Montgolfier balloon 

The first manned free flight

The first human balloon ascension; balloon with Pilatre de Rozier and Marquis d'Arlandes above Paris on November 21, 1783. Engraving by N. de Launay, drawn by Chev. de Lorimier. Credit: Library of Congress

On November 21, 1783, the first free flight by humans was made by Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier (1754–1785), together with an army officer, the François Laurent, marquis d'Arlandes (1742–1809), aboard a hot air balloon which had been designed and built by the brothers Joseph-Michel Montgolfier (1740–1810) and Jacques-Étienne Montgolfier (1745–1799). 
 
   The flight began at 1:54 p.m. from the garden of the Château de la Muette close to the Bois de Boulogne park in the western outskirts of Paris, in the presence of the king. Pilâtre de Rozier and marquis d'Arlandes flew about 3,000 feet (900 m) above Paris for a distance of nine kilometers. After 25 minutes, the balloon landed between the windmills, outside the city ramparts, on the Butte-aux-Cailles. Enough fuel remained on board at the end of the flight to have allowed the balloon to fly four to five times as far. However, burning embers from the fire were scorching the balloon fabric and had to be daubed out with sponges. As it appeared it could destroy the balloon, Pilâtre took off his coat to stop the fire. After the flight, the pilots drank champagne to celebrate the flight.
 
Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier. Credit: Library of Congress  

 
François Laurent d'Arlandes. Credit: Library of Congress 

   Jacques-Étienne Montgolfier and his brother Joseph-Michel Montgolfier were French paper manufacturers and aviation pioneers. In 1782–83 they invented the hot air balloon, which launched the first confirmed piloted ascent by humans. 

   On September 19, 1783, the Montgolfier brothers' balloon launched carrying the first living creatures to fly in a craft: a duck, a rooster, and a sheep. The demonstration was performed at the royal palace in Versailles, before King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette and a crowd. All animals survived and helped to demonstrate that balloon flight was safe for humans.
 
   The first confirmed human flight was accomplished by Jacques-Étienne Montgolfie in a tethered Montgolfière No 7 hot air balloon, most likely on October 15, 1783, from the yard of the workshop in the Faubourg Saint-Antoine, one of the suburbs of Paris. The limit of the rope was 26 metres. A little while later on that same day, physicist Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier became the second to ascend into the air, to an altitude of 26 metres, which was the limit of the rope. Sources differ on whether Pilâtre de Rozier was accompanied by Marquis d'Arlandes on this flight. After successful tethered flights, the balloon was prepared for free flight with people on board.
 
Engraving depicting the Montgolfier balloon making its ascent at the Château de la Muette

 
 
1786 description of the historic Montgolfier Brothers' 1783 balloon flight. Illustration with engineering proportions and description. Engineering data is provided in prerevolutionary French units. These units, while translating literally to "feet" and "pounds", varied regionally and the version was not specified by the engraver. If Parisian units were used then this translates to metric and Imperial measurements as follows:

 Height of the globe: 70 pieds du roi = 22.7 metres
 Weight of the globe: 1600 Livres = 780 kg
 Diameter: 46 pieds du roi = 14.9m
 Lifting capacity: 1600-1700 livre = about 780-830 kg
 Volume: 60,000 pieds cubes = about 2,000 cubic metres
 Gallery: 3 pied du roi = 1 metre

   The top portion was surrounded by fleurs-de-lys, with the twelve zodiac signs below. In the middle portion were images of the king's face, each surrounded by a sun. The bottom section was filled with mascarons and garlands; Several eagle's wings appear to support this powerful machine in the air. All of this ornamentation was gold on a beautiful blue background, so that that this superb globe appeared to be gold and azure. The circular gallery, in which we see the Marquis D'Arlandes and Mr. Pilatre de Rozier, was covered in crimson draperies with gold fringes.
 

 © 2025, Andrew Mirecki
 
 


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