{"id":7452,"date":"2011-11-21T16:37:58","date_gmt":"2011-11-22T00:37:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.todayifoundout.com\/?p=7452"},"modified":"2012-01-23T15:44:24","modified_gmt":"2012-01-23T23:44:24","slug":"november-21-two-frenchman-make-the-worlds-first-untethered-manned-hot-air-balloon-flight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.todayifoundout.com\/index.php\/2011\/11\/november-21-two-frenchman-make-the-worlds-first-untethered-manned-hot-air-balloon-flight\/","title":{"rendered":"November 21: Two Frenchman Make the World’s First Untethered Manned Hot Air Balloon Flight"},"content":{"rendered":"

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This Day In History<\/a>:<\/strong> November 21, 1783<\/strong><\/p>\n

In Paris, France, Jean-Fran\u00e7ois Pil\u00e2tre de Rozier and Fran\u00e7ois Laurent d’Arlandes made the first untethered manned flight in a Montgolfier hot air balloon.\u00a0 After several practice runs to get the feel for how to work the balloon, de Rozier and d\u2019Arlandes finally made their first untethered flight leaving at 2:00 p.m. from the garden of the Ch\u00e2teau de la Muette to the Butte-aux-Cailles.\u00a0 This 25 minute flight covered about 5 1\/2 miles (9 km) with the balloon reaching an altitude of nearly 3,000 feet.\u00a0 At the completion of the flight, there was enough fuel left to have allowed the balloon to have gone four to five times as far, but parts of the balloon itself began to catch on fire, so they chose to land early.\u00a0 Upon landing, the pilots drank champagne to celebrate their successful flight, which started the tradition still commonly maintained by balloonists to this day.<\/p>\n

The balloon used for this first free flight was a Montgolfier balloon which was created one year before by brothers Joseph-Michel Montgolfier and Jacques-\u00c9tienne Montgolfier, who owned a paper manufacturing company that still exists to this day. The idea of a balloon to carry people first came to Joseph as he watched laundry drying over a fire.\u00a0 He observed that pockets of air formed in the clothing which then billowed upwards from the fire embers. \u00a0 He believed that the smoke that billowed up in the fire contained a special gas that held a special property called “levity”.\u00a0 While watching this, he began to think about the possibility of creating air ships that could carry soldiers into fortified enemy bases.<\/p>\n

Joseph\u2019s first experiment began by creating a box shaped item that was 3x3x4 feet.\u00a0 It was comprised of very thin wood and coverings on the sides and was topped with a lightweight taffeta cloth.\u00a0 Once constructed, he then lit some crumpled up paper under the bottom of the box.\u00a0 The box quickly lifted from the ground and collided with the ceiling.\u00a0\u00a0 Seeing his success, he then enlisted the aid of his brother in attempting to make a balloon that could carry people through the air.<\/p>\n

The brothers first set about building a contraption 3 times larger (27 times larger in volume) than his original box.\u00a0 When they tested it out, the object lifted so quickly and with such force that they lost control of the balloon on its very first flight on December 14, 1782 with the balloon floating nearly two kilometers away before coming down.\u00a0 The balloon that was eventually used in the first untethered manned flight was a 60,000 cubic foot balloon that was approximately 75 feet tall and 50 feet in diameter.\u00a0 They not only made the balloon functional, but also attempted to make it something of a work of art.\u00a0 The outside of the balloon featured gold figures on a blue background with various zodiac signs.\u00a0\u00a0 The central section of the balloon had suns overlaid with King Louis XVI\u2019s face in the center, interlaced with royal monograms.\u00a0 The balloon also had red and blue drapery with golden eagles at the base.<\/p>\n

References:<\/p>\n