Flying High

Flying High

Hot-air balloons For thousands of years people dreamt of flying. Hot-air balloons were the first flying machines. In 1783, two French brothers built a large balloon from cloth and paper. It rose into the sky when a small fire heated the air inside it. The first balloon flight carried a sheep, a duck and a cockerel. Later that same year, two Frenchmen took a balloon ride over the city of Paris.

Hot-air balloons are still flown today. In 1999, this hot-air balloon flew around the world without stopping! The warm air, which is heated inside the balloon, rises above the cold air outside it.

First powered flight Balloons fly because they are lighter than air. In the 19th century, people also learnt to build gliders - light planes that could float on warm air currents. But no one had yet built a plane that was heavier than a glider and could still fly. Then in 1903, two American inventors called the Wright brothers fitted a petrol engine to a glider. The engine drove two propellers that pushed the plane forward. The plane lifted off from a windy beach and stayed in the air for 12 seconds.

the first flight by the Wright brothers' plane

ACROSS seas and oceans The Wright brothers were soon making longer flights over land, but no one had dared to fly across a sea or ocean. Then in 1909, a brave Frenchman flew across the English Channel in his own aircraft, a distance of 32 kilometres. He took off from France and landed in England. His plane flew very low over the water, but luckily the sea was calm that day. Frenchman Louis Blériot was first to fly across the English Channel.