x planes

aeronauts: end of part 1

Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier, one of the two people to first ascend in an untethered manned balloon flight, became the first person to die in an aviation accident.

On July 15th 1785, in an attempt to emulate the flight made by Pierre Blanchard and Dr Jeffries, de Rozier and his young assistant Pierre Romain set off from Boulogne in an attempt to cross the channel. Their mushroom-shaped “Aero-Montgolfière” balloon - a frankly dangerous hydrogen/hot-air hybrid - did not inspire confidence in others, but de Rozier remained unphazed.

Shortly after the balloon ascended, it exploded - probably from a spark from the fire pan or static electricity. de Rozier was found dead at the scene, Romain apparently managed to whisper “Oh, Jesus” before passing away. The conquest of the air had claimed its first victims. Susan Dyer, de Rozier’s fiancée, was amongst the horrified onlookers - and also passed away shortly after fainting at the scene.

More on the aeronauts in a month or so: parachutes, exploration, horses, science, war, mystery - those sorts of things..

(major reference sources:
The Romance of Ballooning: The Story of the Early Aeronauts (Edita Lausanne), Viking Press 1971
Balloons and Airships, 1783-1973 (Lennart Edge), Blandford Press 1973)

October 23, 2009, 9:05pm

aeronauts

Vincent Lunardi made the first balloon ascents in Great Britain.

His first flight, on September 15th 1784 at the Honorable Artillery Company’s Moorfields training grounds, was rather hurried. He had hoped to ascend with his companion, George Biggin, but decided to ascend alone with his balloon not fully filled with hydrogen. It was feared that the impatient 100,000 crowd would turn volatile (a mob had earlier destroyed a balloon - and surrounding property - that failed to leave the ground at the Royal Chelsea Hospital)

His second ascent was in the above balloon. Lunardi was Italian by birth but based in Britain, and very much part of the London “scene”. For this flight, he ‘wished to express his respects and devotion to everything which the word “British” stands for’.

His ascents made him the hero of the hour - items of clothing were even named after him - but left Great Britain for good in 1786 after one of his young assistants, Ralph Heron, fell to his death after being entangled during a premature take-off..

October 23, 2009, 7:21pm

aeronauts

1784 and 1785 were busy years - the first balloon flight outside of France took place in Italy, the first female aeronaut soared (and sang) over Lyons, a thirteen year old boy was the first to fly in the US. there were also manned flights in Great Britain and Belgium

Arguably the greatest feat was achieved on January 7th 1785, when Jean-Pierre Blanchard, and his companion Dr John Jeffries, crossed the English Channel - from Dover to Calais. The flight took over two hours. Jefferies, the sponsor of the flight, wrote “Heaven has crowned my utmost wishes with success; I cannot describe to you the magnificance and beauty of our voyage.”, but it is believed that Blanchard tried to leave Jeffries behind, wanting the honour of the achievement to be entirely his.

This attitude/ego aside, Blanchard must be regarded as the first true professional aeronaut, travelling across Europe and then to the New World. His sixtieth voyage was his last. Suffering a heart attack whilst in the air in 1808, he never fully recovered - and died a year later. His widow Sophie, also a balloonist, became the first woman be killed in an aviation accident ten years later..

October 23, 2009, 3:40pm

aeronauts

April 25th 1784 saw the first attempt at controlling the flight of a balloon, at the Dijon Academy of Sciences , using framed cloth panel rudders and oars. The aeronauts, Louis-Bernard Guyton de Morveau and Abbé Bertrand believed that the oars assisted them in changing direction in the wind, but they certainly could not fight it

October 23, 2009, 8:36am

aeronauts

The only Montgolfier brother to ever ascend was Joseph - and he only made one flight - in the giant Les Flesseles on January 19th 1784.

October 22, 2009, 12:12am

aeronauts: the first to fly

The Robert and Charles ascent was very successful. At sunset, Charles decided to descend in a field near the small town of Nesles, some 50km from Paris. Robert climbed out and produced a prepared document setting out the facts of the flight to be signed by witnesses.

With the balloon now lighter, Charles decided to ascend again - “I flew away like a bird. In the space of 10 minutes I had reached a height of 1,500 fathoms (9,000 feet) and i could no longer make out the objects on the ground, seeing no more than the immense shapes of nature..”

Charles landed safely 30 minutes later, and the balloon was returned to Paris in triumph. He never ascended again, but his invention - the ‘Charliere’ balloon - was to become the most popular over the coming years, being generally safer than the ‘Montgolfiere’..

October 21, 2009, 7:21pm

aeronauts: the first to fly

Just days after the first manned ascent in a Montgolfier hot-air balloon, Jacques Charles and the Robert brothers were ready for the first manned ascent of a hydrogen balloon.

This took place in the Tuileries Gardens in Paris on December 1st 1783, and was witnessed by an estimated 400,000 people, including Benjamin Franklin.

Before ascending, Charles used a small bright green pilot balloon to show the direction and strength of a wind. The balloon was released by Joseph Montgolfier, who was present in the crowd, at Charles’ request.

At 1:45pm, the balloon, with Charles and Marie-Noel Robert on board, began to rise - to cheering shouts from the crowds - “hats were raised and even the Swiss mercenaries took part in the general celebration by throwing their sabres into the air. Never has science produced such a majestic and imposing display..”

At one point Franklin was asked what use these recent aerial experiments served, to which he replied “Well! what is the point of the child who has just been born?”

October 21, 2009, 5:21pm

aeronauts: the first to fly

from the Journal de Paris:

CONQUEST OF THE SKIES
“On this day, 21 November 1783, at the Château de la Muette, an experiment with the aerostatic machine of M. Montgolfier was carried out. The sky was, in several places, obscured by cloud, in others clear, a north-westerly wind prevailed.

