Ballooning is a great way to see the world, yet operators can be slightly hard to find and you may need to find an alternative. Here are a few different methods of aerial tourism that don’t involve balloons. Paragliding is a very fun way to get aloft and feel like you are suspended in the air. It involves being towed behind a boat or other vehicle while being attached to a parachute – this will lift you up into the [...]

After early work with both hot air and gas-filled balloons, the milestones in ballooning added up quickly. On July seventh 1785, Jean-Pierre Blanchard flew across the English Channel. Then, in January of 1793, Blanchard made the first manned flight of a balloon in America. His hydrogen-filled balloon left from a prison yard in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and reached a height of almost six thousand fee before landing in Gloucester County, New Jersey. At this flight, President George Washington was among the [...]

After the Roberts brothers hydrogen flight, the next manned hot air balloon flight would take place four years later again in France. The brothers Joseph-Michel and Jacques-Etienne Montgolfier, sons from a family of paper manufacturers in France, had noticed ash rising in paper fires. Using this observation they created a balloon filled with hot air. The Montgolfier brothers gave their first demonstration of their invention on June 4, 1783. After experimenting with flights with animals, the brothers showcased a tethered [...]

The next chapter in the history of ballooning teetered on the edge of disaster during the entire experiment. Flammable gasses, easily spooked villagers, primitive chemistry, and a crowd of thousands repeatedly nearly brought the flight conceived by Jacques Charles and the Robert brothers in France to an early end. But at the end of the day on August 27, 1783, the second manned balloon flight was a success. The balloon itself was a comparatively small sphere of rubberized silk capable [...]

Presumably, you’re planning an amazing vacation to the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, the Kentucky Blue Grass Festival, or any number of spectacular balloon festivals that are held around the world every year. These amazing festivals are a great destination for your holiday plans. Kids and adults – no matter their age – can’t help but to fall in love with the majestic sight of slowly ascending balloons in the cool morning hours. Our amazement of and fascination with balloons isn’t [...]