|
|
|
| Current Issue |
|
|
| Resources |
|
|
|
Buoyant Flight
| Article
# : |
18461 |
|
|
Section : |
NATURAL SCIENCE
|
| Issue
Date : |
9 / 1990 |
3,142 Words |
| Author
: |
Kurt Stehling
Kurt Stehling is chief scientist emeritus for the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). |
It all began at 1:45 P.M., November 21, 1783, in Paris. At that moment a gorgeously colored, egg-shaped linen bag arose into the air from atop a smoking brick fire pit. A crowd of thousands cheered, as did her Royal Highness, Queen Marie Antoinette, patroness of this, the first attempt by men to leave the earth in sustained flight.
The craft was built by the brothers Montgolfier, who were paper manufacturers and the discoverers of the hot-air buoyancy principle. The two pilots, or aeronauts, of this pioneering endeavor were the Marquis d'Arlandes and Pilatre de Rozier. As the 40-foot-diameter bag ascended, the two men, opposite each other on a queer parapet around the balloon's neck, diligently shoveled grease-and-pitch-soaked hay into a fireproof pan within the neck. The stink of fumes and hot air responsible for the bag's rise wafted across the launch site, much to the distress of the Royal nostrils.
A historic five-mile float across Paris resulted, followed on December 1 by the first hydrogen gas balloon float across Paris is into the countryside. This balloon, invented and designed by another French team, demonstrated the much greater lifting and staying power of hydrogen compared with hot air. Consequently, most lighter-than-air (LTA) vehicles during the next 130 years or so were to be buoyed by hydrogen.
Off to War
The balloon was scarcely 10 years old when soldier aeronauts in the court of Louis XVI trained with balloons for war. On April 2, 1794, the first air corps in history was formed, known as the “Premiere Compagnie d'Aerostiers.” The company was organized along strict military lines and its recruits were given military pay, status, and recognition. There were 25 men in the corps, each selected based on experience in some form of artisanry useful to the aerial mission.
The corps got its chance to shine at the battle of Fleurus, near Charleroi, where its balloon with its observer was “high ground,” permitting the French generals to observe the Austrian army's disposition and movements. This greatly helped the French maneuvers and attacks, and led to their victory.
Oddly enough, despite this success, balloons played few military roles in subsequent battles and none during Napoleon's reign; he dismissed them as frivolous and effete. Yet he could have won the Battle of Waterloo had he had the reconnaissance intelligence of the
...
Read Full Article
Look for this article in Ask.com
|
|
