Australian.Geographic_2014_01-02

TIMELINE: HOT-AIR BALLOONING DEVELOPMENTS

74 Australian Geographic

1783

The first manned

hot-air balloon free

flight. Piloted by

Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier

and François d’Arlandes, it

was designed by paper

manufacturers

Joseph-Michel

and Jacques-

Étienne

Montgolfier,

who had

noticed ashes

from burning

paper rising

into the air.

1858

Joseph Dean

completed the

first balloon flight

in Australia. Dean’s muslin

balloon, Australasian, launched

from Melbourne’s Cremorne

Gardens.

Launching from

Nebraska, USA,

Ed Yost made

the first flight in a modern

hot-air balloon. Earlier

versions of hot-air balloons

did not use onboard

propane burners.

Ed Yost and Don

Piccard made the

first hot-air balloon

flight across the English

Channel, earning international

notoriety.

1964

Terry McCormack

completes first

Australian hot-air

balloon flight in Archimedes.

The good ol’ days. The

Aerostat Society relied on

sponsorship: Toyota sup-

plied a truck (right), and

Archimedes’ Mylar panels

were joined by donated

Sellotape. Teijin’s zipper

defl ation system (below

centre) at work. Rosemary

Johnson (opposite top, at

centre) works the sewing

machine on a balloon with

Mopsy Mauragis, left, and

Terry McCormack.

1709

Bartolomeu de
Gusmão, a Brazilian
priest, reportedly
gave an indoor demonstra-
tion of a model balloon
within the palace of King
John V in Lisbon, Portugal,
taking it 4m off the floor.
Some claim, controversially,
that Gusmão actually
ascended with the balloon.
That same year he published
a treatise: Short manifesto for
those who are unaware that
is possible to sail through the
element air.

1963

ABOVE: COURTESY CHERRY MCCORMACK/PHOTO BY BEN HANSEN; TIME-LINE, FROM LEFT: GETTY IMAGES (GI); COURTESY CHERRY MCCORMACK; GI; DICK AND PIP SMITH COLLECTION

1960