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| − | [[Image:Jacques Étienne Montgolfier.jpg|thumb|250px|Jacques Étienne Montgolfier]] | + | [[Image:Pilatre de Rozier.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier.]] |
| − | The '''Montgolfier brothers''', '''Joseph Michel Montgolfier''' ([[August 26]], [[1740]] – [[June 26]], [[1810]]) and '''Jacques Étienne Montgolfier''' ([[January 6]], [[1745]] – [[August 2]], [[1799]]), [[inventor|invented]] the '''''montgolfière''''', or [[hot air balloon]]. Their invention was the first aircraft to carry humans into the sky.
| + | [[Image:Aviation fatality - Pilatre de Rozier and Romain.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Death of de Rozier and Romain.]] |
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| − | ==Early years== | + | '''Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier''' (born [[30 March]] [[1754]] in [[Metz]] - died [[15 June]] [[1785]] in [[Wimereux]]/[[Pas-de-Calais]]) was a [[France|French]] [[chemistry]] and [[physics]] teacher, and one of the first pioneers of [[aviation]]. |
| | + | --[[User:206.174.11.241|206.174.11.241]] 03:58, 26 April 2006 (UTC)<nowiki>'''[[ |
| | + | == [[<nowiki> |
| | + | The son of an innkeeper</nowiki>]] ==]]'''</nowiki>, he [[botany|botanized]] in the company of the [[François de La Rochefoucauld|duc de la Rochefoucauld]],iofhoadgdwo;esdka dnofi fd;neo;n foa dfjibgasfkIA KJF HN in the democratic companionship that early science fostered. His interests in the chemistry of drugs had been awakened in the military hospital of [[Metz]], an important garrison town on the brother, [[Louis XVIII of France|Monsieur, the comte d'Artois]], who put him in charge of his ''cabinet'' of [[natural history]] and made him a ''valet de chambre'' to Madame, which brought him his ennobled name, Pilâtre de Rozier. Soon however he opened his own museum in the [[Le Marais|Marais]] quarter of Paris, researched the new field of [[gas]]es and invented a respirator. |
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| − | The brothers were born into a family of successful [[paper]] manufacturers in [[Annonay]], south of [[Lyon]], France. Their father, Pierre (1700-1793), established his eldest son Raymond (1730-1772) as his successor. As a result, the younger sons were initially sent away to school to learn other professions.
| + | In June [[1783]] he was present at the unoccupied [[balloon]] ascension of the [[Montgolfier brothers]]. That September he dvjkbkfsdfbvijkfdsscise bhkjklaefbilksbvhhkdfaskl fdsvik efgsdiusdfasbfiljsdrafbijkasdfiljersfiukdfsbirgfiukd'Arlandes]]. During the 25-minute flight using a Montgolfier [[hot air balloon]], they traveled 12 [[kilometer]]s from the château of La Muette to the [[Butte aux Cailles]] in the then [[suburb|outskirts]] of Paris, attaining an [[altitude]] of 3000 feet. |
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| − | Joseph possessed a typical ''inventor's temprement'' -- a maverick and dreamer but impractical in terms of business and personal affairs. Clever and highly inventive by nature, he was rebellious towards his formal education -- twice running away from school. Nonetheless, his natural curiosity led him to a very successful self-education in the then emerging physical sciences. He eventually returned to the family homestead, but was only peripherally involved in the family paper-making business.
| + | De Rozier died during an attempted crossing of the [[English Channel]] when his balloon, a combination [[hydrogen]] and hot air balloon, exploded on [[15 June]] [[1785]]. Thus, he and his companion, Pierre Romain, became the first known victims of an [[air crash]]. |
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| − | Étienne (as Jacques Étienne was more generally known) had a much more even and ''businesslike'' temperament than Joseph. He was initially sent to Paris to train as an architect. However, after the sudden and unexpected death of Raymond in 1772, he was recalled to Annonay to run the family business (no serious consideration was given to the elder Joseph in this role, given his uneven behaviour.) In the subsequent 10 years, Étienne applied his talent for technical innovation to the family business (papermaking was a ''high tech'' industry in the 18th century.) He suceeded in incorporating the latest innovations of the day into the family mills. His work led to recogonition by the government of France as well as the awarding of a government grant to establish
| + | The modern hybrid gas and hot air balloon is named the '''[[Rozier balloon]]''' after his pioneering design. |
| − | the Montgolfier factory as a model for other French papermakers.
