Dream big and reach for the sky
RED, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple hot air balloons that are flying in the blue sky create a colourful picture. Being in a hot air balloon and slowly flying into the sky has long been a dream for many people.
Long ago, mankind was curious about the clear blue sky above them. Many people wished they were birds so that they could experience the sensation of flight.
The history of aviation started with the Wright Brothers from the United States, who manufactured the first manned airplane in 1903.
However, it was the French Montgolfier brothers Joseph-Michel and Jacques-Etienne who actually performed the first successful human-carrying flight with the hot air balloon in 1783, achieved the dream of a manned flight 120 years earlier than the Wright brothers.
You may be curious as to who first created the concept of the hot air balloon and its technology.
The concept was introduced in the book Huainanzi written by Liu An during the era of the Han Dynasty (202BC to 8AD) in ancient China.
Liu An found that the hot air produced when an empty eggshell was burnt was able to lift the eggshell. This proved that the Chinese discovered the concept of hot air more than 2,000 years ago.
During the ancient Chinese internal war period (907AD to 979AD), a female military strategist used bamboo and paper to make airborne lanterns for military signaling during the night. These lanterns are now known as Kongming lanterns.
Kongming lanterns are known as the first hot air balloons because the lifting concept of these lanterns is the same as hot air balloons.
In any case, Kongming lanterns are not manned flights. The human-carrying hot air balloon only existed in the 18th century.
In 1782, the Montgolfier brothers, who were paper manufacturers from Annonay, France, started their hot air balloon experiments with the inspiration from the paper scraps that were flying in a fire.
They first used fabrics and then paper to experiment. Eventually, they succeeded in lifting a bag with a burnt-down wet straw, broken wool and carrion.
On Sept 19, 1783, the Montgolfier brothers demonstrated the first hot air balloon flown
Work hard in researching and be daring in trying. Only then can you create new inventions.
with a sheep, a duck and a rooster in a basket attached to the balloon. The flight lasted approximately eight minutes.
The demonstration was performed at the royal palace in Versailles before a crowd that included King Louis XVI of France and Queen Marie Antoinette.
Two months later, the first free flight by humans, which lasted for 25 minutes, was demonstrated.
The flight began from the grounds of the Château de la Muette and landed between the windmills outside the city walls.
Sometime after that, French physician Jean-Francois Pilatre Rozier invented the modern hot air balloon and named it the Montgolfier balloon as a tribute to the Montgolfier brothers.
Today, there are more than 20,000 hot air balloons in the world. The modern hot air balloon can fly safely and is easily controllable with the improvement of technology and materials.
It has also become a popular attraction worldwide because of its interesting and colourful designs.
Food for thought
1) Observe your surroundings with care and a wild imagination; only then can new things be discovered.
2) Work hard in researching and be daring in trying. Only then can you create new inventions.
This short story is taken from a book published by Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman and the Asean Academy of Engineering and Technology.
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