History of Hot Air Balloons

The History of Hot Air Balloons is a topic of fascination for many. It began with Joseph Montgolfier, a French paper producer, and his brother Jacques - after years of experimentation with their dream of flying - lifted a thirty cubic foot silk envelope nearly 100 feet using hot air alone in the small French town of Annonay, near Lyon in 1782.

In their next experiment to make a Hot Air Balloon Ride History, the Montgolfier brothers lifted a 106 cubic-foot-envelope, and then, their first balloon -an 28,252 cubic-foot-envelope - soared 1,300 feet high in April 1783. On June 4th, 1783, a balloon made its first official public appearance. It was a 31,784 cubic-foot-envelope made of cotton sewn on paper coated with alum, tied to two poles to the ground, and holding a gondola with burning straw and wool in it. That balloon flew 6,600 feet high for ten minutes, landed, and burned in a nearby field.