With the Spiedie Fest and Balloon Rally happening this August we thought we would share some Air Balloon Trivia.
Montgolfier’s Balloon
- The first untethered manned balloon flight was in 1783.
- It was built by the Montgolfier brothers who were part of a paper company family. So…
- The Balloon was actually made out of paper and 2000 buttons.
- King Louis wanted prisoners to be the first to ride in it in case it didn’t go well. But instead, 2 Frenchmen; de Rozier, & d’Arlandes, took the honors.
Red Bull Stratos
- The altitude record for a manned balloon flight was set by Felix Baumgartner (of the Red Bull Stratos Project) in 2012 at a height of 127,851 ft (approx 24 miles) straight up.
- Felix returned to earth by jumping off the capsule from 24 miles up, free-falling for many miles prior to opening his chute.
- During his free fall, Felix reached a speed breaking the sound barrier. Another first.
True story……terrible pun.
In 1808 two Frenchmen who were both interested in the same woman decided to settle their dispute by duel… in their hot air balloons. They each got in their balloon, climbed into the sky, pulled out their guns and shot at the other’s balloon. One balloonist fell to the ground.
The winner we presume fell in love.
