On April 25, 1783, in the French town of Annoet, the first balloon with a diameter of 11 m, a volume of 800 m3 and a weight of 200 kg soared into the air, pulled up by the heated air. He climbed 400 m. It is not hard to guess what a sensation it was! But the Montgolfier brothers, the creators of this balloon, did not stop there and came up with the impossible at all: they attached a passenger basket to the balloon! And in the same 1783 in Versailles, in the presence of King Louis 16, the first ever ascent of living beings into the air took place: a ram, a rooster and a duck. The balloon took off, climbed 600 m and 8 minutes later landed nearby to the roar of the audience. This is how animals became the first balloonists, and a man first took to the air in a balloon only on November 21st. Here are the names of the first testers? Physicist Jean de Rozier and Marquis d Arland. They flew on a hot air balloon (as the balloon was already called) and flew as much as 8 km.
In 1731, in Ryazan, the clerk Kryakutny designed a balloon and was the first person to take it into the air. This is what the Great Soviet Encyclopedia asserts in the second edition (v. 1, p. 91).
In the manuscript of Sulukadzev "On aerial flying in Russia from 906 AD" this story with Kryakutny is presented as follows: “... furvin made like a big ball, blew it with nasty and smelly smoke, made a loop from it, sat in it and the evil spirits lifted it higher than the birch, and then hit the bell tower, but he clung to rope than they call, and the taco remained alive. He was kicked out of the city, he went to Moscow, and they wanted to bury him alive in the ground or burn him. " The same manuscript contains reports of flights with the help of home-made wings of the clerk Ostrovkov, the blacksmith Black Storm and others. Sulukadzev, in support of the facts he cites, refers to the notes of Bogolepov and Voeikov, the governor, but neither one nor the other has yet been found. Sulukadzev's manuscript dates back to 1819.
In the book of Academician DS Likhachev "Textology" (AN..SSSR, 1962) it is indicated that Kryakutny's flight in a balloon is a fake of the forger A. Sulukadzev. The fake was discovered by researcher V. Pokrovskaya.
Other sources refer to Tatishchev's falsification, who allegedly forged and "cleaned up" a number of historical documents, shielding Kryakutny's primacy.
Somewhat alarming is the fact that there are a number of various sources that "expose", "denounce" the story of Kryakutny. In particular, some of them talk about ... the distortion of the name of the first aeronaut. Others claim that someone else was the first. In Western sources, the following version prevails: on the ball of the Montgolfier brothers, the French were the first to fly into the air in 1783. In the story with Kryakutny, so far the ellipsis ...
The desire of mankind to fly exists exactly as long as there is a civilization. But real steps in this direction were made only towards the end of the 19th century, when the first balloon flight took place. This greatest event shocked not only France, in which it actually took place, but the whole world. The Montgolfier brothers went down in history as pioneers and revolutionaries. The origin of aeronautics should be considered a significant milestone in the development of all science and human civilization.
The beginnings of the Montgolfier brothers
When it comes to who invented the first balloon, almost every educated and well-read person remembers the surname of the brothers Joseph and Jacques-Etienne Montgolfier. Of course, these inventors should not be considered one of a kind, since studies of similar phenomena have been carried out in the past.
The impetus for the creation of the balloon was the discovery of hydrogen by the scientist Henry Cavendish: the scientist found that the density of "combustible air" is much less than ordinary air.
It was this property that was used in the first experiments and subsequent discoveries of Montgolfier. The brothers carried out numerous tests with shirts, bags and test balls made from natural fabrics, which, although they took off, were not high. But for that time, even such facts turned out to be frighteningly new and almost revolutionary.
The first full-fledged tests took place in 1782, when a balloon with a volume of three cubic meters rose into the air. The next balloon was already much larger: the structure weighed 225 kilograms and consisted of four side stripes and a dome of cotton pasted over with paper. On June 4, the inventors launched this prototype into the air, but managed to overcome only about one and a half kilometers, and the flight ended in a fall. The Montgolfier brothers were not the only ones who conducted such research during this period: the Frenchman Jacques Charles launched balloons filled with hydrogen, which was a significant leap in the development of this direction.
