For the last 35 years, hot air balloons, weather permitting, have launched from Ann Morrison Park in Boise at the end of summer. As the Spirit of Boise Balloon Classic kicks off again this year, we take a look at the origins of the oldest manmade flying machine.
Two French brothers, Étienne and Joseph Montgolfier, invented hot air balloons in the 18th century. Legend has it, Joseph got the idea from watching his wife’s clothes dry by the hearth, one blouse swelling from the warm air and ever-so-briefly floating above the fire.
In September 1783, the brothers launched their first successful passenger flight: it transported what we can only assume were a very confused sheep, duck and rooster roughly 1,800 feet up in the air.
But it was on November 21 of that same year that humans experienced flight for the first time. The maiden flight launched at the Bois de Boulogne, flew six miles over Paris, and landed in the Butte-aux-Cailles. It lasted 30 minutes and reached 3,000 feet.
King Louis XVI had famously refused to attend this first attempt, afraid it would fail and reflect poorly on his image, but another notable figure was in the crowd: Benjamin Franklin, then American minister to France, witnessed the first ascensions of these "aeronautics."
In the 19th century, hot air balloons were mostly overshadowed by the invention of the much more efficient airplanes and ballooning turned its focus on military technology and scientific discoveries.
Hot air balloons did not become the passenger carriers many envisioned they’d become after that first fateful flight in France. They’re not reliably steerable and attempts to commercialize them were soon abandoned.
Their appeal, however, has endured over the last two centuries. One explanation may be that without the sounds of engines or wind, today’s hot air balloon rides are still remarkably similar to those first flights taken over the Parisian countryside.
