Balloons! The Forgotten Flights That No One Talks About

Today we're taking a brief look at the fascinating evolution of manned balloon flight. This is a rich history that stretches back to the 1700s, well before pioneers such as Bleriot, Roe, or the Wright Brothers.

Sources:

Brooks.P.W (1992), Zeppelin: Rigid Airships 1893-1940.
Ege.L (1973), Balloons and Airships.
Haydon.F.S & Crouch.T.D (2000), Military Ballooning During The Early Civil War.

0:00 Topic Introduction
1:50 The First Manned Balloon Flight
6:31 The First Hydrogen Balloons
9:41 Crossing The English Channel
12:31 The First Military Balloons
17:43 Developments in the early 1800s
21:43 American Civil War Balloons
25:41 Balloons During The Siege of Paris
27:28 Balloon Development: The Kite-Balloon
32:56 The First Dirigible Balloons
37:31 The First Powered Dirigibles
42:18 More Power, and "La France"

[RexsHangar]

I am aware I stuffed up the pronunciation of a dozen things, Fleurus included. For once there wasn't a silent "s" it seemed...
F.A.Q Section

Q: Do you take aircraft requests?
A: I have a list of aircraft I plan to cover, but feel free to add to it with suggestions:)

Q: Why do you use imperial measurements for some videos, and metric for others?
A: I do this based on country of manufacture. Imperial measurements for Britain and the U.S, metric for the rest of the world, but I include text in my videos that convert it for both.

Q: Will you include video footage in your videos, or just photos?
A: Video footage is very expensive to licence, if I can find footage in the public domain I will try to use it, but a lot of it is hoarded by licencing studies (British Pathe, Periscope films etc). In the future I may be able to afford clips :)

Q: Why do you sometimes feature images/screenshots from flight simulators?
A: Sometimes there are not a lot of photos available for certain aircraft, so I substitute this with digital images that are as accurate as possible.

[foximacentauri]

This video probably won’t have as much views as the next ww2 fighter, but it is 100x more valuable in my opinion. Balloons are way too often overlooked and left out because they didn’t carry guns, but that doesn’t make them less significant in history. Thank you for making this video!

[EdwardRLyons]

This video is an absolute gem! I've long been interested in aviation, but the story nearly always begins with the Wright Brothers, with everything that preceded them either omitted or dismissed with a few brief mentions. This video helps to fill in much of that huge gap in my knowledge -- such as the fact that von Zeppelin was involved in the American Civil War, and had his introduction to ballooning there! This is the sort of history that makes this channel such a joy to watch. Thank you, Rex!

[AveryFlies]

Thank you for this video! My parents are hot air balloon pilots and I've been flying all my life! 55, 000 cubic feet is pretty small compared to modern hot air balloons (typically 77, 000 cu ft+), but the baskets are also significantly heavier these days which makes sense.

I would like to see you continue through lighter than air flight, on to the first modern propane-fueled balloon- as it was also a military project for the US navy!

[pythosdegothos]

So fascinating. Even something deceptively simple as a tethered balloon has so much to it. Looking forward to more on this little covered topic.

[Zeppflyer]

I am 100% onboard with this. The longer the video the better. Thank you.

[Hybris]

I am now especially looking forward to your video on Zeppelins. Ever since I first played Crimson Skies I have always had a fascination with them.

[richmcgee]

What an uplifting video. :)

What? Somebody was bound to say it.

[DelverRootnose]

I love the paintings and sketches you've collected for this video. Beautiful and often full of wonder. Great article. I've always been a fan of lighter than air. But I still love watching your videos on weird and googly aircraft.

[philipstevens]

Well done. Enjoyed the post immensely. Especially the references to Zeppelin.

[grrlpurpleable]

This subject has benefited enormously from your attention to detail! Excellent work as ever!

[renaudtheis]

Great video ! I grew up in Annonay where the Montgolfier brothers invented the first balloon. Every year in June they flew a reproduction of the first unmanned flight. In 1983 they had a week long celebrations for the 200 years birthday with many flights and such. I even had school friends descendants of the De Montgolfier. You missed that the first flight was tested with a couple farm animals. Pretty good pronunciation of French words.

[maryclarafjare]

This was completely fascinating to hubby and me. Learned a great deal. So much work to plan, write, assemble, edit, narrate, and add graphics to....
can't imagine the time spent.

What a marvelous documentary!

[tonywatson]

Looking forward to the next episode, really good research here, Rex. Thanks for your efforts, much appreciated!

[praetor]

Excellent video with great information. Lighter then air flight is an immense subject that is a lot of times glossed over because of the many small improvements that made the progress possible. You have done justice to a topic that deserves more reporting. Keep up the fine work.

[brendonbewersdorf]

Thank you so much for doing a very in-depth discussion of this topic I'm excited for your other overview videos and possibly future videos focusing on individual airships

[patrickols]

This may well be the best video you ever made and I have seen them all. I truly commend you on the work you have done for this

[RocketmanSK]

What a great video Rex! Far more fascinating than I thought it was going to be. Well done!

[tobyrobson]

Your best video so far! This is your real strength and USP - well researched and informative videos about uncommon themes and technology, or seldom told stories.

[doankhang]

Imagine flying in a fabric balloon filled with highly flamable hydrogen gas while fighter aircraft flew around you. It must have been terrifying