The Mastery of the Air | Page 9

A wide hoop encircled the neck of the
envelope, and from this hoop the car was suspended by stout cordage.
It is said that on the day announced for the ascent a crowd of nearly
200,000 had assembled, and that the Prince of Wales was an interested
spectator. Farmers and labourers and, indeed, all classes of people from
the prince down to he humblest subject, were represented, and seldom
had London's citizens been more deeply excited.
Many of them, however, were incredulous, especially when an
insufficiency of gas caused a long delay before the balloon could be
liberated. Fate seemed to be thwarting the plucky Italian at every step.
Even at the last minute, when all arrangements had been perfected as
far as was humanly possible, and the crowd was agog with excitement,
it appeared probable that he would have to postpone the ascent.
It was originally intended that Lunardi should be accompanied by a
passenger; but as there was a shortage of gas the balloon's lifting power
was considerably lessened, and he had to take the trip with a dog and
cat for companions. A perfect ascent was made, and in a few moments
the huge balloon was sailing gracefully in a northerly direction over
innumerable housetops.
This trip was memorable in another way. It was probably the only
aerial cruise where a Royal Council was put off in order to witness the

flight. It is recorded that George the Third was in conference with the
Cabinet, and when news arrived in the Council Chamber that Lunardi
was aloft, the king remarked: Gentlemen, we may resume our
deliberations at pleasure, but we may never see poor Lunardi again!"
The journey was uneventful; there was a moderate northerly breeze,
and the aeronaut attained a considerable altitude, so that he and his
animals were in danger of frost-bite. Indeed, one of the animals
suffered so severely from the effects of the cold that Lunardi skilfully
descended low enough to drop it safely to earth, and then, throwing out
ballast, once more ascended. He eventually came to earth near a
Hertfordshire village about 30 miles to the north of London.

CHAPTER V
The Father of British Aeronauts
No account of the early history of English aeronautics could possibly
be complete unless it included a description of the Nassau balloon,
which was inflated by coal-gas, from the suggestion of Mr. Charles
Green, who was one of Britain's most famous aeronauts. Because of his
institution of the modern method of using coal-gas in a balloon, Mr.
Green is generally spoken of as the Father of British Aeronautics.
During the close of the eighteenth and the opening years of the
nineteenth century there had been numerous ascents in Charlier
balloons, both in Britain and on the Continent. It had already been
discovered that hydrogen gas was highly dangerous and also expensive,
and Mr. Green proposed to try the experiment of inflating a balloon
with ordinary coal-gas, which had now become fairly common in most
large towns, and was much less costly than hydrogen.
Critics of the new scheme assured the promoters that coal-gas would be
of little use for a balloon, averring that it had comparatively little lifting
power, and aeronauts could never expect to rise to any great altitude in
such a balloon. But Green firmly believed that his theory was practical,
and he put it to the test. The initial experiments quite convinced him

that he was right. Under his superintendence a fine balloon about 80
feet high, built of silk, was made in South London, and the car was
constructed to hold from fifteen to twenty passengers. When the craft
was completed it was proposed to send it to Paris for exhibition
purposes, and the inventor, with two friends, Messrs. Holland and
Mason, decided to take it over the Channel by air. It is said that
provisions were taken in sufficient quantities to last a fortnight, and
over a ton of ballast was shipped.
The journey commenced in November, 1836, late in the afternoon, as
the aeronauts had planned to cross the sea by night. A fairly strong
north-west wind quickly bore them to the coast, and in less than an
hour they found themselves over the lights of Calais. On and on they
went, now and then entirely lost to Earth through being enveloped in
dense fog; hour after hour went by, until at length dawn revealed a
densely-wooded tract of country with which they were entirely
unfamiliar. They decided to land, and they were greatly surprised to
find that they had reached Weilburg, in Nassau, Germany. The whole
journey of 500 miles had been made in eighteen hours.
Probably no British aeronaut has made more daring and exciting
ascents than Mr. Green--unless it be a member of the famous Spencer
family,