My fathers birthday was at the end of last year. The present from the family was a hot air balloon ride. About two weeks ago I booked the trip for May 9th. I decided, if I get rid of my crutches, I’m taking the ride too. I was not really sure if I should do that, because I’m afraid of heights. But what can happen? In the worst case, I’m sitting with closed eyes in the basket on the floor.
Meeting point was a meadow in front of the castle Schielleiten near Stubenberg am See in Styria, at six o’clock in the morning. As we were told later, during this time of the year it is only possible to start in the morning and the evening. We, Mum, Dad and I had to wait as we arrived a little bit earlier. Close to six arrived the first vehicle, a minibus with a trailer, carrying the basket and in a big bag the balloon. Basket and balloon were unloaded quickly. Already there were a lot of people waiting. I thought: Are all these people going with one balloon? But shortly after, five more minibuses approached. Soon the baskets and balloons were covering the meadow. They were inflated with fans a little bit, before the burners were fired up. Meanwhile we “checked in” at a mobile desk and were assigned to the individual balloons. My dad and I were assigned to the first balloon. There fit eleven people in each basket, a captain and ten passengers. It took only 15 minutes from unloading the balloon until we were all in the basket. And off we went.
We gently rose from the ground. The balloon was fastened to the minibus with a thick rope. Once everything was clear and we were stable, the rope was loosened. Slowly we climbed a few meters into the air. The first two kilometers we drove at low altitude over the fields and the trees of a nearby forest. Andrew, our captain, controlled the height of the balloon by operating the burner … Pfchch Pfchchchchchch Pfchchchch …. The balloon reacts a bit slow on heating the air. It takes about ten seconds until it starts to rise when Andrew controlled the burner. It certainly requires a lot of knowledge to control the balloon in a regular height above the ground and especially to avoid obstacles. After a few minutes the other five balloons rose to and started to follow us.
Large parts of the landscape were still covered in the early morning fog. The wind pushed us slightly south-east slowly. There is almost no wind in the balloon. Sometimes you can feel slight gusts of wind, but the balloon adapts quickly to the wind. Andrew cranked up the burner. We find ourselves in another wind and are now driven to the north. On average we travel at about 25 km/h. It’s almost as if you were sitting on the plane, only free. The country is getting smaller and smaller. We went a little over 2,400 m above sea level, which was about 2,100 m above ground. We remain a few minutes in this region before we descend again and Andrew sets out to search for a landing place, which is not very simple. The balloon is at the mercy of the winds and can be controlled only minimally. Andrew tells us that they are allowed to land anywhere, which is regulated by law. But they try to land close to or on roads. First, they don’t want to cause much damage to nature, secondly, it is much easier to load the big basket and the balloon on the trailer.
After about 90 minutes we are approaching the soil. There is constant contact with the ground staff on the radio which is following us on ground. Three of the six balloons land not far from each other. We are moving at a low height above the ground, rising slightly from time to time to avoid power lines or chimneys and fall again. Near a road we were captured by the ground staff. We had to cross the street to get to the opposite field. Here we were almost hit by a car. Maybe the lady was not aware that a balloon has no brakes. Or she was just scared because of the monster crossing the street (about 30m high, 7,000 m3 and 2,000 m2).
One of the passengers asked since when hot air ballooning is done. Andrew starts “… Montgolfier brothers, June 5, 1783 …”. When I said, “I’m sure this is the first thing you learn,” he grinned. I could not verify everything that Andrew told us. It was an amusing story, but some might not have happened as he told.
At those times there were large fireplaces in the castles. It was observed that the smoke was drawn upwards. The first assumptions were that if you pack the smoke in a light container, the container will rise. By and by they found out that it is the hot air that rises. On 4. or 5. June 1783 the first hot air balloon ride took place in Versailles. After the successful launch they decided the new technology should be presented to the public on 19. June 1783. King Louis XVI, high-society and about 130,000 spectators were present.
Little was known about the “air-sea” (therefore it is ‘driving a balloon’ and not ‘flying’), therefore, a sheep, a duck and a rooster were sent into the air. The ride was successful. Allegedly, the cock broke a leg on landing. Now of course the question was: Who should be the first person to ride in a balloon? Actually, it was to the king. The king asked his advisers: the church, medicals and physicists about the impact on the human body. The church condemned it as devil’s work. Whoever rises with a balloon in the air, will go down and burn forever in hell. The doctors suspected that it tears lungs and veins and you will die a painful death. Even the physicists were not sure about the outcome. What to do? Two convicts should serve as laboratory rats. They were given the choice – balloon or guillotine. They also had no confidence in the new technology and have chosen the scaffold. Pilâtre Jean-François de Rozier, a physicist thought, that if the animals survived without any visible damage, there would be no problem with humans. With him the guardsman François d’Arlandes climbed into the basket. On 21 November 1783 these two persons did the first manned balloon ride. After landing, they were immediately ennobled. For some time, every balloonist was ennobled and received some land. You don’t get land anymore, but you still get ennobled.
It took place in a tavern in Stubenberg. We were kneeling, and the captain of the balloon burned a ringlet which was extinguished with champagne. So, I am a count now, my name is: Jürgen, the lofty tower sky cresting, count of castle Schielleiten.
Thank your for reading, Jürgen