|
Preparations towards a manned
flight
 Etienne
Montgolfier was among the spectators at the Champ de Mars to watch the
glorious flight of the Globe. He felt he and his brother had met a
serious rival in this professor Charles. Joseph and Etienne
had received an invitation from minister Breteuil and his commission to
make a new demonstration with their balloon, in Paris this time. In
collaboration with their friend Reveillon, also a paper manufacturer,
they manufactured a large spindle-shape balloon with a diameter of
12 metres. The thin canvas of the balloon was plastered with paper. On
September 11th it was ready to fly and in only 10 minutes it
was filled with hot air. The day after they did it all over again in the
presence of the Commission Bretueil. The tethered balloon performed
nicely. They were asked to launch the balloon again on September 16th
in the presence of King Louis XVI himself. But gusts of heavy wind and
rain completely destroyed the balloon. After 5 days and 4 nights of hard
work a new balloon was finished. A first test on September 18th
proved to be successful. The balloon was packed carefully and
transported to the gardens of Versailles for the royal demonstration of
the day after. Once more a tremendous crowd had gathered to see the
ascent of a balloon. Of course it was important to do something more
than their rival Charles had done. Underneath the balloon Joseph and
Etienne fixed a basket in which a sheep, a duck and a rooster would be
taken aloft.
A gun-shot gave the sign to the heating of the
balloon. The beautiful balloon rose and carried his passengers at a
height of 500 metres over a distance of 3 kilometres. After 8 minutes
they landed in the Vaucresson woods. The passengers were unharmed,
except for the rooster who appeared to have hurt a wing when the sheep
stepped on it during the rather rough landing in a tree top. |
