Invention of the Hot Air Balloon

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Joseph Montgolfière did not like school and work and was deemed worthless in life; however, he was intelligent, curious, and inventive. He and his brother Étienne invented the hot-air balloon. On 4th June 1783 in Annonay, France, the brothers launched their huge hot-air balloon which soared to 10,000 feet and flew for 10 minutes covering a distance of one-and-a-half miles. It was Joseph’s inventive genius that gave humanity its first balloon to fly humans, and their public-flying spectacle ushered in an era of manned flight. In honor of the Montgolfière’s invention and the success of the first manned flight in a Montgolfière balloon, the modern hot-air balloon is called the Montgolfière.

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How Was Gas Ballooning Revived in America?

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Celebrated balloonists Michael Emich and William Armstrong talk about the dedication and epic adventures of a group of gas balloonists and blimp pilots who revived the sport in the 1950s.
In an interview with Sitara Maruf, they discuss their book “Hands Off” which brings to life these fearless characters and their daring ballooning experiments and journeys that led to phenomenal feats or failures, and sometimes even death.

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The Ultra-Light Sport Balloon

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Leandro Corradini, a balloon pilot and entrepreneur– launched his startup FlyDoo, to make ballooning easier, manageable, and more fun. For this, he made several innovations in the balloon’s envelope, burner, and basket–and says his balloon system is the lightest on the market.

In the United States, his balloon would be a light sport aircraft, however in France, the balloon falls in the ultralight motor category,– and for that –Corradini had to motorize his balloon with a motor and a propeller. As some early balloonists experimented with a motor and propeller, without any success, having them on the balloon is a revolutionary step.

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