Thursday, April 18, 2013

History of Air Balloons (Part 2)


Development:

In 1783 a balloon made the first test, trying to fly a few animals. Back in that time balloons were made of a very thin type of wood and a taffeta cloth covering the top and the sides of the chamber.

Then they moved to the gas technology when they used hydrogen to fly the balloon, but they didn’t stop at this point, they invented the hot air and gas balloon (hybrid) and two years later, de Rozier began thinking about flying across the English Channel to compensate for the shortcomings of the two types of balloons as he combined a hydrogen envelope with a small hot-air envelope below it. Hydrogen provided the basic lift, while the hot-air balloon system allowed him to control his flight without having to constantly drop ballast or release gas. His balloon, christened Tour de Calais, was brilliantly decorated with artwork and metallic gilding. According to modern investigations, the metallic coating caused a static discharge that ignited the varnished envelope some 30 minutes after its launch from Boulogne on June 15, 1785. De Rozier and his passenger, Pierre-Jules Romain, died within minutes of the ensuing crash, becoming the first balloon fatalities. Despite this tragic failure, de Rozier’s invention eventually succeeded in the ultimate trans global balloon voyage two centuries later

Later in 1950 they invented the super pressure balloons as soon as they discovered the rightful material to build this balloon.

Nowadays balloons are not being used to travel around the word. However the principle that been used to build it is being used across military and aircraft builder.



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