Editing Jacques Charles (section)

===First crewed hydrogen balloon flight===
[[File:Premier aérostat à vx021g18h 0 z603qz54h.tiff |320px|right|First flight of a gas air balloon on 1 December 1783]]
[[File:Jacques Charles Luftschiff.jpg|thumb|320px|right|Contemporary illustration of the first flight by Charles with Nicolas-Louis Robert, 1 December 1783. Viewed from the [[Place de la Concorde]] to the [[Tuileries Palace]] (destroyed in 1871)]]

At 13:45 (1:45 PM) on 1 December 1783, Charles and the Robert brothers launched a new crewed balloon from the [[Tuileries Palace|Jardin des Tuileries]] in Paris.<ref name=FAI/><ref name=EcceF/> Charles was accompanied by Nicolas-Louis Robert as co-pilot of the 380-cubic-metre, hydrogen-filled balloon.<ref name=FAI/><ref name=EcceF/> The envelope was fitted with a hydrogen release valve and was covered with a net from which the basket was suspended. Sand ballast was used to control altitude.<ref name=FAI/> They ascended to a height of about 1,800 feet (550 m)<ref name=EcceF/> and landed at sunset in [[Nesles-la-Vallée]] after a 2-hour, 5-minute flight covering 36&nbsp;km.<ref name=FAI/><ref name="Fid Green"/><ref name=EcceF/> The chasers on horseback, who were led by the [[Duc de Chartres]], held down the craft while both Charles and Nicolas-Louis alighted.<ref name="Fid Green"/>

Charles then decided to ascend again, but alone this time because the balloon had lost some of its hydrogen. This time it ascended rapidly to an altitude of about 3,000 metres,<ref name="Fid Green"/><ref name="Britannica 2"/> where he saw the sun again. He began suffering from aching pain in his ears so he "valved" to release gas, and descended to land gently about 3&nbsp;km away at {{ill|Tour du Lay|fr|Bois de la Tour du Lay}}.<ref name="Fid Green"/> Unlike the Robert brothers, Charles never flew again,<ref name="Fid Green"/> although a hydrogen balloon came to be called a ''Charlière'' in his honour.

It is reported that 400,000 spectators witnessed the launch, and that hundreds had paid one crown each to help finance the construction and receive access to a "special enclosure" for a "close-up view" of the take-off.<ref name="Fid Green"/> Among the "special enclosure" crowd was [[Benjamin Franklin]], the diplomatic representative of the [[United States|United States of America]].<ref name="Fid Green"/> Also present was Joseph Montgolfier, whom Charles honoured by asking him to release the small, bright green, pilot balloon to assess the wind and weather conditions.<ref name="Fid Green"/>

This event took place ten days after the world's first crewed balloon flight by [[Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier]] using a [[Montgolfier brothers]] [[hot air balloon]]. [[Simon Schama]] wrote in ''[[Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolution|Citizens]]'':
{{blockquote|Montgolfier's principal scientific collaborator was M. Charles,&nbsp;... who had been the first to propose the gas produced by [[vitriol]] instead of the burning, dampened straw and wood that he had used in earlier flights. Charles himself was also eager to ascend but had run into a firm veto from the King, who from the earliest reports had been observing the progress of the flights with keen attentiveness. Anxious about the perils of a maiden flight, the King had then proposed that two criminals be sent up in a basket, at which Charles and his colleagues became indignant.<ref name="Schama p125"/>}}

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[[Image:Airship designed by Jean-Baptiste Marie Meusnier de La Place.jpg|220px|left|thumb|Meusnier's dirigible]]