If the balloons from the brothers-explorers, filled with warm air, were called hot air balloons, then the creations of Monsieur Charles - charlier.
After such a start, which was considered practically successful, the Montgolfier brothers received strong support from the Academy of Sciences. Financial investments allowed them to carry out new launches, so that the next balloon, on which a strange company rolled - a sheep, a goose and a rooster, was significantly larger than its predecessor: 450 kilograms with a volume of 1000 cubic meters. After its relatively successful landing (a smooth fall of the basket from a height of about half a kilometer), it was decided to test the air structure with people on board.
At the same time, Jacques Charles launched a ball of rubber-impregnated silk, which during the first flight was able to cover a distance of 28 kilometers.
First successful flight
The Montgolfier brothers dreamed of becoming the first passengers of their invention, but their father forbade such a risk. The search for volunteers did not take long, and the first people to take off were Pilatre de Rozier and the Marquis D'Arland.
The Montgolfier brothers were able to make their first flight already in 1784, when 7 more people boarded with them. This voyage is considered to be the first commercial flight in the history of aeronautics.
The brothers planned the first flight on November 21, 1873. It was on this day that the epoch-making journey of the two discoverers took place: the balloon, having risen to a height of one kilometer, flew over a distance of more than 9 kilometers in 25 minutes. The first passengers turned out to be more than skillful balloonists and excellently controlled the huge balloon, which to a large extent ensured the success of the event.
A successful flight spurred the desire to develop this direction further, but the next goal, which the brothers and their followers set their sights on, turned out to be too difficult. An attempt to fly across the English Channel, not coordinated with Montgolfier himself, turned out to be unsuccessful for Pilatre de Rozier: he died when a burnt balloon fell. In the fate of this pioneer, two milestones sadly coincided: the honor of being the first man in a balloon and the tragedy of being his first victim.
After that, aeronautics began to develop by leaps and bounds. Jacques Charles in his research not only made flights much safer, but also invented a way to measure flight altitude and regulate it. Traveling in balloons stimulated the invention of the parachute: in 1797, the first jump of André-Jacques Garnerin was successfully completed, escaping only with a dislocation of the hand. And already in 1799 the first parachute jump was made by a woman - Jeanne Labros, a student of Garnerin.
Today hot air balloons, having undergone minor design changes, are still used in aeronautics, are popular with people and decorate many holidays. Huge bright balls made of durable fabric with a sufficient level of safety have become not a means of transportation, but an attempt by a person to get closer to the sky.
"PASSAROLA" LORENZO GUZMAO
Among the pioneers of aeronautics, whose names have not been forgotten by history, but whose scientific achievements have remained unknown or questioned for centuries, is the Brazilian Bartolommeo Lorenzo.
This is his real name, and he entered the history of aeronautics as a Portuguese priest. Lorenzo Guzmao, author of the Passarola project, which until recently was perceived as pure fantasy. After a long search in 1971, documents were found that shed light on the events of the distant past.
These events began in 1708, when, having moved to Portugal, Lorenzo Guzmao entered the University of Coimbra and was fired up with the idea of building an aircraft. Having shown outstanding ability in the study of physics and mathematics, he began with what is the basis of any endeavor: with an experiment. He built several models that became the prototypes of the planned vessel.
In August 1709, the models were shown to the highest royal nobility. One of the demonstrations was successful: a thin egg-shaped shell with a small brazier suspended under it to heat the air, was lifted from the ground almost four meters. In the same year, Guzmao launched the Passarola project. History has no information about her trial. But in any case, Lorenzo Guzmao was the first person who, relying on the study of the physical phenomena of nature, was able to identify a real way of aeronautics and tried to put it into practice.
JOSEPH MONGOLFIER'S INVENTION
"Hurry, get more silk fabric, ropes ready, and you will see one of the most amazing things in the world", - received such a note in 1782 Etienne Montgolfier, owner of a paper mill in a small French town, from his older brother Joseph. The message meant that at last they found something that the brothers talked about more than once during their meetings: a means by which one can take to the air.
