The First Balloon Flights

In 1782 French silk maker Joseph- Michel Montgolfier made a model hot air balloon. Montgolfier burned scraps of wool or straw to warm the air inside his balloon. Because the hot air was less dense than the surrounding air, the bal­loon rose successfully. Montgolfier and his brother Jacques-Etienne then flew a larger balloon in the town square. Next, they set off for the French capital of Paris, where scientist Jacques Charles was working on a rival balloon. This balloon was to be filled with hydrogen, the lightest of all gases. Naturally light gases work in the same way as hot air – they rise because they are lighter than the air surrounding them.

Charles demonstrated the hydrogen balloon (without a passenger) on August 27, 1783. It rose to about 3,000 feet (915 meters). Undeterred, the Montgolfiers brought out their own balloon. It was 72 feet (22 meters) high and 43 feet (13 meters) in diameter. On September 19, 1783, watched by King Louis XVI and other amazed spectators, the balloon rose in the air, carrying a sheep, a duck, and a chicken. It flew for eight minutes, traveled 2 miles (3.2 kilometers), reached an estimated altitude of 1,500 feet (457 meters), and landed safely.

Jean-Frangois Pilatre de Rozier vol­unteered to ride on the next flight, and he ascended to 84 feet (25.6 meters). The balloon was tethered to the ground with a rope. On November 21, 1783, de Rozier rose into the air again, accompa­nied by the Marquis d’Arlandes. This

time there was no rope tether, and the men flew for 25 minutes, traveling 5 miles (8 kilometers) and rising to 3,000 feet (914 meters). For the first time, people had taken to the air and stayed in flight. In December 1783 Charles flew in his hydrogen bal­loon for about 26 miles (42 kilo­meters).