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| − | ==Initial experiments==
| + | [[Category:1757 births|Pilatre de Rozier, Jean-Francois]] |
| | + | [[Category:1785 deaths|Pilatre de Rozier, Jean-Francois]] |
| | + | [[Category:Balloonists|Pilatre de Rozier, Jean-Francois]] |
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| − | Of the two brothers, it was Joseph who first contemplated building flying machines.
| + | [[da:Pilâtre de Rozier]] |
| − | | + | [[de:Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier]] |
| − | There is no definitive account of when Joseph first started contemplating lighter-than-air flight.
| + | [[fr:Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier]] |
| − | Some accounts put it as early as 1777 when Joseph observed laundry drying over a fire incidentally
| + | [[sv:Pilâtre de Rozier]] |
| − | form pockets that billowed upwards.
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| − | Joseph made his first definitive experiments in November of 1782 while living in Avignon.
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| − | He reported, some years later, that he was watching a fire one evening while contemplating one
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| − | of the great military issues of the day -- an assault on the fortress of Gibralter, which had
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| − | proved impregnable by both sea and land. Joseph mused on the possiblity of an air assault
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| − | using troops lifted by the same force that was lifting the embers from the fire.
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| − | As a result of these musing, Joseph set about building a box-like chamber (3 foot by 3 foot by 4 foot)
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| − | out of very thin wood and covering the sides and top with lightweight taffeta cloth. Under the bottom of the
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| − | box he crumpled and lit some paper. The contraption quickly lifted off its stand and colided with the ceiling.
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| − | Joseph then recruited his brother to balloon building by writing the prophetic words: "Get in
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| − | a supply of taffeta and of cordage, quickly, and you will see one of the most astonishing sights
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| − | in the world." From that point forward, the brothers worked as a team.
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| − | Early in next month, December 1782, Joseph repeated his experiment out of doors in a garden near the
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| − | family homestead with his entire family as witness. On this ocassion, the box-like balloon lifted
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| − | to some 70 feet in the air and remained aloft for a full minute.
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| − | The two brother then set about building a contraption 3 times larger in scale (9 times larger in volume).
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| − | The lifting force was so great that they lost control of their craft on its very first test flight
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| − | on December 14, 1782. The device floated nearly 2 kilometers (about 1.5 miles). It was destroyed
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| − | after landing by, what Etienne later called, the "indiscretion" of passersby.
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| − | ==Public demonstrations==
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| − | Given these initial successes, the brothers decided to make a public demonstration of a balloon in order to establish their claim to its invention.
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| − | constructed globe-shaped balloon (there are no reports as to whether the balloon was plain or decorated) of sackcloth with three thin layers of paper inside. The envelope could contain nearly 28,000 cubic feet of air and weighed 500 lbs. It was constructed of 4 pieces (the dome and 3 lateral bands) held together by some 1,800 buttons. A reinforcing "fish net" of cord covered the outside of the envelope.
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| − | On [[June 4]], [[1783]] (many sources incorrectly fix the date as [[June 5]]), they flew this craft as their first public demonstration
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| − | ==Human flight==
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| − | With the successful demostration at Versailles, and again in collaboration with Réveillon, Etienne
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| − | started construction of a 60,000 cubic foot balloon for the purpose of making flights with humans.
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| − | The balloon was once again decorated with flourishes and was 75 feet tall and 46 feet in diameter.
