Chapter 1 Early Aviation 17831914

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Chapter 1Early Aviation (1783-1914)

• Section A The Invention of Aviation
• Section B Balloons
• Section C Dirigibles
• Section D Airships

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Introduction

• How far back did the dream of flying go?
• Ancient Greek myth tells the story of Daedalus,
  who constructed wings of wax and feathers. He
  and his son Icarus used the wings to escape
  captivity from Crete. Icarus, ignoring warnings
  from his father flew too close to the sun and
  melted his wings.
• Icarian (adj.) someone with high-flying or bold
  ambition.

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Introduction

• As far we can tell, manned flight began in France
  in 1783.
• Joseph and Etienne Montgolfier invent the hot air
  balloon.
• From the balloon, came dirigibles, the addition
  of power and control, gliders, airplanes
• And the rest is history.

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Section AThe Invention of Aviation

• Aviation began in the provincial French town of
  Annonay, where the brothers Joseph and Etienne
  Montgolfier lived. The year was 1783.

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The Montgolfier Bros.

• Joseph and Etienne (E.T.) Montgolfier
• Papermakers
• Interested in mechanics and science, Joseph
  conceived the ides of aviation.
• Joseph performed experiments relating to flight
  in order to understand the mechanical nature of
  heat
• He saw smoke rise from fire and experimented with
  a paper bag over the fire. He made a model of
  taffeta and watched the model rise to the
  ceiling. The first hot air balloon was born.

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The Montgolfier Bros.

• ET Montgolfier reported the experiments to the
  Bureau of Commerce Dec. 1782.
• He suggested the new machine be used
• To transmit communications
• To conduct scientific experiments
• Carry people
• Drop bombs
• Or transport goods

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The Montgolfier Bros.

• The bros. constructed a full-size machine, but
  their elderly father prohibited the bros. from
  flying.
• Modifications were made
• Eliminated wood form, went with an envelope
• Used hot air instead of hydrogen, which was too
  expensive to obtain.

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The Montgolfier Bros.

• The first public ascension scheduled
• 4 June 1783
• Officials were invited to document the event
• Balloon rose to almost 3000 ft.
• Flew about 1 ½ miles
• The flight ended because of warm air leaking out
  of button-holes, crashed, and caught on fire.
• Overall, the experiment was a success.

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The Montgolfier Bros.

• In Paris the bros. sought government funds to
  reimburse their expenses and to finance further
  development of aviation.
• They also wanted publicity for their ballooning
  and to help increase orders for their papermaking
  business.

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Competition

• Charles needed help with creating a tight sealed
  envelope.
• A.J. and M.N. Robert bros.
• Dissolved rubber in turpentine
• Allowed them to rubberize silk taffeta fabric
• Robert bros. create hydrogen
• Filled an oak barrel with iron filings, poured
  sulfuric acid over the filings. A copper tube
  carried the hydrogen to a valve on the balloon

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Competition

• Competition soon followed the bros.
• J.A.C Charles
• French physicist
• Award grant from the French Academy of Sciences
• Used hydrogen as the lifting agent
• Hydrogen balloon

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Competition

• 27 August 1783
• Charles and his crew released their balloon about
  5pm in front of ticket holders.
• It rose about 1,500 ft and disappeared into the
  clouds
• The balloon burst, fell to the ground, and was
  attacked by frighten peasants with pitchforks.
• The balloon was destroyed

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Hot Air Development

• The Montgolfier bros. continued their work on
  ballooning
• ET arranged the Academy of Sciences to finance
  their balloon under assembly at the Reveillion
  wallpaper factory. Hence, why most paintings
  have elegantly designed balloons
• They scheduled another flight, but was cancelled
  by rain, but the next flight would be big.

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Hot Air Development

• 19 September 1783
• The Montgolfier bros. demonstrated their balloon
  in front Royalty
• King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette
• At Versailles, France
• The first passengers
• A Sheep, a duck, and a rooster
• Rose to 1,500 ft, landed safely, SUCCESS!!

