Balloning

The first kind of air transportation was not a plane. It was a balloon. People traveled by ballon a hundred years before there were planes or jet aircraft. Those early days of balloning were exiting, but they were also dangerouse. Sometimes the ballons fell suddenly. Sometimes they burned. However, the danger did not stop the balloonist.
 

The first real baloon flight was in France in 1783. Two frenchmen, the Montgolfier brothers, made a ballon. They filled a very large clote and bag with hot air. Hot air is lighter than cold air, so it is goes up. The Montgolfiers hot air ballon went up 1,000 feet in the sky.

Later than same year, two other Frenchmen ascended in a basket under a balloon. They built a fire under the ballon to make the air hot. This made the balloon stay up in the air for a few hours. But their balloon was tied to the ground. So it could not go anywhere.

The first balloon flight was in Desember 1783. The balloon flew for twenty-five minutes of Paris. It traveled about five and one half miles. Fliying  a balloon is not like fliying a plane. The balloon has not engine and therefore no power of its own. The wind directs the ballon. It goes where the wind blows. The pilot can control only the altitude of the balloon. He or she can raise and lower the ballon to find the right wind direction. That is how a good pilot  controls where the balloon goes.

Soon balloonists tried longer flights. A major event in the history of ballooning was the first long flight over water. In 1785, an American and Frenchman flew over the English Channel. They left England on a cold, clear January day. After about an hour, their ballon began to descend toward the water. They threw out some equipment and food  to make the balloon lighter. The balloon  continued to fall, so they threw almost everything in the basket – even some of their clothes. Finally, after about three hours, they landed in France, cold but safe.

During the nineteenth century, ballooning became a popular sport. There were ballon races in Europe. Balloons were also used by scientists to study the air and by armies in wartime. After the airplane was invented, people lost interest in ballons. Planes were much faster and easier to control. But some people today still like to go up in balloons. High up in the balloons basket, they find quiet. They have a wonderful view of the world below.

Reading book page 72