The history of the development of aeronautics, it would seem, is completed. Today, helicopters, airplanes and many other outlandish vehicles have appeared in our lives. However, in the hearts of people forever remained magic and romance, which are associated with such an interesting occupation as flying in a balloon. And today people travel on it. Many would be curious to know how it all began. The history of aeronautics will be briefly reviewed in this article.
Bartolomemeo Lorenzo
Bartolomemeo Lorenzo, Brazilian, belongs to the pioneers, whose names were not forgotten by history. However, their major scientific achievements over the centuries have been called into question or remained unknown.
Bartolomemeo Lorenzo - the true name of a person who went down in the history of aeronautics, like Lorenzo Guzmao, a Portuguese priest, the creator of the project called "Passarola", until recently perceived as fantasy. In 1971, after a long search, it was possible to find documents explaining the events of this distant past.
They began in 1708, when, having moved to Portugal, Guzmao entered Coimbra University and got the idea to create an aircraft, the flight on which would open the history of aeronautics. Physics and mathematics, in which Lorenzo showed great abilities, helped him in this. He began his project with an experiment. Guzmao constructed several models that became the prototypes of his future ship.
The first demonstrations of the Guzmao ship
In 1709, in August, these models were shown to the royal nobility. One such balloon flight turned out to be successful: a thin shell with a small brazier suspended under it, almost 4 meters above the ground. Guzmao in the same year began the implementation of his Passarola project. Unfortunately, information about his test was not preserved. However, in any case, Guzmao was the first who, based on a study of natural phenomena, was able to find a real way to rise up, and also made an attempt to put it into practice. Thus began the history of the development of aeronautics.
Joseph Montolfier
From Joseph, his older brother, Etienne Montgolfier, who owned a paper factory in a small French town, received a note in 1782, in which his brother suggested that he prepare more ropes and silk material in order to see one of the most amazing things in the world. This note meant that Joseph had finally found something that the brothers had said more than once at the meetings: a way by which one could fly into the air.
A shell filled with smoke turned out to be this remedy. As a result of a simple experiment, J. Montgolfier noted that a box-shaped cloth shell sewn from two pieces of fabric rushed up after it was filled with smoke. This discovery fascinated not only the author himself, but also his brother. Working together, the researchers created two more aerostatic machines (they called their balloons that way). In the circle of friends and relatives one of them was demonstrated. It was made in the form of a ball, the diameter of which was 3.5 meters.
The first successes of Montgolfier
The success of the experiment was complete: for about 10 minutes the shell lasted in the air, while rising to a height of about 300 meters and flying about a kilometer through the air. The brothers, inspired by success, decided to show their invention to the general public. They built a giant balloon, the diameter of which was more than 10 meters. The shell sewn from the canvas was reinforced with a rope net, and also glued with paper in order to increase the impermeability.
In 1783, on June 5, a demonstration took place on the market square in the presence of many spectators. A ball filled with smoke rose up. All the details of the experience witnessed a special protocol, which was sealed by the signatures of various officials. So the invention was officially certified for the first time, which opened the way for aeronautics.
Professor Charles
In Paris, the great interest was the flight of the Montgolfier brothers in a balloon. They were invited to repeat their experience in the capital. At the same time, Jacques Charles, a French physicist, was ordered to demonstrate his aircraft. Charles assured that smoky air, hot air gas, as it was then called, was not the best way to create aerostatic lift.
Jacques was well acquainted with the latest advances in chemistry and believed that it is much better to use hydrogen, since it is lighter than air. However, choosing this gas to fill his apparatus, the professor encountered a number of technical difficulties. First of all, it was necessary to decide what to make a light shell that can hold volatile gas for a long time.
The first flight of Charlier
Robey’s brothers, mechanics, helped him cope with this task. They made the material with the right qualities. For this, the brothers used a light silk fabric, which was covered with a solution of rubber in turpentine. In 1783, on August 27, in Paris on the Champ de Mars, Charles's aircraft flew up. He rushed up in front of the eyes of about 300 thousand spectators and soon became invisible. When one person there asked what was the point of all this, Benjamin Franklin, a well-known American statesman and scientist who also observed the flight, replied: “And what's the point in having a newborn born?” This remark was prophetic. "Newborn" was born, and he was destined for a great future.
First passengers
The Montgolfier brothers, however, did not stop Charles from succeeding in demonstrating his own invention in Paris. Etienne, trying to make the greatest impression, used his talent as an excellent architect. The balloon he built was, in a sense, a work of art. The barrel-shaped form had its shell, the height of which was more than 20 meters. It was decorated on the outside with colorful ornaments and monograms.
The balloon demonstrated by the Academy of Sciences aroused admiration among its representatives. It was decided in the presence of the royal court to repeat this show. Near Paris, at Versailles, a demonstration took place in 1783, September 19. True, the balloon that aroused the admiration of academics did not live up to this day: its shell was washed away by rain, as a result of which it fell into disrepair. But the Montgolfier brothers did not stop it. Working diligently, they built a new ball by the due date. He was not inferior in beauty to the previous one.
In order to produce the maximum effect, the brothers attached a cage to it, in which they put a rooster, a duck and a ram. These were the first balloonists in history. The balloon rushed upward and, having traveled a path of 4 km, after 8 minutes safely landed on the ground. The heroes of the day are the Montgolfier brothers. They were awarded various awards, and all the balloons in which smoky air was used to create lift were called hot air balloons from that day.
Man flying on a hot air balloon
With each flight, the Montgolfier brothers approached the cherished goal that they pursued - the flight of man. The new ball they built was larger. Its height was 22.7 meters and a diameter of 15 meters. The ring gallery was attached in its lower part. It was intended for two people. The creation of this design continued the history of aeronautics. Physics, on the achievements of which it was based, at that time made it possible to construct only very simple aircraft. The center for burning straw was suspended in the middle of the gallery. He radiated heat while in the shell under the hole. This heat heated the air, which made it possible to make the flight longer. He even became somewhat controlled.
