In honor of Felix Baumgartner's Supersonic Skydive - it's an all aviation day!
On this day in 1783, brothers Joseph-Michel and Jacques-Étienne Montgolfier watched as their invention, the Globe Aérostatique (hot air ballon), lifted off the ground in what would be the first manned ascent into the sky.
Joseph-Michel Montgolfier was the first of the brothers to become interested in air flight. While watching clothes dry over a fire, he noticed how the fabric would billow with pockets of air and how the small embers of the fire would lift off and float in the air. This started him to think that perhaps there was a way to harness the smoke, or what he named Montgolfier Gas and the special properties of levity which he was sure it possessed.
Joseph-Michel would test his theory of Montgolfier Gas by building a box measuring 3' x 3' and four feet deep and attached a lightweight taffeta fabric to its sides. He placed it on a stand and lit some paper underneath it and watched as it rose to the ceiling of the house. With the theory of Montgolfier Gas proved, he would enlist his brother, Jacques-Étienne, to help him build Du Globe Aérostatique, that would one day carry a man into the sky.
Many more balloons were built, each being bigger and make out of more resilient material. After partnering with wallpaper maker Jean-Baptiste Réveillon, they built a 37,500-cubic-foot envelope of taffeta coated with thin layer of fireproofing. This balloon, named Aérostat Réveillon, would carry a sheep, a duck and a rooster into the sky in September 1783, before King Louis XVI of France and Queen Marie Antoinette at the royal palace in Versailles. Animals were used as there was some concern of the effect of high altitude on humans. In that time, the flight was akin to space flight today. The flight lasted eight minutes, covered two air miles and ended with the balloon landing safely.
On this day in 1783, Pilâtre de Rozier, in a 60,000-cubic-foot balloon constructed by the Montgolfiers, sailed 80 feet into the air to the roar of the assembled French crowd (including King Louis XVI who portrait adorned the tethered balloon) and history was made.
To order a paper model of the balloon:
http://www.fiddlersgreen.net/models/aircraft/Montgolfier-Balloon.html
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On this day in 1928, the dirigible airship, Graf Zeppelin completes its first trans-Atlantic flight, traveling from Friedrichshafen, Germany to Lakehurst, New Jersey, in 111 hours.
Ingredients:
2 Parts Abolut Vodka_______________________________________________________________________
2 Parts Grapefruit Juice
1 Part Williams Pear Liqueur
1 Part Almond Liqueur
Place ingredients in shaker along with ice. Strain into chilled cocktail glass.
On this day in 1939, The New York Municipal Airport (later renamed La Guardia Airport) is dedicated.
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For the melodic metal fans out there - hear the new Godspeed You! Black Emperor album -
'ALLELUJAH! DON'T BEND! ASCEND! on Soundcloud here:
(Includes the song "Their Helicopters Sing")
http://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Fplaylists%2F2577752%3Fsecret_token%3Ds-jbqQi&auto_play=false&show_artwork=true&color=000000
http://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Fplaylists%2F2577752%3Fsecret_token%3Ds-jbqQi&auto_play=false&show_artwork=true&color=000000
