Who's Who in Ballooning
This is where we celebrate those pioneers who made
ballooning what it is today. From the Montgolfier brothers
to Don Piccard - from Pîlatre de Rozier to Ed Yost - from
Dr. John Jeffries to Tracey Barnes... These pioneers, and
many others took to the skies to do what no one had ever
done before them! We'll list them here!
Balloon Online! Mailbox
A
- d'Arlandes, Marquis François (1742-1809)
- Passenger on the very first manned flight in a balloon in 1783.
B
- Blanchard, Jean-Pierre (1753-1809)
- With John Jeffries, became the first to fly a balloon across
the English Channel between England and France.
Also, he is considered to be the first professional balloonist.
He is believed to be the first skydiver (he apparently parachuted
from a balloon as early as 1785).
He introduced ballooning to several countries in Europe, before
leaving France (at the time of the French Revolution) to go to
America. There, he piloted the first balloon flight in North
America, on 9 January 1793, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
C
- Cavendish, Henry
- Discoverer of hydrogen in 1776, which was found to be seven times
lighter than air. In these early days, hydrogen was made by mixing
sulfuric acid and iron.
- Charles, Jaçque A. C. (1730?-1784)
- Inventor of the gas balloon in 1783. He was also the first gas balloon
pilot, and narrowly missed by 10 days being the first ever pilot!
He also recorded the first known "touch and go" by a balloon.
G
- de Gusmao, Bartolemeu
- A Brazilian priest, demonstrated a model hot-air
balloon to Johan V of Portugal in 1709. No records exists to suggest that
any passenger carrying balloon was then built.
J
- Jeffries, John (1745-1819)
- With Jean-Pierre Blanchard, became the first to fly a balloon across
the English Channel between England and France.
L
- Lunardi, Vincenzo (1759-1806)
- First pilot to fly outside of France. The flight took place
in London, England on 15 September 1784.
M
- Montgolfier, Joseph (1740-1810) & Etienne J. (1745-1799)
- Creators, in 1783, of the first balloon to actually
carry human passengers. The sport of ballooning began with the Montgolfiers.
Legend has it that Etienne developed the idea for a hot-air balloon when
he saw leaves floating up through the air in the smoke from a fire.
R
- de Rozier, Jean-François Pilâtre (1754-1785)
- Pilot of the very first manned flight in a balloon in 1783.
Many balloonists believe that the word "pilot" was derived from his name,
but this is not true. Also, "Rozier"
is the modern term for a hybrid gas and hot-air balloon, where
heat from a propane burner is used to heat the gas in
the balloon.
Ballooning Online!
Eric E. Goodson eric@nando.net
Created: 27 March 1995 - Last update: 9 August 1995 23:19:14 EDT