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 Way Back When
The Birth of Human Flight
Way back when, in the mid-1700s, there was nothing flying through the air except birds especially not people. A few people had tried to fly using machines such as the ornithopter, which gave them wings; unfortunately, they discovered this didn't work. Eventually somebody got it right with the invention of the hot-air balloon, and this month marks the 224th anniversary of man's first flight and the entire science of aviation and flight.
In 1782, French brothers Joseph-Michel and Jacques-tienne Montgolfier discovered that if you filled a large lightweight bag with heated air, the bag would rise. The Montgolfiers first showed their discovery at the marketplace in Annonay, France. They burned straw and wool under the opening at the bottom of their paper and linen bag, called a balon, and made the bag rise into the air about 3,000 ft. It stayed up about 10 minutes and landed about a mile from where it started.
The brothers continued to experiment with larger balloons, or aerostats, and a few months later demonstrated their findings in Paris, where they placed a sheep, a rooster and a duck in a basket suspended below the hot-air balloon to determine the effects of altitude on animals. This time the flight lasted about eight minutes and covered about two miles.
After continued experiments, the brothers finally perfected their design and were ready to make man fly. On November 21, 1783, Pilatre de Rozier and Franois
Laurent, Marquis dArlandes, climbed aboard the Montgolfiers' balloon and "sailed over Paris for 5.5 miles in about 25 minutes."
For their work, the Montgolfier brothers were honored by the French Acadmie des Sciences. They published books on aeronautics, and their design was later modified and improved to create larger balloons that allowed humans to explore the upper atmosphere. Both men continued their interest in science, and each went on to make important
contributions in other scientific fields.
Sheri Collins is a contributing writer for Kidsville News! Sources: Encyclopaedia Britannica Online, www.britannica.com; U.S. Centennial of Flight Commission, www.centennialofflight.gov; Aviation Resource Center, www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/4294.
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