On 19th September the first living creatures ever to leave the ground in an aircraft — a sheep, a cock and a duck — travelled almost two miles in a wicker basket slung under a Montgolfière released at Versailles and it was planned to carry under the next balloon a criminal who would receive a free pardon if he alighted safely. But a young scientist named Pilâtre de Rozier, considering it unthinkable that a criminal should gain the honour of being the first airman, volunteered to make the ascent himself; and on 15th October 1783 he rose to about 80 feet in a captive balloon with a capacity of 60,000cu. ft. Pilatre de Rozier made a 4 minute 24 second tethered flight. The second ascent was done with Pilâtre de Rozier, and André Giroud de Villette, to 105m.

After several tethered tests to gain some experience of controlling the balloon, de Rozier and d’Arlandes made their first untethered flight in a Montgolfier hot air balloon on 21 November 1783, taking off at around 2 p.m. from the garden of the Château de la Muette in the Bois de Boulogne, in the presence of the King. Their 25-minute flight travelled slowly about 5½ miles (some 9 km) to the southeast, attaining an altitude of 3,000 feet, before returning to the ground at the Butte-aux-Cailles, then on the outskirts of Paris.

The 25-minute flight was not without hazard, for the balloon was kept inflated with hot air by means of a brazier slung under its neck, and the airman had a hectic time putting out fires on the fabric with a sponge and water which they had wisely decided to take with them.

The first woman aeronaut, Mine Tible, ascended from Lyons as passenger in a Montgolfière in June 1784.

Replica: HAS Woodford Montgolfier

Capacity: approx 77,700 cu.ft / 2200 cu.m
Diameter: approx 49 ft / 14.95m
Height: approx 75 ft / 22.75m