoming somewhat of a celebrity, Blanchard
took his balloon show on the road and became
the first to fly in a balloon in several countries.
For example, in 1794, Blanchard took off from
Philadelphia in front of George Washington,
who had expressed his fascination with ballooning
in numerous letters.
Because Blanchard was not an American citizen,
Washington gave him a written “passport”
guaranteeing him rightful and safe passage
no matter where he landed in the country.
45 minutes later, Blanchard landed in Gloucester
County, New Jersey.
By mid-19th century, ballooning had been established
as little more than an exciting novelty.
It was Thaddeus Lowe who first successfully
showed it could be used for military purposes.
A self-taught meteorologist, Lowe was using
balloons to help his studies of the weather,
but when the Civil War broke out in April
of 1861, Lowe knew he could be of help to
the Union.
On April 19th, 1861, he took off in his balloon
from his home state of Kentucky in hopes of
landing on the White House front lawn so he
could impress President Lincoln.
Instead, he landed in South Carolina - Confederate
territory.
After taking a train, he ended up meeting
Lincoln in June of 1861 and convinced him
that balloons would make the perfect surveillance
equipment.
On Sept 24th, 1861, he ascended more than
1000 feet in the air in Arlington and spotted
Confederate troops over three miles away.
Relaying that information to the Union, the
Confederates were attacked a short time later.
Lowe and his balloon would prove to be invaluable
to the Union, creating a tactical advantage
for the remaining days of the War.
Because of his constant presence behind enemy
lines, Lowe is known as the Civil War’s
“most-shot-at man.”
As the years went on, balloons continued to
improve and capture the imagination.
The late 20th century still had a few firsts
for hot air balloons, including the first
Atlantic crossing in 1987 and the first Pacific
crossing in 1991.
Finally, in 2002 Steve Fossett completed the
first nonstop around-the-world trip in a hot
air balloon.
No doubt, the duck, rooster and sheep would
have been impressed.
Bonus Fact:
• The first ever helium inflated airship,
the USS Shenandoah, was destroyed after getting
caught up in an extreme updraft, resulting
in it ascending rapidly from 2,100 ft to 6,200
ft (640 m to 1889 m) and then subsequently
being able to descend, but then getting caught
up in an even more severe updraft, bursting
some of its helium bags and breaking the keel.
The ship was torn apart and crashed to the
ground in pieces.
Amazingly, 29 of the 43 crew managed to survive
the crash by taking refuge in three different
pieces of the ship that still had at least
some loft as they descended, rather than a
free fall.
Unlucky for them, most who survived this crash
later died on the Akron airship, which broke
up and sunk in the Atlantic, killing 73 of
the crew (3 survived).
The Akron crash at the time was the deadliest
in aviation history.
It’s also noteworthy here that the J-3 blimp
sent to search for survivors of the Akron
crash also crashed into the ocean, though
in this case only two people died.
Fool me once…
It’s also noteworthy that the USS Shenandoah
would not have been destroyed at all had Commander
Lansdowne’s superiors listened to him.
The flight it was destroyed in was made under
protest as Commander Lansdowne knew that late
Summer weather in Ohio often had weather conditions
unsuitable for flying an airship through.
However, because of the expense of the airship,
military brass felt that they couldn’t afford
delays or a cancellation of the flight as
the airship had been extremely expensive and
they needed to show it off to help sway taxpayers
to view the ship
more favorably.