In the history of flights you can find a variety of interesting facts. Ballooning is an occupation that brought great fame and fame in the 18th century. The creators of the aircraft did not want to share it with others. However, Louis XVI, king of France, forbade the authors of the project to take part in the flight personally. In his opinion, this life-threatening task had to be entrusted to two criminals who were sentenced to death. However, this caused protests by Pilatra de Rosier, one of the active participants in the construction of the hot air balloon.
This man could not reconcile with the fact that the names of criminals will go down in the history of aeronautics. He insisted on participating in the flight personally. Permission was eventually obtained. Another "pilot" set off on a balloon trip. They became the Marquis d'Arland, a fan of aeronautics. And in 1783, November 21, they took off the earth and made the first flight in history. A hot air balloon lasted 25 minutes in the air, flying about 9 km during this time.
Man flying on a scarlier
In order to prove that the future of aeronautics belongs to the charlers (the balloons with shells that were filled with hydrogen), Professor Charles decided to fly, which was supposed to be more spectacular than that arranged by the Montgolfier brothers. Creating his new balloon, he developed a number of design solutions that have been used in the future for centuries.
Charlier, built by him, had a net that covered the upper hemisphere of the balloon, as well as slings on which a gondola was hung suspended from this net. There were people in the gondola. A special outlet was made in a shell for the release of hydrogen. The valve located in the shell, as well as the ballast stored in the gondola, were used to change the flight altitude. An anchor was also provided to make it easier to land.
Charlier, whose diameter was more than 9 meters, December 1, 1783 in the Tuileries Park took off. Professor Charles, as well as Robert, one of the brothers who took an active part in the construction of the charlers, went on it. They landed safely near the village, flying about 40 kilometers. Then Charles continued the journey alone.
Charlier flew 5 km, while climbing to an incredible height for that time - 2750 meters. After spending about half an hour in this sky-high sky, the researcher landed safely, thus completing the first flight in the history of ballooning with a hydrogen-filled balloon.
Balloon flying over the English Channel
The life of Jean-Pierre Blanchard, a French mechanic who made his first balloon flight through Lamansch, is noteworthy in that it became an illustration of the turning point that came at the end of the 18th century in the development of aeronautics. Blanchard began by realizing the idea of flapping flight.
He built in 1781 an apparatus whose wings were set in motion by the effort of the legs and arms. Testing him suspended on a rope thrown over a block, this inventor rose to the height of a multi-storey building, while the counterweight was about 10 kg. Rejoiced at the first successes, he published his thoughts in the newspaper about the possibility of flapping flight for a person.
Air travel made on the first balloons, as well as the search for flight controls, returned Blanchard to the idea of wings, but already used to control the balloon. Although the first experiment ended unsuccessfully, the researcher did not abandon his attempts and was more and more carried away by the ascent into the heavenly expanse.
In 1784, in the fall, his flights began in England. The researcher had the idea to fly across the English Channel on a balloon, thereby proving the possibility of air communication between France and England. In 1785, on January 7, this historical flight took place, in which the inventor himself participated, as well as Dr. Jeffrey, his American friend.
Balloon Age
The history of the development of aeronautics was short-lived. It would seem that a little over 150 years have passed from the beginning of the century of airships and balloons to its complete completion. The first free balloon was taken up by the Montgolfier brothers in 1783, and in 1937 the LZ-129 Gindenburg, an airship built in Germany, burned down. This happened in the USA, in Lakehurst, on a mooring mast. On board were 97 people. Of these, 35 were killed. This disaster so shocked the world community that the great powers were inclined to stop the construction of large airships. Thus ended the era in aeronautics, in which the last 40 years had been the development of rigid airships called zeppelins (one of their main creators was Ferdinand von Zeppelin, a German general).
The balloon designed by the Montgolfier brothers was uncontrollable. Only in 1852, Henri Giffard, a French designer, created a controlled balloon.
Engineers have long tried to solve the problem of rigidity of aircraft. David Schwartz, an Austrian designer, got the idea to make their body metal. In Berlin in 1897, a Schwartz balloon flew up. Its body was made of aluminum. However, due to engine malfunctions, an emergency landing was made.
Count Zeppelin
Count von Zeppelin, familiarizing himself with the work of David, saw their promise. He came up with a frame made of lightweight box trusses that were riveted from aluminum strips. The holes in them were stamped. Of the ring-shaped frames made frame. They were connected by stringers.
A chamber with hydrogen was placed between each pair of frames (1217 in total). Therefore, if several internal cylinders were damaged, the rest supported volatility. In the summer of 1990, the cigar-shaped eight-ton giant zeppelin (an airship with a diameter of 12 meters and a length of 128) made a successful 18-minute flight, turning its creator, who was then considered almost an urban madman, into a national hero.
Recently, the country, which had lost the war with the French, took with enthusiasm the idea of the general about this miraculous weapon. Zeppelin - an airship, which began to be actively used in hostilities. By the time of the First World War, the General had constructed several machines, the length of which was 148 m. They could reach speeds of up to 80 km / h. The airships designed by Count Zeppelin went to war.
The 20th century further democratized flights. Modern aeronautics has become a fascination for many people. Solomon Auguste Andre in 1897, in July, made the first ever balloon flight to the Arctic. In 1997, in honor of the centenary of this event, balloons were held at the North Pole by ballooning athletes. Since then, the most daring teams have flown here every year to take to the skies. Aeronautics Festival is a fascinating sight, many people come to admire it.