History
History of Ballooning
In the 13th Century the German philosopher Albertus Magnus observed that
a bladder one blows up with air warmed by the lungs will be measurably
lighter than when it is empty. His argument was concerned with the theory
of relative weights; he gave no consideration to practical applications.
Two hundred years after Albertus, the Venetian inventor Giovanni de Fontana
conceived of making from thick cloth and rings of wood, a pyramid of very
great size, and firmly tying across the diameter of the circle at the
base a bar of wood, on which a man may sit or ride, holding in his hands
burning brands made of pitch and tallow or other material producing intense
fire which is long-lasting and creates a great deal of smoke. He suggested
that because of the fire the air enclosed within the pyramid would be
made lighter and rarer, and consequently that as it would move upwards,
and could not, of course, escape, the pyramid and the man sitting in it
would be raised. On attempting to fly this invention he condemned it as
foolhardy and dangerous.
In August 8,1709 Bartholomeu de Gusmao of Brazil is said to have made the first successful assension with a hot-air balloon called the Passarola. He is said to have built and lit a fire in an earthenware bowl suspended beneath a balloon made of thick paper. He apparently demonstrated this indoors in the presence of the king and queen of Portugal. According to the reports the model rose several feet into the air. But this accounts is open to question. In order to be sufficiently light, a small balloon needs to be made of thin rather than thick paper, while any model small enough to be conveniently flown indoors would be incapable of lifting an earthenware bowl. Whether this is true or not he had the right idea, that air travel by means of the lighter than air principal is a fact.
The Honor of building the first balloon belongs to two brothers Joseph and Etienne Montgolfier, of Annonay, a town in southern France. They were the sons of a wealthy paper manufacturer, and even at an early age they were interested in scientific works on gases especially Joseph Priestley's Experiments and observations on different kinds of Air (1774-1786). And Cavendish”s discovery of the new water-gas produced by iron shavings and a diluted sulfuric acid to produce the hydrogen By 1782 Joseph Montgolfier, working alone, built a balloon, which he filled with the newly discovered hydrogen gas, which was one-fourteenth the weight of atmospheric air. Having found that hydrogen rapidly penetrated envelopes made of paper and silk. Joseph, then forty-two wrote to his brother Etienne thirty-seven and an architect in Paris to procure some taffeta and rope and join him. They turned their attention to the possibilities of using the rarefied air which appeared to be generated by fire, not realizing that the relative lightness of the smoke is almost entirely dependent on its temperature, the Montgolfier brothers experimented with a variety of smoke-producing fuels, including old shoes and rotting meat.
On Monday 5, June 1783 launched a balloon in the Annonay public square. They had built a spherical balloon 33m in circumference which when filled with hot air, needed eight men to hold it down, When the air inside the balloon had been heated, the ties were cut, and the balloon rose to a height of about 1800m before landing two or 3 km away after a flight of 10 minutes.
August 27, 1783 Professor Jacques Charles one of the best-known physicist of the times and two brothers Charles and Marie-Noel Robert, raised 10,000 francs to staged an ascension before the Parisians during a local celebration at the Champ De Mars. Produced a hydrogen filled balloon made of rubber coated silk, which flew for about three-quarters of an hour before landing in Gosness some 25km away, where the peasantry attacked it with agricultural tools, then tied it to a horse to be dragged to complete destruction.
On the 19th September 1783 in Versailes the Montgolfiers successfully released a cloth and paper balloon about 13m in diameter. Although there had been tentative plans to allow a man to fly the king Louis XVI vetoed the attempts as too hazardous. Instead the first passengers in history of modern flight were a sheep, a cock and a duck, flew about 550m before descending after 8 minutes and some 3km from their starting point, the cock was found to be a little worse for wear having probably been sat on by the sheep.
King Louis XVI was persuaded to lift his embargo so that a manned flight might be undertaken. He proposed that a pair of criminals condemned to death should be the first human beings to go aloft. But after protest from Jean Francois Pilatre de Rozier, a museum official, and his friend the Marquis d Árlandes who did not wish to grant such unworthy men the glory, was awarded that honor. The Montgolfier brothers built the most elaborate balloon decorated with striking patterns in rococo style. On 15th October 1783 caution still prevailing with the balloon being kept tethered to a rope about 26m in length. The first manned ascent occurred, lasting about 4.5 minutes and followed later that day by a number of other tethered flights during which Rozier gained experience in controlling the airborne fire, which he fed with straw. On 21 November 1783 the first free flight was made with the same passengers aboard. Shortly after take off, large brown spots appeared on the lower part of the cover and small flames began to lick the rim at the mouth of the balloon. Rozier succeeded in extinguishing the fire with a large wet sponge, but he also had to douse the embers heating the air inside the balloon, and that resulted in a forced landing. They were aloft for about 25 minutes and covered 8km.
