Aviation
history
: Human
flights with balloons
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Flying boat by Francesco de
Lana-Terzi |
In the 17th century, an Italian Jesuit priest named Francesco de Lana-Terzi was the one who forecast how man would eventually cut the bonds of gravity. He believed correctly that a vessel containing no air was lighter than one that did; in 1670, he completed the first proper design for a lighter-than-air craft, comprising a boat hull with mast and sail borne up by four tethered paper-thin copper spheres from which all the air had to be extracted. In fact, Lana did not perceive the most serious shortcoming in his proposal: atmosphere pressure would have crushed the flimsy copper vacuum spheres.
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Portugal – 9 November 1983 Bartolomeu de Gusmão |
Lana’s
work represented the first scientific effort to design a lighter-than-air
craft; in fact, he conceived the forerunner of the balloon that was to come
during the 18th century.
On 8 August 1709, the Portuguese Brazilian-born
Jesuit, Father Bartolomeu Lourenço de Gusmão,
demonstrated a model hot-air balloon before King John V of Portugal; the rounded envelope of thick
paper was inflated by heated air from burning materials carried in a suspended
earthenware bowl.
Although he never succeeded
with a full-scale model, De Gusmão’s demonstration was a
perfect miniature blueprint for the larger hot-air balloons that appeared
almost three quarters of a century later with the French Montgolfier brothers,
Joseph and Etienne. The first public demonstration of a hot-air balloon by the
Montgolfier brothers was made on 4 June 1783; when released, the balloon of
linen and paper rose to a height of 300m and flew for over a mile. On 19
September of the same year, they conducted a royal demonstration in Versailles,
in the presence of King Louis XVI and Queen Marie-Antoinette; three
passengers - a cock, a duck and a sheep - were carried in a wicker basket as
guinea-pigs in order to test the effect of high altitude on live creatures. With the successful
demonstration at Versailles, Etienne started construction of a 2,200-cubic-meter balloon for the
purpose of making flights with humans. The balloon was tested in tethered or
captive flights on 15 October by Jean-François Pilâtre
de Rozier, a twenty-six-year-old physician, who
offered his services. On 21 November 1783, the first free (untethered) flight by humans was made by Pilâtre, together with the Marquis François-Laurent d’Arlandes; they landed five miles away, some twenty-five
minutes after launching, reaching a height of 900 meters. The
balloon was propelled by an iron furnace.
One
of the old dreams of humankind then had been realized, taken from testing a
concept to a real flight in the span of one year. That event is often considered the first
time humankind
flew, more than a century before the Wright Brothers took to the skies.
A period of
balloon madness ensued the first manned flight, especially
with the hydrogen balloons which slowly took prominence and offered greater
possibilities. Less than two weeks after the
ground-breaking Montgolfier flight, Frenchman Jacques Charles made the first untethered ascension with gas hydrogen balloon on 1 December
1783. In addition to being a vehicle of pleasure, balloons became
also used for military purposes, i.e. as
observation/reconnaissance platforms and for bombardments. Balloonists had
solved only one of manned flight’s problems, i.e. lifting from the ground; but
they were still unable to direct the course of their aerials travels.
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With the emergence of new materials
and propane-gas flame as heating agent, colorful and popular hot-air balloons
have staged a remarkable comeback as a popular sport. Hot-air balloons became
know as Montgolfières
and hydrogen balloons as Charlières.
The bicentennial of human
flight with balloons was celebrated at ICAO with an exhibition displaying major
events in the history of flight as well as future prospects of space techniques
for civil aviation. Several art works and historical posters on aviation were
on view including a Gobelins tapestry on The History of Flight donated to ICAO by
France in 1975, and children’s art
works from some 30 countries which were selected as a result of an
international children’s art contest under the general theme of A World that Moves on Wings launched on
the occasion of the International Year of the Child in 1978 and the 75th
anniversary of the first heavier-than-air engine-powered flight.
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Somalia – 31 December 1977 - 30th Anniversary of ICAO Montgolfier highly decorated hot-air balloon, as per flight on 21 November 1783. |
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Guyana – 26 October 1984 - 40th Anniversary of ICAO Sheetlet of 25 stamps with serial number. The original issue of 1980 was later
overprinted twice. The first overprint was for the
bicentennial of the first manned flight (1783‑1983) and the 20th
anniversary of Guyana Airways. The second overprint was for the
40th anniversary of ICAO. The three letters correspond to IATA airport
codes in Guyana. The main airport, Timehri
International, is near Georgetown.
Note that Mont Golfier should be written in one word: Montgolfier. |
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Uganda – 29 October 1984 – 40th Anniversary of ICAO Hot‑air balloons race |
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Gobelin tapestry on The History of Flight by Gleizes-Villon exhibited on the third floor of
ICAO Conference Center, Montreal |
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Two of the seven children’s
drawings, resulting from the international art contest, shown at ICAO Headquarters
on the fifth floor of the Conference Block. |
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