| Show BIRD MEN OP OF OLD ULD I I Greek creek Mythology Tells of First Aero Experiments Flew With Legendary Wings of Wax to Escape Wrath of An Ancient King King Criminal Criminal Made the First Flight Washington D. D C. C The C.-The The first aeronautical aeronautical aero acre nautical voyage history chronicles was that of the legendary and n his son As mythology says the father D had some kind of a tiff with MI Minos os his his' majesty the king of Crete One sunny da day when the kingly wrath l had ad reached the boiling stage Daeda lus Ius and his son Icarus decided a dIfferent different different dif dIf- dif dif- ferent climate would he good for them So the wings were waxed on and they sailed way away away But they rose so high that the heat from the sun melted the tho wax and Icarus dropped Into the Icar tear ian Inn sea of ot Tarentum made a pigeon of wood that flew in the fourth cen century century century tury B. B C. C Simon tho magician In 66 GG A. A D. D endeavored to do a little air experimentation and brol broke his neck In n a the reign of ot the Emperor us a Saracen met t P. P similar fate in Constantinople and flying was abandoned abandoned aban aban- for a few rew centuries Joseph Montgolfier a paper manu manu- of Annonay France discovered discovered ered In 1782 that heat rarified air all and made It II occupy a much much- larger space than It did before being heated boated He fie mado a small parallelepiped of taffeta and filled It lt with heated air It rose roseto roseto roseto to the roof of his apartment and he was was' convinced A larger balloon was made and on June 5 1783 the first public ascension was made No one who rode in this Montgolfier as It was called but the flight lasted ten min utes To commemorate it a yearly festival was established H Hydrogen drogen had been heen discovered by Cavendish six years before It was found to have a a- a specific a-specific gravity about sixteenth one-sixteenth of that of air Two l I I jr c Jr In s of Early Ballo Balloons Mouths after Io I Montgolfier's f Professor Charles of Paris s sent nt up an Inflated hydrogen balloon which after travelIng raveling 15 miles was torn to pieces by the superstitious peas peasantry A month later another Montgolfier Montgolfier- was sent ent up containing a sheep a cock and anda I a duck Louis XVI king Icing of France witnessed the flight and he demanded that hat a human should make an arcen- arcen ion sion He ordered that a criminal should hould be sent up The famous pleaded leaded for Jor the honor and it was g grant grant- ant ant- ed d. d n October 15 1783 the the first known ascent was made malIc by Rosier Ina in ina ina a hot air bag remaining up 4 4 minutes minutes min min- utes and 25 seconds America caught the fever rever ant James Wilcox a carpenter of at Philadelphia flow ow over the Schuylkill river in n an en u aerostat made by the scientists flit ten teahouse house and Hopkins Two other flights one of of 27 miles In In Ina a Mont Mont- from Paris and a shorter one by Professor Profess r Charles in a hydrogen balloon closed the first year of real flying tying known to the world In 1784 more mOTE than 50 ascents and voyages were made the first trip In England being recorded In September Df It that year ear A year later the L Eng English ng lish channel was Vas crossed from Dover to Calais ls by Bl and Dr lr Jeffries Jef Jer fries tries an American So It Flight after flight was male and tile fadl beame be same ame more popular For almost t a century the balloon scarcely altered In design all were vere made with fantastic ind nd the willow Hiow basket was not used However Ho many many improvements were affected t d in the method of inflation the of the valve the ripping panel Danel and he the quality of the scientific used Before 1862 balloon balloonIng Ing was looked upon much as an and In o order oder der to the expenses the tho public had hado 0 o pay to E eee e their flights The sizes of ot the the- balloons In In- pr previous balloons of ot the early eary lays had been beon cubic feet reet capacity ca en- but one was constructed in Paris of cubic feet In 1853 In n 1869 a captive balloon of feet was made However most modern balloons did not run more than cubic feet That Is the largest balloon which Is allowed lowed to compete for the James Gordon Bennett Bensett Ben nen sett nett cup race In n 1836 the record light was vas 6 0 miles In ha 18 hours In n 1870 balloons made a thousand miles and last year Hawley and Post established a new worlds world's record of about bout 1200 miles flying for the Bennett trophy from tram St. St Louis |
