Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Ballon History thru Stamps


Joseph-Michel Montgolfier (26 August 174026 June 1810) and Jacques-Étienne Montgolfier (6 January 17452 August 1799) were the inventors of the montgolfière, globe airostatique or hot air balloon. The brothers succeeded in launching the first manned ascent to carry a young physician and an audacious army officer into the sky. Later, in December 1783 in recognition of their achievement, their father Pierre was elevated to the nobility and the hereditary appellation of de Montgolfier by King Louis XVI of France (the right to the title transfers automatically to his children). - From Wikipedia. For further reading [Montgolfier], other Reading.




Jean-Pierre Blanchard (aka Jean Pierre François Blanchard) (July 4, 1753March 7, 1809) was a French inventor, most remembered as a pioneer in aviation and ballooning. Blanchard made his first successful balloon flight in Paris on 2 March 1784, in a hydrogen gas balloon launched from the Champ de Mars. - From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia,




In the 1770s, Blanchard worked on designing heavier-than-air flying machines, including one based on a theory of rowing in the air currents with oars and a tiller.Blanchard was inspired by the success of Joseph Michel Montgolfier and Jacques Etienne Montgolfier, in constructing an air balloon. In 1783 the Montgolfier brothers managed to persuade Pilâtre de Rozier and the Marquis d'Arlandes to became the first people to take part in a manned balloon flight. In November, 1783, the two men travelled 7 miles in less than half an hour at the height of 3,000 feet.
Blanchard constructed his own balloon and it took its first flight on 2nd March, 1784. On 7th January, 1785, Blanchard and the American doctor, John Jeffries, became the first people to cross the English Channel by air balloon when they travelled from Dover to Calais.
In 1785 Blanchard carried out the first successful parachute experiment. He placed a small animal in a small basket attached to a parachute. This was then dropped from a air balloon and the descent was so slow that the animal survived the fall.
On January 9, 1793, Blanchard made the first ever balloon ascent in North America. He carried a letter from President George Washington from Pennsylvania to New Jersey and therefore created the idea of air mail. Blanchard also made the first balloon flights in Germany, Belgium, Poland, and the Netherlands. In February 1808, Blanchard suffered a heart attack on a flight over The Hague in the Netherlands and fell more than 50 feet. He never recovered from the fall and died on March 7, 1809.




Charles Green born in London 31 January 1785, died 26 March 1870, was the United Kingdom's most famous balloonist of the 19th century. He experimented with coal gas as a cheaper and more readily available alternative to hydrogen for lifting power. His first ascent was in a coal gas balloon on July 19, 1821. He became a professional balloonist and had made 200 ascents by 1835. In 1836, he set a major long distance record in the balloon "Royal Vauxhall", flying overnight from Vauxhall Gardens in London to Weilburg, Duchy of Nassau (Germany) a distance of 480 miles (770 km): this record was not broken until 1907. By the time he retired in 1852, he had flown in a balloon more than 500 times.
Green is credited with the invention of the trail rope as an aid to steering and landing a balloon.
A trophy named after him, the "Charles Green Salver", is awarded by the British Balloon and Airship Club (BBAC) for exceptional flying achievements or contributions in ballooning. Recipients have included Brian Jones and Bertrand Piccard for the first round-the-world balloon flight. - From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia




In Paris, public interest for the first Gordon-Bennett-Race was great. About 250.000 spectators may have been on the launch-field. Also among the aeronauts of the different countries, this new competition caught a lot of interest. Seven different nations entered balloons and with tension everybody waited for the launch of this new-developed competition. The only aeronauts in those days were balloon-pilots.