Editing Montgolfier brothers (section)

==Hot air balloon experiments, 1782–84==
===Hot air balloon experiments, 1782===

Of the two brothers, it was Joseph who was first interested in aeronautics; as early as 1775 he built [[parachute]]s, and once jumped from the family house. He first contemplated building machines when he observed laundry drying over a fire incidentally form pockets that billowed upwards.<ref>Gillispie, C. C. ''The Montgolfier brothers and the invention of aviation 1783–1784'', p. 15.</ref> Joseph made his first definitive experiments in November 1782 while living in [[Avignon]]. He reported some years later that he was watching a fire one evening while contemplating one of the great military issues of the day—an assault on the fortress of [[Gibraltar]], which had proved [[Great Siege of Gibraltar|impregnable from both sea and land]].<ref>Gillispie, p. 16.</ref> Joseph mused on the possibility of an air assault using troops lifted by the same force that was lifting the embers from the fire. He believed that the smoke itself was the buoyant part and contained within it a special gas, which he called "Montgolfier Gas", with a special property he called levity, which is why he preferred smoldering fuel.

Joseph then built a box-like chamber {{convert|3|by(x)|3|by(x)| 4|ft|m|1|order=flip}} out of very thin wood, and covered the sides and top with lightweight [[taffeta]] cloth. He crumpled and lit some paper under the bottom of the box. The contraption quickly lifted off its stand and collided with the ceiling.

Joseph recruited his brother to balloon building by writing, "Get in a supply of taffeta and of cordage, quickly, and you will see one of the most astonishing sights in the world." The two brothers built a similar device, three times larger having a volume 27 times greater. On 14 December 1782 they conducted their first test flight, using ignited wool and hay as fuel. The lifting force was so great that they lost control of their craft. The device floated nearly {{convert|2|km|mi|sp=us|spell=in}} but was destroyed after landing by the "indiscretion" of a bypasser.<ref>Gillispie, p. 21.</ref>

===Public demonstrations, summer 1783===

[[File:Early flight 02562u (2).jpg|thumb|right|150px|First public demonstration in [[Annonay]], 4&nbsp;June 1783]]
To make a public demonstration and to claim its invention, the brothers constructed a globe-shaped balloon of [[hessian (cloth)|sackcloth]] tightened with three thin layers of paper inside. The envelope could contain nearly {{convert|790|m3|ft3|abbr=on}} of air and weighed {{convert|225|kg|lb|abbr=on}}. It was constructed of four pieces (the dome and three lateral bands) and held together by 1,800 buttons. A reinforcing fish net of cord covered the outside of the envelope.

On 4 June 1783, they flew the balloon at [[Annonay]] in front of a group of dignitaries from the ''[[States provincial (France)|états particuliers]]''. The flight covered {{convert|2|km|mi|abbr=on}}, lasted 10 minutes, and had an estimated altitude of {{convert|1,600|–|2,000|m|ft|abbr=on}}. Word of their success quickly reached Paris. Étienne went to the capital to make further demonstrations and to solidify the brothers' claim to the invention of flight. Joseph, given his unkempt appearance and shyness, remained with the family. Étienne was ''the epitome of sober virtues ... modest in clothes and manner...''<ref>[[S. Schama|Schama, S.]] (1989). ''[[Citizens. A Chronicle of the French Revolution]]'', p. 125.</ref>

[[File:First montgolfier brother rv042v13m 0 hx11xg48b.tiff |thumb|left|150px|First Montgolfier brothers balloon, 1783]]
In collaboration with the wallpaper manufacturer [[Jean-Baptiste Réveillon]], Étienne constructed a {{convert|37500|cuft|m3|adj=on}} envelope of taffeta coated with a varnish of [[alum]] for fireproofing. The balloon was sky blue and decorated with golden flourishes, signs of the [[zodiac]], and suns. The design showed the intervention of Réveillon. The next test was on 11 September from the grounds of ''la [[Folie Titon]]'', close to Réveillon's house. There was some concern about the effects of flight into the upper atmosphere on living creatures. The king proposed to launch two convicted criminals, but it is most likely that the inventors decided to send a sheep, a duck, and a rooster aloft first.

On 19 September 1783, the ''Aérostat Réveillon'' was flown with the first living beings in a basket attached to the balloon: a sheep called Montauciel ("Climb-to-the-sky"), a duck and a rooster. The sheep was believed to have a reasonable approximation of human physiology. The duck was expected to be unharmed by being lifted and was included as a control for effects created by the aircraft rather than the altitude. The rooster was included as a further control as it was a bird that did not fly at high altitudes. The demonstration was performed at the royal palace in [[Palace of Versailles|Versailles]], before King [[Louis XVI of France]] and Queen [[Marie Antoinette]] and a crowd.<ref>Gillispie, pp. 92–93.</ref> The flight lasted approximately eight minutes, covered {{convert|2|mi|km|spell=in}}, and obtained an altitude of about {{convert|1500|ft|m}}. The craft landed safely after flying.

