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!

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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.

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