Ballooning

The first kind of air transportation was not a plane. It was balloon. People traveled by balloon a hundred years before there were planes or jet aircraft. Those early days of ballooning were exciting, but they were also dangerous. Sometimes the balloons fell suddenly. Sometimes they burned. However, the danger did not stop the balloonists.

The first real balloon flight was in france in 1783. Two Frenchmen, the Montgolfier brothers, made a balloon. They filled a very large cloth bag with hot air. Hot air is lighter than cold air, so it goes up. The Montgolfier's hot air balloon went up 1000 feet in the sky.

The first kind of air transportation was not a plane. It was balloon. People traveled by balloon a hundred years before there were planes or jet aircraft. Those early days of ballooning were exciting, but they were also dangerous. Sometimes the balloons fell suddenly. Sometimes they burned. However, the danger did not stop the balloonists.

The first real balloon flight was in france in 1783. Two Frenchmen, the Montgolfier brothers, made a balloon. They filled a very large cloth bag with hot air. Hot air is lighter than cold air, so it goes up. The Montgolfier's hot air balloon went up 1000 feet in the sky.

Later that same year, two other Frenchmen ascended in a basket under a balloon. They built a fire under the balloon to make the air hot. This made the balloon stay up in the air for a few hours. But their balloon was tied to the ground. So it could not go anywhere.

The First free balloon flight was in December 1783. The balloon flew for twenty-five minutes over Paris. It traveled about five and one half miles. Flying a balloon is not like flying a plane. The balloons has no engines and therefore no power of its own. The wind direct the balloon. It goes where the wind blows. The pilot can control only the altitude of the balloon. They can raise and lower the balloon to find the right wind direction. That is how a good pilot controls where the balloon goes.

Soon balloonists tried longer flights. A major event in the story of ballooning was the first long flight over water. In 1785, an American and a Frenchmen flew over the English Channel. They left England on a cold, clear January day. After about an hour, their balloon began descend toward the water. They threw out some equipment and food to make the balloon lighter. The balloons continued to fall, so they threw out almost everything in the basket- even some of their clothes. Finally after about three hours, they landed in france, cold but safe.

During the nineteenth century, ballooning became a popular sport. There were balloon races in europe. Balloons were also used by scientists to study the air and by armies in wartime. After the airplane was invented, people lost interest in ballons. Planes were much faster and easier to control. But some people today still like to go up in balloons. High up in the balloon basket, they find quiet. They have a wonderful view of the world below.