Hot Air Balloon Trivia

Ballooning History

• On September 19, 1783 a sheep, a duck, and a rooster become the first passengers of a hot air balloon. The balloon was launched by the Montgolfier brothers, Joseph and Ettienne (paper-makers from Annonay, France) for a royal demonstration at the court of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette.
  
• On November 21, 1783, the first recorded manned flight was piloted by the French physicist Jean François Pilâtre de Rozier and his companion, the Marquis D’Arlandes. This balloon, which was also built by the Montgolfier brothers, launched from the Bois de Boulogne park in Paris. The balloon rose to about 500 feet and traveled approximately 5 miles across Paris in a flight that lasted 22 minutes. (While the balloon did catch fire before landing, both passengers were unharmed.)
  
• Using de Rozier's double balloon system which consisted of a hydrogen balloon and a hot air balloon tied together, French balloonist Jean-Pierre Blanchard and American John Jeffries become the first to fly across the English Channel in 1785. (Earlier that year de Rozier died an hour into his flight in his attempt to across the channel.)
  
• In the U.S. Civil War, World War I, and World War II hot air balloons were used as tools of warfare, for transportation surveying, and for communication.
  
• Ed Yost made the first modern hot-air balloon flight on October 22, 1960 from Bruning, Nebraska.First modern day balloon flight - Pilot: Ed Yost
  
• In 1987 Per Lindstrand and Richard Branson fly the first hot air balloon across the Atlantic. They travel a distance of 2,900 miles in 33 hours to set a new record for hot air ballooning.
  
• In 1988 Per Lindstrand rises to 65,000 feet in a hot air balloon and sets a solo world record for the greatest height ever reached by a hot air balloon.
  
• In 1991 Per Lindstrand and Richard Branson break cross the Pacific ocean. They reach speeds in the jet stream of up to 245 mph, in their 'Otsuka Flyer,' which travels 6,700 miles in 46 hours. Their flight from Japan to Arctic Canada breaks the world distance record they set in 1987.

Miscellaneous Hot Air Balloon Information

• The largest hot air balloon festival is the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta which is held each October in Albuquerque, New Mexico. This event was started in 1972 with just 13 balloons attending. In the year 2000, it recorded 1019 balloons in attendance.
  
• During the 1800's, almost all balloons were filled with hydrogen or coal gas and were principally used for public displays, and by scientists and soldiers.
  
• Today balloons are used primarily for two purposes: sport or scientific research. Sport balloons mostly use hot air. (Scientific balloons generally use hydrogen, helium, methane, or ammonia.)
  
• Publisher Malcolm Forbes began his collection of nine special shaped hot air balloons with a version of a chateau he owned in France. He also owned hot air balloons shaped as a Harley-Davidson motorcycle 200 feet long, a bust of Beethoven bigger than any face on Mount Rushmore, and a towering copy of the Financial Times.