Hot-Air Balloon Facts

Balloons are bags filled with a light gas or hot air both so light that the balloon floats in the air.
Balloons designed to carry people into the air are of two types: hot-air balloons and gas balloons filled with hydrogen or helium.
Hot-air balloons have a burner that continually fills the balloon with warm air to keep it afloat.
To carry two people a hot-air balloon must have a bag of about 1700 cubic metres in volume.
Balloons are normally launched at dusk or dawn when the air is quite calm.
As the air in the bag cools the balloon gradually sinks. To maintain height, the balloonist lights the burner to add warm air again.
To descend quickly the balloonist pulls a cord to let air out through a vent iii the top of the bag.
The first flight in a hot-air balloon was made in Paris on 15 October 1783 by French scientist Jean de Rozier in a balloon made by the Montgolfier brothers.
The first hydrogen gas balloon flight was made in Paris on 1 December 1783 by Jacques Charles and one of the two brothers Robert who built the balloon.
On 20 March 1999 Swiss Bertran Piccard and British Brian Jones completed the first round-the-world hot-air balloon flight.
Hot-air ballooning has become a popular sport.

This entry is filed under Interesting Facts.