A Column Full of Hot Air
My family took a trip to the Zoo the other day, and by that I mean Kalamazoo, Mich., and also the "Air Zoo," which is a way-neato attraction in the Kalama Zoo.
The Air Zoo is an exciting museum that enables visitors to experience the wonders of flight through a collection of vintage planes, aviation equipment and vomit-inducing flight simulators.
The museum's official name is the Kalamazoo Aviation History Museum, but it's called the Air Zoo because it houses planes such as the Sopwith Camel, the Grasshopper, and the Airacobra. Also a huge herd of cats: Flying Tiger, Wildcat, Hellcat, Tomcat and Bearcat. None of which are the least bit afraid of the Cessna Bird Dog.
The Air Zoo has a section devoted to early experiments in flight, and since these exhibits are furthest from the stomach-churning flight simulators, I spent most of my time there. What I learned may fascinate you. If not, I'll give you what my editors pay me for this column, and you can get a half-a-cup of coffee.
Frenchmen first demonstrated humans could fly ("fly" as in "get airborne," not as in "retreat"), specifically the Montgolfier brothers, Joseph and Etienne.
They were two of 16 Montgolfier children, which probably explains a lot about their desire to escape, somewhere, anywhere, even up into the sky.
Their early experiments were not promising. Joseph once made a large paper bag (his father owned a paper factory) and filled it with steam; it had no aerodynamic qualities whatsoever, although for many years it held the record for world's largest spitwad.
Etienne's big idea was to make a paper bag float in the air with hydrogen gas obtained from combining sulfuric acid with iron filings. The bag didn't fly, but the cuss words sure did, when Mama Montgolfier saw the holes eaten in her carpets by the sulfuric acid. Fortunately, Etienne escaped punishment by blaming it on a sibling whose name he couldn't remember.
Finally, in 1782, the brothers got an idea from watching ash and cinders float up their fireplace chimney. They created a bag made of silk, and lit a fire beneath the opening. Voila! It rose into the air! The brothers decided they had created a special gas — which they modestly called "Montgolfier Gas" — that made the bag float. Only later did they learn that balloons rise not through some complicated scientific process, but by magic.
(They also later learned that their father had invented "Montgolfier Gas" years earlier, after overindulging at an all-you-can-eat burrito bar.)
Anyway, the dream of the Montgolfier brothers — to create a flying contraption which would help them escape their 14 siblings — seemed within reach, and they began experimenting with bigger balloons. Eventually they were ready for a public demonstration. In June 1783, they launched a balloon in their hometown of Annonay, France. The thing reached a height of over 3,000 feet (how did they calculate that, anyway?) and it landed over a mile away, right next to a Montgolfier Gas station.
Their next demonstration took place in September 1783, in Paris, before the King himself, Louie-Louie XVI. This balloon carried three "passengers" in its basket — a rooster, a duck and an Airacobra. Hold on, sorry, that third critter was actually a sheep.
All the animals survived the flight, and the Montgolfiers couldn't wait to send some humans up, up and away. They'd hoped to toss three or four siblings in that first manned balloon, but their parents said, "Non." So instead, on Nov. 21, 1783, humankind's first untethered flight was taken by Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier and François Laurent.
They were airborne for 25 minutes, and everything went flawlessly, although Laurent griped that he'd already seen the in-flight movie.
Rozier later was involved in another aviation first: A balloon he designed exploded while trying to cross the English Channel, making him the first person ever to die in an aircraft accident.
But don't let that scare you away from the Air Zoo. Other than a model balloon hanging from the ceiling, the only airborne experience is a cute elevated carousel called the "Montgolfier Brothers Balloon Ride." But be forewarned: To capture the authentic atmosphere of 1780s France, it's powered by Montgolfier Gas.
Inflate my ego, send me an e-mail! TakefiveT5@yahoo.com
The Air Zoo is an exciting museum that enables visitors to experience the wonders of flight through a collection of vintage planes, aviation equipment and vomit-inducing flight simulators.
The museum's official name is the Kalamazoo Aviation History Museum, but it's called the Air Zoo because it houses planes such as the Sopwith Camel, the Grasshopper, and the Airacobra. Also a huge herd of cats: Flying Tiger, Wildcat, Hellcat, Tomcat and Bearcat. None of which are the least bit afraid of the Cessna Bird Dog.
The Air Zoo has a section devoted to early experiments in flight, and since these exhibits are furthest from the stomach-churning flight simulators, I spent most of my time there. What I learned may fascinate you. If not, I'll give you what my editors pay me for this column, and you can get a half-a-cup of coffee.
Frenchmen first demonstrated humans could fly ("fly" as in "get airborne," not as in "retreat"), specifically the Montgolfier brothers, Joseph and Etienne.
They were two of 16 Montgolfier children, which probably explains a lot about their desire to escape, somewhere, anywhere, even up into the sky.
Their early experiments were not promising. Joseph once made a large paper bag (his father owned a paper factory) and filled it with steam; it had no aerodynamic qualities whatsoever, although for many years it held the record for world's largest spitwad.
Etienne's big idea was to make a paper bag float in the air with hydrogen gas obtained from combining sulfuric acid with iron filings. The bag didn't fly, but the cuss words sure did, when Mama Montgolfier saw the holes eaten in her carpets by the sulfuric acid. Fortunately, Etienne escaped punishment by blaming it on a sibling whose name he couldn't remember.
Finally, in 1782, the brothers got an idea from watching ash and cinders float up their fireplace chimney. They created a bag made of silk, and lit a fire beneath the opening. Voila! It rose into the air! The brothers decided they had created a special gas — which they modestly called "Montgolfier Gas" — that made the bag float. Only later did they learn that balloons rise not through some complicated scientific process, but by magic.
(They also later learned that their father had invented "Montgolfier Gas" years earlier, after overindulging at an all-you-can-eat burrito bar.)
Anyway, the dream of the Montgolfier brothers — to create a flying contraption which would help them escape their 14 siblings — seemed within reach, and they began experimenting with bigger balloons. Eventually they were ready for a public demonstration. In June 1783, they launched a balloon in their hometown of Annonay, France. The thing reached a height of over 3,000 feet (how did they calculate that, anyway?) and it landed over a mile away, right next to a Montgolfier Gas station.
Their next demonstration took place in September 1783, in Paris, before the King himself, Louie-Louie XVI. This balloon carried three "passengers" in its basket — a rooster, a duck and an Airacobra. Hold on, sorry, that third critter was actually a sheep.
All the animals survived the flight, and the Montgolfiers couldn't wait to send some humans up, up and away. They'd hoped to toss three or four siblings in that first manned balloon, but their parents said, "Non." So instead, on Nov. 21, 1783, humankind's first untethered flight was taken by Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier and François Laurent.
They were airborne for 25 minutes, and everything went flawlessly, although Laurent griped that he'd already seen the in-flight movie.
Rozier later was involved in another aviation first: A balloon he designed exploded while trying to cross the English Channel, making him the first person ever to die in an aircraft accident.
But don't let that scare you away from the Air Zoo. Other than a model balloon hanging from the ceiling, the only airborne experience is a cute elevated carousel called the "Montgolfier Brothers Balloon Ride." But be forewarned: To capture the authentic atmosphere of 1780s France, it's powered by Montgolfier Gas.
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posted by Don Stuart at 10:00 AM
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