Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 15:00 — 6.9MB)
The aircraft industry has made great strides, and continues to advance. We take a look at some of its early beginnings, and the first hot air balloons. Observing the clouds, and how light weight objects sometimes seem to hang in the air inspires the idea of a balloon.
Joseph has his brother Jacques help hold a small paper bag over a fire. When the bag floats, a larger experiment is tried. It’s still a beginning, and bigger bags are used until higher heights are reached, and finally an important decision is reached.
Can a bag be made that’ll reach the clouds? Is the world ready to learn about their invention, the balloon? The press is notified, and we witness the first balloon, made of paper and linen, take its first public flight.
Success! What next? Putting a man into the air? To give the craft more lift, hydrogen is proposed. Listen in for a string of first moments in flight, and the heights reached.
