Paris, 1870 balloon
During the Prussian siege, in September 1870 balloon was the only way of getting mail and people out of the city.
During the siege of Paris in 1870, sixty-six balloons left the city, mostly at night, carrying more than 100 VIP refugees, 9 tons of mail and over 400 carrier pigeons.
Only 7 of them failed to reach safety; and the 57 pigeons that managed to find their way back to the city carried in about 100,000 messages on microfilm.
All Aero 