By Denise Scammon
Jon Radowski, 20-year-old pilot in command of the ‘Space Shuttle Patriot’ balloon, is happy to share details about the history of hot air ballooning. “In the early 1780’s, two brothers, Joseph and Etienne Montgolfier, paper-makers by trade, experimented with small balloons constructed from different combinations of paper, linen and silk,” says Radowski.
The Montgolfiers’ initial belief was that smoke, not fire, caused their balloons to rise. As a result, “They burned wet straw, wool and old shoes in fire pits, hoping for a dense mixture of smoke. The resulting oily residue actually sealed up the porous linen fabric quite nicely, allowing an unforeseen advantage to their method.”
In October of 1783, the Montgolfiers put a sheep, a duck and a rooster in a wicker cage. The attached silk balloon filled with 35 cubic meters of hot air and soared two miles in eight minutes. The animals survived their epic flight, demonstrating that the air was breathable at higher elevations and thus proving that mankind could safely take to the skies.
Many people soon volunteered to be the first human passengers to ascend in a hot air balloon, but the French King Louis XVI had objections. It was his opinion that a prisoner should be the test subject, in case something were to go wrong.
However, two noblemen, Pilatre de Rozier and the Marquis Francois d’Arlandes, were able to convince the King to let them be the first to fly.
In the meantime, the Montgolfier brothers had built their largest balloon yet, splendidly-adorned with gold trim and fantastic decorations. On Nov. 21, 1783, Pilatre de Rozier and Marquis d’Arlandes launched in this balloon from the center of Paris in front of a tremendous crowd, enjoying a 25-minute flight covering 5.5 miles into the countryside. Man’s conquest of the sky was heralded across the land!
“The tradition of bestowing a bottle of champagne upon landowners came about by accident soon afterwards, mainly because news traveled slowly in those early days of balloon flights. As a result, farmers and peasants were often the last to learn about new inventions, and the sight of a hot air balloon was quite terrorizing to the common people in the early days,” says Radowski.
Farmers and rural folks, upon seeing a balloon descend from the sky, would rush toward it upon landing and attack it with pitchforks, swords and torches.
Radowski explains, “The farmers believed the passengers in the balloons were demons from another world. The early aeronauts luckily carried along bottles of wine and champagne, among other fine foods, to enjoy during the flight.”
On landing, when confronted by such mobs of unruly peasants, the first balloonists offered the champagne to prove that they were indeed from earth. This tradition has since evolved into a modern day thank-you gesture from balloonists to the landowners who graciously allow them to land on their property.
Ballooning has experienced ups and downs in its popularity ever since the first manned flight in 1783. Other balloon ascensions followed immediately thereafter, which included experimenting with hydrogen gas to inflate the balloon. “At first it was believed that smoke lifted hot air balloons, but eventually the heat was discovered to be the major lifting force. Hydrogen was the first lifting gas used in gas ballooning ever since late 1783, and helium was first used in the early 20th century.”
After the early days of experimentation in hot air ballooning, nearly 200 years passed without considerable interest in hot air balloons as a safe and viable way to fly. Compared to the costly yet tried-and-true form of gas ballooning, hot air just wasn’t reliable enough to be pursued. Then, in the late 1950’s and early ’60’s, the Office of Naval Research in conjunction with Raven Industries conducted experiments with modern fabrics and heating techniques whichrevolutionized ballooning as we know it today.
“In the early 1960’s, balloons were constructed of nylon fabric and heated by propane gas. These modern materials and heating units were much safer and allowed the resurgence of hot air ballooning,” notes Radowski. “When the Navy eventually abandoned the research project, Raven took over and began selling the balloons to adventurous individuals. From there, more companies began sprouting up, and the sport of modern hot air ballooning was born.”
“Hot air ballooning experienced its greatest revival in the mid to late 70’s – very reminiscent of the dot-com revolution of more recent years,” he continued. “While ballooning’s growth has since slowed down, the sport has matured considerably, and there continues to be a growing interest in hot air ballooning to this day.”
Radowski adds, “Ballooning is very much dependent on the next generation of participants to continue the legacy. It’s important that the young people of today are able to be exposed to ballooning and find out how much fun this breathtaking pastime is. Balloonists are continually trying to reach out to the youngsters and get them involved somehow. The enthralled children of today may likely grow up to be the pilots and crew members of tomorrow. There’s nothing that can stop you from achieving what you’re thoroughly determined to accomplish.”
Radowski offers this info for more information on getting involved in ballooning:
usflagballoon.com – US Flag Balloon & Space Shuttle Patriot
njhotair.com – Jon Radowski’s ballooning website
iya-online.org – International Young Aeronauts
bfa.org – Balloon Federation of America
Send questions/comments to the editors.
