The Balloon - Noteworthy Aerial Voyages, from the Discovery of the Balloon to the Present Time - With a Narrative of the Aeronautic Experiences of Mr. Samuel A. King, and a Full Description of His Great Captive Balloons and Their Apparatus

Anon

Description

In the 21st century - the age of the budget airline - where quick and reliable air travel is available to a large segment of society, it seems hard to comprehend that it is less than 250 years since the first human took to the skies.
Although the wing of the bird seemed like the most obvious natural mechanism to attempt replicate, it was actually contained hot air, as demonstrated by the Montgolfiers and their balloon, that gave birth to the era human aviation. Since the first manned balloon flight in 1783, developments have come thick and fast, the airship, the aeroplane, and finally the space shuttle.
This reprint of a classic publication from 1879 contains a wealth of fascinating information on the early history of aviation. Complete with illustrations and a brand new introduction, it covers the adventures of the great aeronauts such as Coxwell and Rozier, and famous ascents like that of the Zenith. This is a wonderful work for anyone with an interest in the technology and events that defined the lighter-than-air period of aeronautics.

Informations

• Publié par: Read Books Ltd.
• Date de parution: 22 mars 2021
• Nombre de lectures: 1
• EAN13: 9781528766036
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

THE BALLOON.

N OTEWORTHY A ERIAL V OYAGES ,
FROM THE
DISCOVERY OF THE BALLOON
TO THE PRESENT TIME.

WITH A
Narrative of the Aeronautic Experiences of Mr. Samuel A. King,
AND
A Full Description of his Great Captive Balloons and their Apparatus.

W ITH ILLUSTRATIONS .
1879.
Copyright 2013 Read Books Ltd.
This book is copyright and may not be reproduced or copied in any way without the express permission of the publisher in writing
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
The Early History of Flight
In the 21st century-the age of the budget airline-where quick and reliable air travel is available to a large segment of society, it seems hard to comprehend that it is less than 250 years since the first human took to the skies. Throughout history, our species has viewed the birds with wonder, envy, and an irresistible urge for the freedom they posses. Many tried to attain that freedom, and many failed. From the legends of Icarus to the sketches of Leonardo da Vinci, great minds have occupied themselves with replicating the feathered wing-their designs running parallel to the images of heavenly angels in the arts. The principle of creating lift with a wing was of course sound, but it had to wait for the science of the twentieth century to become practical. Until then, a different line of enquiry had to be followed. This spawned the lighter-than-air period of aviation.
The concept of heated air being used to generate lift goes back as far as third century C.E. China when Kongming lanterns were used to send messages. It was only in the eighteenth century however, with the innovations of a couple of French paper-makers, the Montgolfier brothers, that the principle was utilised as a means of transport. It was in their balloon, on 21st November 1783, that Pil tre de Rozier and the Marquis d Arlandes became the first humans to join the birds and traverse the skies. This ascent was soon followed by that of Charles and Robert in the first hydrogen balloon. The seed had been sown and many others took up the gauntlet to set new records, make scientific observations, and entertain the masses.
In this early-industrial age, the excitement for new technology was immense, and thousands of people would gather and pay to watch these aeronauts ascend. The public appetite for all things balloon related led to the coining of the term Balloonomania , and the enthusiasm for seeing these aviators lift off in their majestic craft is comparable to that of the dawn of the space age in the mid-twentieth century.
As with all forays into the unknown, ballooning took its toll. Several pioneers lost their lives and many more came close. Over the years however, science, and the designs of the balloons became better understood, and although the frontiers of ballooning remain a risky endeavour, many people all over the world now enjoy ballooning as a pastime.
At the beginning of the 20th century, a new technology took to the air that would revolutionise aeronautics. When the Wright Flyer , designed by Orville and Wilbur Wright, made its maiden flight in 1903, travelling a distance of 120 feet, it set the tone for the future of aviation. Aeroplanes soon became the prominent force in air travel, developing both commercial and military applications very early on in their existence.
A world without flight now seems hard to imagine and I hope the reader is intrigued to find out more about the exciting and fascinating subject of aviation history.

S AMUEL A. K ING .
Contents
The Steam Captive Balloons of Prof. King.
The Career of Mr. Samuel A. King.
The Remarkable Record of the Balloon.
THE STEAM CAPTIVE BALLOONS OF PROF. KING.