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Manned Flight

• October 1783
• ET built and tested a tethered balloon in which
  he rode in
• Was not publicized because of his father.
• Jean-Francois Pilatre de Rozier and Francois
  Laurent
• Made the first public manned flight in a free
  Montgolfier balloon, 21 November 1783.
• Witnessed by Benjamin Franklin

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Hydrogen Balloon Development

• Competition gets too good
• The Robert bros. improves the method of making
  hydrogen.
• 1 December 1783
• M.N. Charles and J.A.C. Charles took-off from
  Paris and flew 17 miles.
• After they landed, Charles want solo
• Climbed to 9,000 ft, got scared
• Never flew again!!

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Section BBalloons

• What the Montgolfier bros. had begun in 1783
  quickly spread. Ballooning became immediately
  popular throughout Europe and soon spread to
  America. J.A.C. Charles stopped flying, but the
  Montgolfier bros. were not through yet.

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The Montgolfiers Continue

• A large balloon was constructed by Joseph
  Montgolfier. It was designed to carry six
  passengers.
• The day before the flight, the balloon was
  damaged by rain, sleet, fire, and snow.
• The balloon was then hijacked by four noblemen
  with guns.
• With a total of 7 passengers, the balloon slowly
  rose to 2,500 ft, tore landed hard.
• The bros. last contribution was the invention of
  the parachute - Joseph Montgolfier, 1784.

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Military Aviation

• France was leading the world in Aviation,
  including military aviation.
• Military aviation began in France in 1793
• A confiscated balloon was assigned to the
  Republican Army by Napoleon.
• In 1794, the French Army organized the Compagnie
  dAerostiers.
• Used for observation of Austrian maneuvers
• The balloon corps was captured by the Austrians
  in Wurzburg in September 1796.

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International Aviation

• On 25 Feb 1784
• Paolo Andreani, Charles Gerli, and Augustin Gerli
  made the first balloon ascension in Italy
• 1784, manned flight was achieved in
• Ireland, Scotland, England, and the US

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International Aviation

• Jean-Pierre Blanchard (French Balloonist) and
  John Jeffries (US expatriate)
• Made two aerial voyages
• The second trip was from England to France on 7
  January 1785
• For the non-geography buffs, they were the first
  to cross the English Channel by air.

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Ballooning in the US

• 1784, College of William and Mary in Virginia
  established a Balloon Club
• Edward Warren, 13, became this first to achieve
  the first manned ascent in the US, tethered.
• Blanchard accomplished the first free balloon
  flight in all the Americas 9 January 1793
• He was presented a written passport for safe
  conduct by President George Washington.

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Exhibition Flying

• The favorite of the professional aeronauts
• Flying for exhibition
• Flying for distance
• Charles Green
• Invented the dragline
• Rope attached to the balloon basket and used to
  slow the speed of ascent of descent when near the
  ground.

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Exhibition Flying

• In the US, ballooning entered the golden age in
  the 1830s
• Charles Ferson Durant became known as The
  American Aeronaut
• World Distance Records
• Richard Clayton - Cincinnati, OH, to Monroe
  County,VA. 350 miles in 1835
• John Wise, O. Gager, John La Mountain- St. Louis
  to Henderson, NY. 809 miles in 1859

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Exhibition Flying

• Crossing the Atlantic became the next
• Big Thing
• Many fakes
• Many attempts
• Many failures
• But well get there

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Military Aviation Developments

• The Austrian military launched unmanned balloons
  dropping bombs against Italy in WW II.
• Thaddeus Lowe developed aerial recon techniques
  during the US Civil war
• Union soldiers converted a coal barge to a
  balloon carrier, an operation carrier
  (technically the first aircraft carrier).

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Exploration

• Cant fly to the Frogs? Go See Santa.
• S.A. Andrée, Swedish aeronaut
• Decided to attempt to fly across the N. Pole,
  1894
• 1st attempt failed
• 2nd attempt, 11 July 1897
• Andrée and two others (Strindberg and Fraenkel)
• Ascend from Spitsbergen
• They disappeared

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Turn of the Century

• Newspapers recognized the newsworthiness of
  aviation
• Started sponsoring expeditions
• Ballooning becomes the rich mans sport
• Gordon Bennett
• New York Herald publisher
• Sponsors first annual balloon race, 1906
• Raced for distance, not time

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End of Section A B

• Any questions thus far?