Full Of Hot Air

 Brave. 

Even today,

there are accidents which kill

people in hot air balloons. 

 Imagine stepping into

the very first

hot air balloon basket,

 loosening the ropes

and drifting up

into the air…

Brave. 

Back in 1783

the first hot air balloon

flight took place.

The instigators were the

 Montgolfier brothers.

2 months earlier,

Pilatre De Rozier

sent a sheep, a duck

and a rooster

on a balloon flight.

He was testing whether

it was safe. 

The balloon (and the animals)

stayed in the air

for 15 minutes before crashing

back to the ground.

(Not sure what happened

 to the animals, but figure

at least two of them

could flap themselves

 to safety!)

A couple of months later,

the French brothers,

Joseph and Etienne Montgolfier,

 decided to fly a balloon

above the centre of Paris…

The climbed in, took off

and sailed for 20 minutes!

And so, hot air ballooning

came to be. 

Coincidentally, the first death

from a hot air balloon accident

 occurred when Pilatre de Rozier

 died trying to fly

across the English Channel.

I suppose that’s only

to be expected…

but I bet he wished

he’d sent those animals

up instead!

Information from here.

Photos from here and here.