All previous balloon enterprises undertaken in this country are dwarfed in comparison with the plan which has resulted in the Aeronautic Observatory of Prof. S. A. King. The balloons themselves are much greater than any ever before used for captive ascensions in America, and are the fruit of the most skillful calculation, of numerous inventions and of patient and long continued experiments. The subsequent pages contain a detailed description of this great aeronautic apparatus.
THE AERONAUTIC SOCIETY.
The origin of the enterprise is due to the discoveries made by Prof. King, during a series of experiments that occupied him almost constantly for more than two years, and in which he had the aid of an experience as a practical aeronaut of nearly thirty years. These discoveries enabled him to so improve the construction of the balloon that he had no difficulty in demonstrating the feasibility of building an air ship that would retain its buoyant principle for weeks if desired. Prof. King, moreover, having satisfied himself from long-continued observations, that a great proportion of the easterly gales on our coast move clear across the ocean, announced his willingness to undertake the trans-Atlantic air voyage in a ship of his own construction. His plans having been carefully considered, an association was formed to enable him to enter upon their execution.
During the winter of 1878-9 the whole field of aeronautics was carefully explored with a view of ascertaining the most feasible method of proceeding. It was decided as a preliminary to enter upon a series of observations of the weather conditions at different altitudes at or near the sea shore, and during the portion of the year deemed most suitable for entering upon the long voyage. At the same time it was believed desirable to arouse general interest in the matter by publicly exhibiting the required apparatus.
The Manhattan Beach Improvement Company very kindly offered an advantageous site on their property contiguous to the ocean. Their offer was accepted, and the plans for construction were placed in the hands of expert engineers. Several months were spent in settling upon the various details, but early in the year preparations were activey entered upon.
THE PROJECT ANNOUNCED.
The following letter to the New York Herald , and published in that journal April 7, 1879, is of interest in this connection:
P HILADELPHIA , April 5, 1879.

To the Editor of the Herald:
I trust that you will allow me through your widely circulated columns space in which to make a statement to the public of my plans and purposes during the coming season. For a period of nearly thirty years I have made a study and practice of aerial navigation. During the whole of this time, in the course of which I have made somewhat over two hundred ascensions, without injury to life or limb, I have steadily endeavored to avail myself of whatever experience or suggestion might afford to make traveling in the air practical, definite and useful. Numerous and often costly experiments have shown me that, with no mechanical appliance or power yet discovered is it possible to journey definitely and with certitude through the air to any previously designated point, in opposition to the direction of a prevailing wind. The balloon, therefore remains to-day what it was in the days of the Montgolfiers, a machine that all the skill and ingenuity of man cannot prevent from floating with the wind, which controls and directs it absolutely from the moment it is launched. The application of any known mechanical power, to be of any use as against a wind directed upon the vast surface of a balloon, is entirely impracticable in consequence of the weight involved. We must, to is evident await the results of the discoveries of an Edison, or until some one else shall have succeeded in devising a harness with which to control the electric current.
But it seems to me that a great deal can be accomplished with the balloon, slave of the wind though it be. Thus far balloon voyages have been limited to the duration of a few hours at most. The longest voyage on record in this country was that made by Messrs. Gager, LaMountain, Hyde and Wise, from St. Louis, Mo., to Henderson, New York, in 1859. The balloon left St. Louis at six o clock on the evening of July 1, and at thirty-five minutes past two o clock on the following afternoon it made its landing. I have myself made an air voyage of over five hundred miles; but, generally speaking, balloon journeys have been very brief, extending over comparatively limited stretch of country. The reasons for this are as plain and true as when thus expressed by the English aeronaut, Green, in 1840:
Apart from the leakage of the balloon itself (which, however, when in perfect condition, is not excessively material) a variety of circumstances attend its progress through the air by which, in ordinary cases, its power of sustaining itself becomes gradually impaired and ultimately, of course, completely overcome. Of these one of the most formidable is the difficulty of making the balloon retain the same elevation in the atmosphere and of avoiding those fluctuations in the level of its course by which it becomes subjected to the alternate exhaustion of gas by expansion and consequent loss of ballast in order to furnish an equivalent diminution of weight. The extent to which this condition of the art, exercised in the usual form is capable of operating will be more readily appreciated when we observe that, at an elevation of 3,000 feet, the density of the atmosphere is nearly one-tenth less than at the immediate surface of the earth. The gas, therefore, expanding as it ascends, at that altitude occupies one-tenth more space than under its original pressure, A balloon, consequently, fully inflated at its quitting the ground, must, ere it attain that elevation, part with such a proportion of its contents; and this, too, without taking into account any unfavorable change in the