This remedy turned out to be a shell filled with smoke. As a result of a simple experiment, J. Montgolfier saw how a cloth shell, sewn in the form of a box from two pieces of cloth, rushed upward after filling it with smoke. Joseph’s discovery also captivated his brother. Working together now, they built two more aerostatic machines (as they called their balloons). One of them, made in the form of a ball with a diameter of 3.5 meters, was demonstrated in the circle of relatives and friends.
The success was complete - the shell lasted about 10 minutes in the air, while rising to a height of almost 300 meters and flying through the air for about a kilometer. Inspired by their success, the brothers decided to show the invention to the general public. They built a huge balloon over 10 meters in diameter. Its shell, sewn from canvas, was reinforced with rope mesh and pasted over with paper to increase its impermeability.
Demonstration of the balloon took place in the market square of the city June 5, 1783 in the presence of a large number of spectators. The ball, filled with smoke, rushed upward. A special protocol, signed by officials, attested to all the details of the experience. This is how the invention was officially certified for the first time, which opened the way aeronautics.
INVENTION BY PROFESSOR CHARLES
The Montgolfier brothers' balloon flight aroused great interest in Paris. The Academy of Sciences invited them to repeat their experience in the capital. At the same time, the young French physicist professor Jacques Charles it was ordered to prepare and conduct a demonstration of their aircraft. Charles was convinced that hot air balloon gas, as the smoky air was then called, was not the best way to create aerostatic lift.
He was well acquainted with the latest discoveries in the field of chemistry and believed that the use of hydrogen promises much greater benefits, since it is lighter than air. But choosing hydrogen to fill the aircraft, Charles faced a number of technical problems. First of all, from what to make a light shell that can hold volatile gas for a long time.
The Robey brothers, the mechanics, helped him to cope with this problem. They made the material of the required qualities, using a light silk fabric coated with a solution of rubber in turpentine. On August 27, 1783, Charles's aircraft was launched on the Champ de Mars in Paris. In front of 300 thousand spectators, he rushed upward and soon became invisible. When one of those present exclaimed: "What is the point in all this ?!" - the famous American scientist and statesman Benjamin Franklin, who was among the audience, remarked: "What's the point in giving birth to a newborn?" The remark turned out to be prophetic. A "newborn" was born, for whom a great future was predetermined.
FIRST AIR PASSENGERS
The successful flight of Charles' balloon did not stop the Montgolfier brothers in their intention to take advantage of the proposal of the Academy of Sciences and demonstrate in Paris a balloon of their own design. Striving to make the greatest impression, Etienne used all his talent, it is not without reason that he was also considered an excellent architect. Built by him Balloon was, in a sense, a work of art. Its shell, more than 20 meters high, had an unusual barrel-shaped shape and was decorated with monograms and colorful ornaments on the outside.
The balloon shown to the official representatives of the Academy of Sciences aroused such admiration in them that it was decided to repeat the show in the presence of the royal court. The demonstration took place at Versailles (near Paris) on September 19, 1783. True, the balloon, which aroused the admiration of the French academicians, did not live to see this day: its shell was washed away by rain, and it fell into disrepair. However, this did not stop the Montgolfier brothers. Working day and night, they built a ball on time that was as beautiful as the previous one.
To produce an even greater effect, the brothers attached a cage to the balloon, where they planted ram, duck and rooster... These were the first passengers in the history of aeronautics... The balloon broke away from the platform and rushed upward, and eight minutes later, having made a path of four kilometers, safely landed on the ground. The Montgolfier brothers became heroes of the day, were awarded awards, and all balloons, in which smoky air was used to create lift, began to be called hot air balloons from that day.
FIRST HUMAN FLIGHT TO MONGOLFIERA
Each flight of the Montgolfier brothers' balloons brought them closer to their cherished goal - the flight of a man. The new ball they built was larger: height 22.7 meters, diameter 15 meters. A circular gallery for two people was attached to its lower part. In the middle of the gallery was suspended a fireplace for burning chopped straw. Under the hole in the shell, it emitted heat, which heated the air inside the shell during flight.
