Up in the Air—a History of Ballooning

The first kind of air transportation was the balloon. People traveled by balloon one hundred years before there were planes or jet aircraft. Those early days of ballooning were exciting, but they were also risky.     1     However, the danger did not stop the balloonists.

The first real balloon flight was in France in 1783. Two French brothers made a balloon.     2     Hot air is lighter than cold air, so it goes up. The hot air balloon went up 1, 000 feet in the sky.

    3     They built a fire under the balloon to make the air hot. This made the balloon stay up in the air for a few hours. But their balloon was tied to the ground. So it could not go anywhere.

Soon balloonists tried longer flights. In 1785, an American and a Frenchman flew over the English Channel. They left England on a cold, clear January day. Halfway across, their balloon began to drop toward the water. They threw out some equipment and food to make the balloon lighter. The balloon continued to fall, so they threw out almost everything in the basket—even some of their clothes.     4   

During the nineteenth century, ballooning became a popular sport and balloons were also used by scientists to study the air and by armies in war time. After the airplane was invented, however, interest in balloons decreased dramatically. But some people today still like to go up in balloons.     5     What's more, they have a wonderful view of the world below.

A.They filled a very large paper bag with hot air.

B.High up in the balloon basket, they find quiet.

C.Sometimes the balloons fell suddenly and sometimes they burned.

D.Back then, few people understood how they were able to fly so far.

E.Finally, after about three hours, they landed in France, cold but safe.

F.Balloon races and displays remain popular all over the world to this very day.

G.Later that same year, two other Frenchmen ascended in a basket under a balloon.