===Piloted flight, autumn 1783===

[[File:1783 balloonj.jpg|right|thumb|235px|A 1786 depiction of the Montgolfier brothers' historic balloon with engineering data. Translated details are available on the image hosting page.]]
Since the animals survived, the king allowed flights with humans. Again in collaboration with Réveillon, Étienne built a {{convert|60000|cuft|m3|adj=on}} balloon for the purpose of making flights with humans. It was about {{convert|23|m|ft|abbr=on}} tall and about {{convert|15|m|ft|abbr=on}} in diameter. Réveillon supplied rich decorative touches of gold figures on a deep blue background, including fleur-de-lis, signs of the zodiac, and suns with Louis XVI's face in the center interlaced with the royal monogram in the central section. Red and blue drapery and golden eagles were at the base of the balloon. Étienne Montgolfier was the first human to lift off the Earth in a balloon, making a tethered test flight from the yard of the Réveillon workshop in the [[Faubourg Saint-Antoine]], most likely on 15 October 1783. A little while later on that same day, physicist [[Pilâtre de Rozier]] became the second to ascend into the air, to an altitude of {{convert|80|ft|m}}, which was the length of the tether.<ref name = Crouch>{{cite book| title = Lighter Than Air| author = Crouch, Tom Davis | pages= 28, 178| publisher= The Johns Hopkins University Press| year = 2009}}</ref><ref name = Gillispie>{{cite book| author = Gillispie, Charles | title = The Montgolfier Brothers, and the Invention of Aviation| pages = 45, 46, 178, 179, 183–185| publisher = [[Princeton University Press]]| year = 1983}}</ref>

[[File:Model for a Proposed Monument to Commemorate the Invention of the Balloon MET DP248127.jpg|thumb|left|''Proposed Monument to Commemorate the Invention of the Balloon'' by [[Claude Michel]], c. 1784]]
On 21 November 1783, the first free flight by humans was made by [[Pilâtre de Rozier]], together with an army officer, the [[marquis d'Arlandes]].<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.centennialofflight.gov/essay/Lighter_than_air/Early_Balloon_Flight_in_Europe/LTA1.htm| title = U.S. Centennial of Flight Commission: Early Balloon Flight in Europe| access-date = 2008-06-04| url-status = dead| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080602012700/http://www.centennialofflight.gov/essay/Lighter_than_air/Early_Balloon_Flight_in_Europe/LTA1.htm| archive-date = 2 June 2008| df = dmy-all}}</ref> The flight began from the grounds of the [[Château de la Muette]] close to the [[Bois de Boulogne]] park in the western outskirts of Paris. They flew about {{convert|3000|ft|m}} above [[Paris]] for a distance of nine kilometers. After 25 minutes, the balloon landed between the windmills, outside the city ramparts, on the [[Butte-aux-Cailles]]. Enough fuel remained on board at the end of the flight to have allowed the balloon to fly four to five times as far. However, burning embers from the fire were scorching the balloon fabric and had to be daubed out with sponges. As it appeared it could destroy the balloon, Pilâtre took off his coat to stop the fire.{{citation needed|date=July 2017}}

The early flights made a sensation. During those first few years, numerous items, such as fans, furniture, handkerchiefs, pencil boxes, umbrella tops, etc., could be found with ballooning images engraved on them. Some items would be celebrating specific ballooning events, while others would be celebrating ballooning itself.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Brant |first=Clare |title=Balloon Madness: Flights of Imagination in Britain, 1783–1786 |publisher=The Boydell Press |year=2017 |isbn=978-1-78327-253-2 |pages=110 |language=en}}</ref>

In December 1783, father Pierre Montgolfier was elevated to the nobility and the hereditary appellation of '''de Montgolfier''' by King [[Louis XVI of France]]. 
[[File:Montgolfier Balloon.JPG|thumb|right|150px|A model of the Montgolfier brothers' balloon at the [[London Science Museum]]]]

===Other balloons, competing claims===

Some claim that the hot air balloon was invented about 74 years earlier by the Brazilian/Portuguese priest [[Bartolomeu de Gusmão]].<ref>[http://www.instituto-camoes.pt/cvc/ciencia/p2.html Reis, Fernando. ''Bartolomeu de Gusmão''.Ciência em Portugal.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070119182148/http://www.instituto-camoes.pt/CVC/ciencia/p2.html |date=19 January 2007 }} Centro Virtual Camões, in Portuguese</ref> A description of his invention was published in 1709(?) in Vienna, and another one was found in the Vatican in about 1917.<ref>[http://purl.pt/706/3/ Gusmao, Bartolomeu de.] ''{{lang|fr|Reproduction fac-similé d'un dessin à la plume de sa description et de la pétition addressée au Jean V. (de Portugal) en langue latine et en écriture contemporaine (1709) retrouvés récemment dans les archives du Vatican du célèbre aéronef de Bartholomeu Lourenco de Gusmão "l'homme volant" portugais, né au Brésil (1685–1724) précurseur des navigateurs aériens et premier inventeur des aérostats.}}'' 1917 (Lausanne: Impr. Réunies S. A.) {{in lang|fr|la}}</ref> However, this claim is not generally recognized by aviation historians outside the Portuguese-speaking community, in particular the [[Fédération Aéronautique Internationale]].

On 1 December 1783, a few months after the Montgolfiers' first flight, [[Jacques Alexandre César Charles]] rose to an altitude of about {{cvt|3|km}} near Paris in a hydrogen-filled balloon he had developed.

In early 1784, the Flesselles balloon, named after the unfortunate [[Jacques de Flesselles]], later to be an early casualty of the [[French Revolution]] at the Bastille, gave a rough landing to its passengers.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Gillispie|first=Charles|title=The Montgolfier Brothers and the Invention of Aviation 1783–1784 : With a Word on the Importance of Ballooning for the Science of Heat and the Art of Building Railroads|publisher=Princeton University Press|year=1983|isbn=978-0691083216|location=Princeton, NJ|pages=76}}</ref>

In June 1784, the ''Gustave'' (a hot air balloon christened ''La Gustave'' in honour of King [[Gustav III]] of Sweden's visit to Lyon) saw the first female aeronaut, [[Élisabeth Thible]].