This made it possible to make the flight longer and to some extent manageable. King Louis XVI of France forbade the authors of the project to take personal part in the flight. Such a risky task for life, in his opinion, should have been entrusted to two criminals on death row. But this caused violent protests. Pilatra de Rozier, an active participant in the construction of a hot air balloon.
He could not come to terms with the idea that the names of some criminals would enter the history of aeronautics, and insisted on personal participation in the flight. Permission has been obtained. Another "pilot" was the Marquis, a fan of aeronautics d "Arland... And on November 21, 1783, a man was finally able to get off the ground and make an air flight. The hot air balloon stayed in the air for 25 minutes, flying about nine kilometers.
FIRST HUMAN FLIGHT ON THE CHARLIERE
In an effort to prove that the future of aeronautics belonged to charlier (the so-called balloons with envelopes filled with hydrogen), and not hot air balloons, Professor Charles understood that for this it was necessary to carry out a flight of people on a charlier, and more spectacular than the flight of the Montgolfier brothers. Creating a new balloon, he developed a number of design solutions, which were then used for many decades.
The charlier built by him had a net that wrapped around the upper hemisphere of the balloon's envelope, and slings, with the help of which a gondola for people was suspended from this net. A special vent was made in the shell to allow hydrogen to escape when the external pressure drops. To control the flight altitude, a special valve in the shell and ballast stored in the nacelle were used. An anchor was also provided to facilitate landing on the ground.
On December 1, 1783, a charlier with a diameter of more than nine meters took off in the Tuileries park. Professor Charles and one of the Robert brothers, who took an active part in the work on the construction of charlier, went on it. Having flown 40 kilometers, they safely landed near a small village. Then Charles continued his journey alone.
Charlier flew five kilometers, climbing to an unprecedented height for that time - 2750 meters. After staying in the sky-high altitude for about half an hour, the researcher landed safely, thus completing the first flight in the history of aeronautics in a balloon with a shell filled with hydrogen.
AEROSTAT ABOVE LA MANCH
The life of a French mechanic Jean Pierre Blanchard, who made the first balloon flight across the English Channel, is notable for being a vivid illustration of a turning point in the development of aeronautics at the end of the 18th century. Blanchard began with the idea of flapping flight.
In 1781, he built an apparatus, the wings of which were set in motion by the effort of the arms and legs. Testing this apparatus suspended from a rope thrown over a block, the inventor climbed to the height of the roof of a multi-storey building with a counterweight of only 10 kilograms. Delighted with his successes, he published in the newspaper his views on the possibility of a man's flapping flight.
Air travel, made in the first balloons, and then the search for means of control of their movement, again returned Blanchard to the idea of wings, this time as a control of the balloon. Although Blanchard's first voyage in a balloon with winged oars ended unsuccessfully, he did not give up his attempts and was more and more carried away by ascent into the heavenly space. Blanchard began giving public flight demonstrations.
When in the fall of 1784 his flights began in England, he had the idea of flying in a balloon across English Channel, thereby proving the possibility of air communication between England and France. This historic flight, which was attended by Blanchard and his friend American Doctor Geoffrey, took place on January 7, 1785.
A LIFE GIVEN TO AERONAUTICS
The history of aeronautics was a history of not only victories, but also defeats, and sometimes dramatic destinies. An example of this is the life of Pilatre de Rozier. a physicist by training, he was one of the first to understand the true meaning of Joseph Montgolfier's invention.
Rosier stubbornly put forward the idea of manned aeronautics, repeatedly declaring his personal readiness to fly in a hot air balloon. Perseverance and courage led to triumph: Rosier became the first aeronautic pilot, having completed a twenty-minute hot air balloon flight with the Marquis d "Arland on November 21, 1783. At his suggestion, the design of the hot air balloon, which was being built in 1783 in the city of Lyon to demonstrate flight, was changed.
