Up, Up and Away, Hot Air and Gas Balloons in History

 

            

                                                       Joseph Montgolfier                                     Etienne Montgolfier                                                                 Public Domain                                    Public Domain

While traveling by land and sea was making steady progress, some thought about traveling through the air. If you research hot air balloons, you’re likely to read about Frenchmen Joseph Montgolfier and his brother Etienne. Joseph noticed that hot, smoky air caused paper to rise. He and his brother created a balloon of cotton muslin with paper glued to both sides. It was 67 feet tall and 44 feet wide. When they held a demonstration in 1872, the Royal Science Academy asked them to repeat it in Paris for King Louis XVI. The next year, the brothers went to the palace forecourt, and in front of the king and his family, and a courtyard packed with curious onlookers, the balloon was sent aloft carrying a sheep, a rooster and a duck in a wicker basket. It went 2,000 feet into the air, then slowly descended, landing two miles away eight minutes later.

If animals could go up, men could, too. Experiments were done first with the balloon on a tether, going to higher and higher altitudes. Finally, on November 21, 1783, Pilantre de Rezier and Marquis d’Ariandes were the first men to fly in an untethered balloon. They flew for twenty-five minutes, covering five miles before landing the balloon safely in open countryside.

                                                          Picture by Charles Louis Desrais

Gas balloons were also being tested. On August 27, 1783, Jacques Charles and the Robert brothers launched the first hydrogen balloon. Men on horseback followed to see where it would land. Forty-five minutes later, it came down in the village of Gonesse, where terrified peasants attacked it with pitchforks and knives until it was destroyed.

                                                                    Public Domain

December 1, 1783, Professor Jacques Charles and Nicolas-Louis Robert took another flight in a balloon of their own design.

                             Antoine Louis Francois Sergent d.t Sergent.Marceau

By the beginning of the 19th century, ballooning had become part of the popular culture. Celebrations weren’t complete without at least one assent. Men and women both rose above pleasure grounds and gardens all over Europe. Even before 1800, it wasn’t enough just to go up in a balloon or watch one rise. Balloonists parachuted over the side, with Jeanne-Genevieve being the first woman to do so in 1798. Acrobats hung a trapeze bar from the bottom of the basket and performed high above the ground.

                                                                        Public Domain

Balloons were used in many countries to conduct weather and climate experiments and for observation during wartime. The picture below shows Union soldiers filling a balloon before the Battle of Fair Oaks.

                                                   Library of Congress Military       

You would also see balloons at resort areas, fairs, and parks to give people an opportunity to go up in a tethered balloon. For a price, of course. In my book, “Lighter Than Air,” set in 1900 near Brighton, England, Elena finds herself in need of a way to make money to pay her father’s gambling debt. When she investigates a balloon tethered at Queen’s Park, she starts a series of events that takes her and her friend Justin up, up and away, rather than the rescue he intended.

Keep Elena Bishop out of trouble for the summer—how hard can it be?

Brighton, England, 1900

Justin Ramsey has plans as high as a hot air balloon. But his older brother Richard, Earl of Dunningham, brings him down to earth with orders to join the army. Determined to make his own way, Justin agrees to a deal: if he can successfully manage the neighborhood while Richard is away for the summer, he will earn the right to control his own future. His childhood friend, Elena, with her negligent father, has a penchant for getting herself in scrapes, but Justin is confident he can protect her.

Desperate to save her family’s estate, Elena Bishop embarks on an innovative plan to bring in revenue. Her efforts backfire when they draw the attention of the Ramsey family and the ire of her father's enemy, who stands to gain everything if Elena fails. Certain she is following God's leading, Elena doubles down and fights back against the obstacles and naysayers. Will her friend Justin help her salvage her idea, or will it destroy his own future as well as hers?

Even as Justin and Elena disagree over her plan, an attraction beyond friendship ignites between them. As time runs out and tensions rise, Justin and Elena face danger and decisions that will test their new-found love and change the course of their lives.

 LIGHTER THAN AIR

Linda has been writing since childhood, but her publishing career started with writing columns and a middle-grade serial for the South Charleston Spectator. A retired librarian, she now enjoys being a full-time author in her home office. She writes not only to entertain but to encourage readers with God’s faithfulness.

You are invited to visit her website, Linda Hoover Books, to learn more about her and her books. You can stay in touch when you subscribe to her newsletter, and as a thank you, you’ll receive a novella, Joel & Ella.

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