Invention of the Hot Air Balloon

Recreational Balloons, Uncategorized 0

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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A Japanese War Weapon and Don Piccard’s Famous Flight

News, Recreational Balloons, Uncategorized 0

Seventy years ago, Donald Piccard, barely 21, modified the envelope of a Japanese balloon bomb for a balloon flight over Minneapolis and earned the nation’s first Free Balloon Pilot Certificate. The student pilot flew solo for two hours and 10 minutes in a paper and hydrogen balloon for the first time, creating history and reactivating the sport of ballooning in the United States. But the balloon that he flew also brought to light another interesting story–this one from its prior service as a Japanese balloon bomb!

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Balloon Museum Celebrates High-Flying Pioneers

Feature, Recreational Balloons, Uncategorized 3

A lot of the science and space research involving balloons also needed daring humans to fly to the edge of space, test instruments, and experience the effects of the dangerous near-space environment on human physiology. Some even lost their lives in their effort to contribute to our knowledge of space travel, astronomy, astrophysics, and human physiology at high altitudes.

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Helium-filled Airship, the Largest Aircraft, Makes Historic First Flight

Airships, News, Uncategorized 0

The world’s largest and futuristic aircraft, as tall as a nine-story building and almost the length and breadth of a football field, rose slowly but majestically over the Cardington airfield in central England at 7:40 p.m. on 17th August 2016. Filled with the safe and non-flammable gas helium, the impressive blimp-shaped airship, flew within a six-mile area…

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Russian Adventurer Sets New
Round-the-World Balloon Flight Record

Feats, News, Recreational Balloons, Uncategorized 0

After flying the Rozière hot-air balloon, solo and nonstop around the world, for more than 11 days and over a distance of 20,502 miles (32,996 kilometers), Russian adventurer Fedor Konyukhov landed his aircraft on Saturday, 23rd July at 4:15 p.m., near the small town of Bonnie Rock, in Western Australia’s Wheatbelt.

In doing so, Konyukhov beat the 2002 record for a round-the-world hot-air balloon flight by the late American adventurer Steve Fossett. Konyukhov completed the circumnavigation in 11 days, five hours, and 32 minutes.

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