In the new version, the balloon was designed to lift twelve people into the air. And although the Lyon hot air balloon lifted only seven people into the air and touched the ground again 15 minutes later, this was the first flight of a multi-seat balloon in the history of aeronautics. Then Rosier sets a new record. In a hot air balloon flight, together with the chemist Pru, he reaches an altitude of 4000 meters. Having achieved this success, Rosier returns to the idea of long-distance flights.
Now his goal is to fly across the English Channel. He develops a balloon of his own design, combining an ordinary spherical charlier and a cylindrical hot air balloon. The combined balloon became known as rozier. But fate was clearly not favorable to Pilatro de Rozier... Taking off on June 15, 1785, together with his assistant Romain, Rosier did not even manage to fly to the English Channel. The fire that broke out on the rozier led to the tragic death of both balloonists.
FROM DREAM TO PROFESSION
Attempts to implement controlled movement of balloons, undertaken in France in the early years of the development of aeronautics, did not give positive results. And the interest of the general public in demonstration flights gradually turned aeronautics into a special kind of entertainment events.
But in 1793, that is, ten years after the first flights of people on balloons, the area of their practical application was discovered. French physicist Guiton de Morveaux proposed the use of tethered balloons to lift observers into the air. This idea was expressed at a time when the enemies of the French Revolution were trying to strangle her.
The technical development of the tethered balloon project was entrusted to the physicist Kutell. He successfully coped with the task, and in October 1793 the balloon was sent to the active army for field tests, and in April 1794 a decree was issued on the organization of the first aeronautical company of the French army. Kutell was appointed its commander.
The appearance of tethered balloons over the positions of the French troops stunned the enemy: rising to a height of 500 meters, observers could look far into the depths of his defenses. The reconnaissance data was transmitted to the ground in special boxes, which descended along a cord attached to the gondola.
After the victory of the French troops, the National Aeronautical School was created by the decision of the Convention. Although it existed for only five years, a start was made: aeronautics became a profession.
AIRCRAFT IN THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE
For the first time in Russia, a balloon flight without passengers lasting 6 hours was carried out French Minel on March 30, 1784, which aroused great interest among the Russian population. But already on April 15, 1784 in Russia Catherine II signed " Decree prohibiting the launching of balloons from March 12 to December 12(on pain of paying a fine of 20 rubles) ", that is, in the warm season because of the possible danger of fires.
At Alexandra I there was an idea to equip the Russian army with balloons. However, then she did not advance further than test flights. And the first Russian aeronaut was staff doctor Kashinsky, who in October 1805 independently flew on a hot air balloon. Researchers also mention a certain Moscow bourgeois woman, Ilyinskaya, who took off in August 1828 in a balloon of her own design. But the origin played a cruel joke with her: aeronautics was still attributed to the noble privilege, and therefore she did not become a heroine of her time. History has not preserved her name, patronymic, or biography. Not without casualties: in 1847, the balloonist Lede died, whose balloon was blown into Lake Ladoga by the wind.
On December 3, 1870, the Russian Aeronautics Society was created. And after five years Dmitry Mendeleev at a meeting of the Russian Physicochemical Society, he proposed his project of an aerostat with a hermetically sealed gondola for high-altitude flights. In 1880, on his initiative, an aeronautical department was created at the Russian Technical Society. In addition to Mendeleev, Aleksandr Radishchev, Ilya Repin, Lev Tolstoy, Viktor Vasnetsov and many others showed their interest in flying in the sky. And in February 1885 in St. Petersburg on Volkovo Pole, a Personnel military team of aeronautics was organized, which conducted military exercises using balloons.
The twentieth century democratized flights as much as possible. Including in the Russian Empire. A specialized magazine and flying club appeared. In 1910, the first All-Russian aeronautics festival was held, in 1924 - the All-Union aeronautical competition.
From the history of aeronautics:
In chapter Gold fund to the question Who was the first to fly in a balloon? given by the author Twilight the best answer is The first balloon was built by two French brothers named Montgolfier. On June 5, 1783, they launched their first balloon. In order to heat the air in the ball, they built a fire near its shell. When warm air filled her, the brothers cut off the ropes that held the balloon, and he rose up several hundred meters.