At eight minutes past noon, a mortar was fired - a signal to begin the filling of the machine. Within eight minutes, despite the wind, it was filled out evenly and ready to take off, with the Marquis D’Arlandes and M. Pilâtre de Rozier on the observation deck..

..It was seen to rise in a most majestic fashion and when it reached about 250 feet above the ground, the intrepid travellers, taking off their hats, bowed to the spectators. At that moment one experienced a feeling of fear mingled with admiration..

Soon the aerial navigators were lost from view, but the machine, floating on the horizon and displaying a most beautiful shape, climbed to at least 3,000 feet at which height it was still visible; it crossed the Seine below the gate of la Conference and, passing between the Military Academy and the Hôtel des Invalides, it was borne to a position where it could be seen by all Paris..”

October 19, 2009, 9:14pm

aeronauts: the beginning

on 19th September 1783, at Versailles, in front of King Louis XVI and a huge crowd, the first ever aerial travellers took to the sky.

they were a sheep, a cock, and a duck.

suspended in a wicker basket under the third Montgolfier balloon, they ascended to almost 1,500ft and travelled about 3km, landing softly in a tree in Vaucresson after a ten minute flight.

some reports claimed that the cock broke its neck on landing - others that it was injured from a pre-flight kick from the sheep - which apparently lived out the rest of its life in Marie Antoinette’s private zoo..

October 19, 2009, 3:42pm

aeronauts: the beginning

the Robert/Charles balloon began to descend to earth after about 45 minutes. from the Mercure de France gazette:

“”At a quarter to six the same day, two carters, working near Gonesse, were startled by the apparition of the flying machine over the village. Thunderstruck by this unaccustomed phenomenon, the carters stopped work and, releasing their horses, started to run..overwhelmed by fear, and refused to look behind them. By now, the machine had landed, but after it hit the ground, it continued to twist and turn..The carters continued to make off with all possible speed. But in vain: a sudden gust of wind sent the monster rolling in their direction, and it rapidly overhauled them.

It became necessary to turn and fight..they gathered up some stones and hurled them at the monster..The creature, shaking and bounding, dodged the first blows. Finally, however, it received a mortal wound and collapsed with a long sigh..a shout of victory arose..the bravest of the two, like another Don Quixote, approached the dying beast, and with a trembling hand plunged his knife into its breast. The knife slid in easily, and in allowing the foul air to escape, sufficiently chastised the foolhardy peasant.

Still the globe retained enough air to inspire fear. The machine was fastened to the tail of a horse, and dragged through the mud to Gonesse in a very dishevelled condition. The engineer to whom the balloon belonged arrived to reclaim it on the morrow and, with some pain, gave a small recompense to the cartersm who might well have received a much larger reward if only they had taken the trouble to take a few lessons in physics..”

October 18, 2009, 11:21pm

aeronauts: the beginning

after the events at Annonay, the next balloon ascent took place at the Champ de Mars, Paris, on 27th August 1783. the balloon was constructed by Jean and Nicolas Robert and, unlike the Montgolfier experiment, was filled with hydrogen gas.

the physicist Jacques Charles devised and supervised the experiment, creating hydrogen from the reaction of sulphuric acid and iron filings and filling the balloon through lead pipes. the process was slow - it took four days to fill the “globe” sufficiently.

then at 5pm on the 27th, in front of thousands of spectators, two canons were fired - and the balloon began to rise. It reached an estimated height of 3,000ft before vanishing from view…

(via)

October 18, 2009, 9:21pm

aeronauts: the beginning

setting aside legends and rumours, the aviation age began with the invention of the balloon.

more specifically, it began on Thursday 5th June 1783 - at Annonay in France - when Joseph and Jacques Montgolfier gave the first (unmanned) public demonstration - “in the presence of gentlemen from the states of Vivrais” - of their “aerostatic machine..made of linen backed with paper and sewn on to a network of string attached to the strips of linen. It was roughly spherical in shape, with a circumference of 110 feet..”

the brothers had began a few years earlier - experimenting with bags filled with smoke. they initially believed that the smoke itself, or some other vapour from the fires, created the “inflammable gas” that would create lift as long as it was contained. when the balloons began to descend, they assumed it was due to the gas escaping, rather than more a case of the hot air beginning to cool.

the public demonstration was a success, the balloon - filled with air from the burning of damp straw - stayed aloft for ten minutes - reaching an estimated height of 6,000ft, a distance of 7,200ft from the point of departure before landing gently in a vineyard.

when the local peasants saw the balloon floating in the sky, they “believed that the bad moon had fallen from the heavens to herald the Last Judgement”. the next balloon flight a few months later would stir some rather stronger emotions…

October 16, 2009, 5:03pm

“Sophie Blanchard was a French aeronaut and the wife of ballooning pioneer Jean-Pierre Blanchard. Blanchard was the first woman to work as a professional balloonist, and after her husband’s death she continued ballooning, making more than 60 ascents. Known throughout Europe for her ballooning exploits, Blanchard entertained Napoleon Bonaparte, who promoted her to the role of “Aeronaut of the Official Festivals”. On the restoration of the monarchy in 1814 she performed for Louis XVIII, who named her “Official Aeronaut of the Restoration”.

In 1819, she became the first woman to be killed in an aviation accident when, during an exhibition in the Tivoli Gardens in Paris, she launched fireworks that ignited the gas in her balloon. Her craft crashed on the roof of a house and she fell to her death..”

June 26, 2009, 1:53pm