On 18th July 1803, Étienne-Gaspard Robert set the new flight altitude record of 7,170 metres, flying with montgolfière-type hot air balloon. Étienne-Gaspard Robert was born on 15th June 1763, in the then Prince-Bishopric of Liége […]
On 4th July 1753, the French inventor and aviation pioneer, as well as the first professional balloon pilot in the world, was born in Les Andelys, France. Since the childhood, Blanchard, a son of a […]
At the end of January 1769, the French aviation pioneer, balloonist and inventor of the frameless parachute, André-Jacques Garnerin, was born. The exact date of his birth varies, depending on the source. Although it seems […]
227 years ago, on 22nd October 1797, the French aviation pioneer, André-Jacques Garnerin, performed the first successful parachute descent, using the frameless parachute he invented. André-Jacques Garnerin was born on 30th January 1769, in Paris. […]
On 23rd August 1878, the first British military aircraft, the Pioneer, performed its maiden flight at Woolwich Arsenal. The first British military balloon trials are as old as 1862. That year, Lieutenant George Grover proposed […]
Gondola of Piccard/Kipfer balloon, used during their record flight dated 27th May 1931, exhibited at the Royal Museum of the Armed Forces and Military History in Brussels, September 2023. Auguste Antoine Piccard was a Swiss […]
On 2nd February 1872, Henri Dupuy de Lôme presented to public his muscle-powered dirigible balloon, able to achieve up to 11 kph. Stanislas Charles Henri Dupuy de Lôme was born on 15th October 1816 in […]
On 2nd February 1872, Henri Dupuy de Lôme presented to public his muscle-powered dirigible balloon, able to achieve flight speed of up to 11 kph. On 29th October 1870, during the Franco-Prussian War, the French […]
On 18th August 1805, Sophie Blanchard successfully completed her solo balloon flight, therefore becoming the first woman in aviation history to perform a solo flight in an aircraft. Marie Madeleine Sophie Blanchard (née Armandt) was […]
On 7th January 1785, Jean-Pierre Blanchard and John Jeffries performed the very first successful balloon flight across the English Channel (La Manche), covering the route from Dover Castle to Guînes (Guisines), Pas-de-Calais. (full story here) […]
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