Among the living creatures, the first to rise into the air were the cock, the duck and the lamb. The Montgolfier brothers put them in a basket attached with ropes to a balloon, and, filling the shell with warm air, raised the balloon into the sky.
This experience inspired others to act heroically. Marcus D'Arland and Jean de Rozier decided to put their lives on the line and become the first balloonists on Earth.
In one of the Parisian parks, they made a huge fire. Nearby lay a balloon, to which a basket was attached to a beautifully painted shell. When the warmed air filled the balloon, two daredevils jumped into the basket, "gave up the mooring lines" and began to rise into the sky. So all in the same 1783, these two, having risen above the heads of the surprised audience, made the first balloon flight in the history of mankind.
For many years, one of the unattainable desires of people was the ability to fly or at least rise into the air. So many inventions have not been invented to accomplish this. Once, the fact was recorded that objects of small weight can be lifted when exposed to hot air, this was the impetus in the development of aeronautics.
It is believed that the world's first hot air balloon was created in 1783. How did this happen? History sends us back to the distant XVI-XVII centuries. It was then that prototypes of the first balls appeared, which could not show themselves in practice. In parallel, in 1766, the chemical scientist Henry Cavendish was the first to describe in detail the properties of a gas such as hydrogen, which the Italian physicist Tiberio Cavallo used in his work with soap bubbles. He filled bubbles with this gas, and they quickly soared into the air, since hydrogen is 14 times lighter than air. This is how the main two lifting forces used in balloon flights appeared and today are hydrogen and hot air.
These discoveries did not solve all the problems of flight operations. To create a balloon, a special material was required that would not be too heavy, and would also be able to hold the gas inside. Scientists-inventors carried out the solution to this problem in different ways. Moreover, several designers competed for the primacy of discoveries at once, the main ones being the brothers Jacques-Etienne and Joseph-Michel Montgolfier, as well as the famous professor Jacques Alexander Charles from France.
The Montgolfier brothers did not have special knowledge about the properties and characteristics of various gases, but they had a great desire for discoveries. In the beginning, they experimented with smoke and steam. There were also attempts to use hydrogen, but they were affected by the problem of the lack of a special fabric that would not let this gas through. Also, its cost was quite expensive, and Montgolfier returned to experiments with hot air.
The first balloon was created in 1782. It was made by the Montgolfier brothers, although it was small in size, only 1 cubic meter in volume. But still, it was already a real ball, which rose to a height of more than 30 meters above the ground. Soon the experimenters made a second balloon. It was already much larger than its predecessor: with a volume of 600 cubic meters and a diameter of 11 meters, a brazier was placed under the ball. The fabric for the balloon was silk pasted over with paper on the inside. The ceremonial launch of the balloon in the presence of a large public was carried out on June 5, 1783, which was organized by the already famous Montgolfier brothers. With the help of hot air, the balloon was raised to a height of 2 thousand meters! This fact was even written to the Paris Academy. Since then, hot air balloons have been named after their inventors - hot air balloons.
Such achievements of Montgolfier prompted Jacques-Alexander Charles to intensify the development of his new invention - a balloon, which uses hydrogen to lift. He had assistants - the mechanics brothers Roberts. They managed to make a silk ball impregnated with rubber, the diameter of which was 3.6 m. They filled it with hydrogen using a special hose with a valve. A special installation was also made for the extraction of gas, which was obtained as a result of chemical reactions during the interaction of metal filings with water and sulfuric acid. To prevent acid fumes from spoiling the shell of the ball, the resulting gas was purified using cold water.
The first hydrogen balloon was launched on August 27, 1783. It happened on the Champ de Mars. Before the eyes of two hundred thousand people, the balloon rose so high that it was no longer visible behind the clouds. After 1 km, the hydrogen began to expand, as a result of which the balloon's shell burst, and the balloon fell to the ground in a village near Paris. But there they did not know anything about such an important experiment, and before the inventors arrived, the frightened residents tore the unusual ball to shreds. This is how the great invention worth 10,000 francs fell into disrepair. Since 1783, hydrogen balloons have been called charlier, in honor of Charles.