On the 1st Dember 1783 from Tuilieries gardens in Paris, Professor Charles in the company of Marie-Noel Robert, successfully accomplished a flight in a hydrogen filled balloon. The hydrogen to fill the balloon was developed in twenty-five barrels and led to a large one for cleaning and cooling before being fed to the balloon. At first the balloon stayed aloft an hour then came down at Nesle. Historians of aeronautics disagree about what happened during the stay of the balloon at Nesle. Some believe that Charles asked Roberts to leave the car so that he might ascend again, solo. Others think that Robert committed almost the worst of all cardinal sins in ballooning - leaving the car before told to by the pilot. Such a decrease in weight caused the balloon to rise again. In any case the balloon took off again and climbed according to his own estimate to an altitude of 1,500 fathoms in twenty minutes. This voyage may not have thrilled Charles for it was the first and last time he ever set foot in a balloon car.
For decades thereafter ballooning was among the most talked of and widely
illustrated subjects and although few people had the resources to undertake
a flight themselves the making and flying of miniature balloons became
something of a craze
By 1785 the English Channel had been crossed. In 1794 The French military
established a balloon corps whose main function was to act as aerial observers.
During the American Civil War 1861-5 the Union army made use of balloon
for reconnaissance and during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 -1 a series
of flights was undertaken by the French to circumvent the siege of Paris.
Before the end of January 1871 a total of 66 balloons had been flown out
of the city carrying passengers, dogs, mail and pigeons.
Scientists especially meteorologist have continued to make effective use of balloons both manned and unmanned. In 1932 The Swiss physict Auguste Picard in an enclosed gondola beneath a balloon climbed to what was then record altitude of 16,000m. By the 1960 US aeronauts had more than doubled this figure a notable flight being that of Commander Malcom d Ross who on 4 may 1961 reached 34, 668 m.
Aviation The Story of Flight by Bill Gunston 1978
The Book of Balloons by Erik Norgaard 1970
SOUTH AFRICAN BALLOON HISTORY
By Terry Adams
Although overseas ballooning events were regularly reported in local newspapers,
it was not until 1885 that the first manned flights took place in South
Africa. Three balloons (part of Sir Charles Warren's Bechuanaland Expedition)
were flown, on tether, at Mafeking under the command of Major H Elsdale.
In the 1890s many showmen balloonists performed throughout the country
with their hot air bags and parachutes. The first and most successful
of these was an American, Professor James William Price, who over a 10-year
period made some 100 flights, and also managed more than a dozen pilots,
both male and female. The first air fatality occurred to one of Price's
students, Mr. Harry Goodall, when he was dashed against rocks during a
demonstration at Jagersfontein on 11 September 1892. Also in January 1892
the well known balloonist from England, Mr. Stanley Spencer toured the
country giving demonstrations and lectures. The Boer War reintroduced
military ballooning with the formation of four balloon units by the Royal
Engineers, which operated throughout the country. These tethered hydrogen
gas balloons were similar to those used at Mafeking, and provided the
army with aerial observation posts for the direction of Artillery fire
and the reconnaissance of enemy camps and troop movements.
In the early 1900s circus troupes added to their repertoire the attraction of ballooning, again of the showman variety of ascending by balloon and descending by parachute. In 1911 the Aeronautical Society of South Africa was formed under Major Rogers. They invited the famous Swiss balloonist Captain Eduard Spelterini to this country. He made three ascents over Johannesburg in July of that year, and between flights gave spectacular slide shows from his large collection of aerial views of the alps, the Pyramids and other interesting places he had flown over. Mr. Sydney Spencer, one of the many sons of the famous London balloon firm of Stanley Spencer & Sons Ltd, was also in SA at this time. He was involved with the Durban Beach balloon in 1911, which unfortunately had a short life, as did its replacement the following year. The next important milestone was a flight over Johannesburg by the Dutch balloonists Nini & Jan Boesman in 1958. They returned again in 1966 for an extended tour with two gas balloons.
The
first modern hot-air balloon arrived in 1969, owned by American Ted Peterson.
The first local aeronaut, Mr. McClennon, flew in 1970, followed by Dr
Frank Schikkinger in 1972. Dr Schikkkinger founded the Balloon Section
of the Aero Club of South Africa that same year. 1976 saw the first International
Balloon Race take place from Johannesburg to Durban when 16 international
pilots competed in the Southern Sun Meet. After that, ballooning gained
a firm footing with the formation of the Pioneer Balloon Club by Jeanette
and Mike van Ginkel and friends, and in 1977 the first South African manufactured
balloon a Flamboyant AX7 ZS-HOT "Angel Baby" took to the skies.