Guest Author - Erin Caslavka
If old MacDonald's farm had been in France, he might have been the one to supply the world's premiere hot air balloon flight with its first passengers...
On September 18, 1783 at the Palace of Versailles, two French brothers – Joseph and Etienne Montgolfier – launched a hot air balloon that carried a duck, a rooster, and a sheep. Although the brothers had hoped to make the first “manned” flight themselves, they had promised their father that they wouldn’t risk their lives trying. Yet after the eight-minute historic flight was completed, (which was witnessed by King Louis XVI and his court), and the animals were brought safely back to Earth, the Montgolfiers pressed the king for permission to send humans (other than themselves) into the air.
The Montgolfiers remained with their feet firmly planted on the ground, and two months later they sent Pilatre de Rosier and the Marquis d’Arlandes aloft for a ride that lasted over 20 minutes. The two men stood inside a gondola that was divided into three parts: two side compartments for them, and the center space for a burner that was fueled by burning straw.
Reaching an altitude of 1,000 meters, the balloon flight caused quite a sensation in France. Scientists got involved, added hydrogen, and subsequent balloon flights went higher and stayed up longer. This prompted the construction of a giant balloon and gondola that carried passengers from England to France across the English Channel.
When de Rosier learned of this, he decided to cross in the opposite direction. However, his balloon (a hybrid that used burning fuel and hydrogen) was deemed dangerous by Joseph Montgolfier and he implored the Frenchman not to go; de Rosier ignored the warning.
In January 1785, de Rosier attempted to cross the English Channel, but shortly after lift-off the balloon caught fire. Ironically, the accident resulted in de Rosier being the first man to have ever flown, as well as the first man to have ever died, in a hot air balloon...
With his death, the enthusiasm for ballooning also passed and it became the focus of more scientific, or military endeavors. During the Franco-Prussian War, when Paris was completely cut-off from the outside world by the invading army, Parisians used balloons to carry the mail and important politicians into and out of the city. This led to the formation of the Aero Club de France, a group founded to promote the development of manned flight.
It took almost 100 years for ballooning to regain its popularity with the public, an almost direct result of American Sid Cutter, who founded a small balloon rally that has today grown into the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, the largest gathering of balloons in the world.
