AY Honors/Hot Air Balloons/Answer Key

2005-04-10T22:57:45Z

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The '''Montgolfier brothers''', '''Joseph Michel Montgolfier''' ([[August 26]], [[1740]]  [[June 26]], [[1810]]) and '''Jacques Étienne Montgolfier''' ([[January 6]], [[1745]]  [[August 2]], [[1799]]), [[inventor]]s of the '''montgolfière''' [[hot air balloon]].

The brothers were the sons of a [[paper]] manufacturer at [[Annonay]], south of [[Lyon]], [[France]]. When playing with inverted paper bags over open fire they found that the bags rose to the ceiling. This led them to experiment further with larger bags made of other materials. During [[1782]] they tested indoors with silk and linen.

On [[December 14]], [[1782]] they succeeded in an outdoor launch of an 18 m³ silk bag, which reached an altitude of 250 m.

On [[June 5]], [[1783]], as a first public demonstration, they sent up at Annonay a 900 m linen bag inflated with hot air. Its flight covered 2 km, lasted 10 minutes, and had an estimated altitude of 1600 - 2000 m.

The subsequent test sent up the first living beings in a basket attached to the balloon: a sheep, a duck and a cockerel, to ascertain the effects of the air at higher altitude. This was performed at [[Versailles]], before [[Louis XVI of France]], to gain his permission for a trial human flight.

An ascent in a fixed balloon took place around [[October 15]] (12 or 14 according to Montgolfier), to an altitude of 26 m.

On [[November 21]], [[1783]], the first free flight by humans was made by [[Pilâtre de Rozier]] and [[Marquis d'Arlandes]] who flew aloft for 25 minutes about 100 metres above [[Paris]] for a distance of nine kilometres.

This was followed by further flights, including a crossing of the [[English Channel]] on [[January 7]], [[1785]], by [[Jean-Pierre Blanchard]] and [[John Jeffries]].

Only one of the brothers (the exact one is unkown) ever flew himself in a balloon, and then only once.

[[Hot air balloon]]s soon were superseded by [[hydrogen]] gas balloons and did not return until the [[1960s]] when [[propane]] gas became available as a practical fuel.

[[Category:1740 births|Montgolfier brothers]]
[[Category:1810 deaths|Montgolfier brothers]]
[[Category:Aviators]]

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AY Honors/Hot Air Balloons/Answer Key