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| − | The balloon was tested in tethered flights later in [[1783]] on October 15, 17, and 19.
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| − | At different times, Etienne and [[Pilâtre de Rozier]] on board. On occasion,
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| − | these tethered flights reached the limits of the 324 foot long retaining ropes.
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| − | On [[November 21]], [[1783]], the first free flight by humans was made by [[Pilâtre de Rozier]] and the [[marquis d'Arlandes]], who flew aloft for 25 minutes about 100 metres above [[Paris]] for a distance of nine kilometres. The flight began in the courtyard of the château de la Muette in the western
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| − | outskirts of Paris and landed between the windmills on the Butt-aus-Cailles. Enough fuel
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| − | remained on board at the end of the flight to have allowed the balloon
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| − | to fly four to five times as far. However, burning embers from the fire were
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| − | scrotching the balloon fabric and had to be daubed out with sponges. Thus the
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| − | pilots decided to land as soon as they were over open contryside.
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| − | The ascensions made a sensation. Numerous engravings commemorated the events. Chairs were designed with balloon backs, and mantel clocks were produced in enamel and gilt-bronze replicas set with a dial in the balloon.
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| − | ==Following years==
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| − | Only one of the brothers (which one is unknown) ever flew in a balloon himself, and then only once.
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| − | In 1766, the British scientist [[Henry Cavendish]] had discovered hydrogen gas, by adding sulphuric acid to iron, tin, zinc shavings. The development of [[gas balloon]]s proceeded almost in parallel
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| − | with the work of the Montgolfiers. This work was led by Messr. Charles.
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| − | Work on each type of balloon was spurred on by the knowledge
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| − | that there was a competing group and alternative technology.
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| − | For a variety of reasons, including the fact that the French government chose to
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| − | put a proponent of hydrogen in charge of balloon development,
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| − | [[hot air balloon]]s were superseded by [[hydrogen]] gas balloons.
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| − | Hydrogen balloons became the predominent technology for the next 180 years. They
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| − | were used for all major ballooning accomplishments such as the
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| − | crossing of the English Channel on January 7, 1785, by Jean-Pierre Blanchard and John Jeffries.
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| − | ==Revival of the hot air balloon==
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| − | Balloons using heated air rather than lighter-than-air gasses did not return until the [[1960s]], when [[Ed Yost]] improved the safety of the classic Montgolfier design by using [[ripstop nylon]] for the envelope and [[propane]] gas as the burner fuel.
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| − | ==External links==
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| − | *[http://www.chm.bris.ac.uk/webprojects2003/hetherington/final/montgolfier_bros.html "Lighter than air: the Montgolfier brothers"]
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| − | *[http://www.start-flying.com/Montgolfier.htm "Balloons and the Montgolfier brothers"]
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| − | *[http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-64386 "Karl Friedrich Meerwein"]
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| − | [[Category:Balloonists]]
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| − | [[Category:French people]]
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| − | [[Category:Sibling duos]]
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| − | [[Category:1740 births]]
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| − | [[Category:1799 deaths]]
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| − | [[Category:1810 deaths]]
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| − | [[de:Montgolfier]]
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| − | [[es:Hermanos Montgolfier]]
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| − | [[fr:Frères Montgolfier]]
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| − | [[io:Montgolfier fratuli]]
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| − | [[he:האחים מונגולפייה]]
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| − | [[nl:Gebroeders Mongolfier]]
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| − | [[ja:モンゴルフィエ兄弟]]
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| − | [[no:Brødrene Montgolfier]]
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| − | [[pl:Bracia Montgolfier]]
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| − | [[pt:Etiene e Joseph Montgolfier]]
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| − | [[ru:Монгольфье]]
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| − | [[sr:Браћа Монголфје]]
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| − | [[fi:Montgolfierin veljekset]]
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| − | [[sv:Montgolfier]] | |
| − | [[zh:孟格菲兄弟]]
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