First manned flight

The first flight by a human was carried out by French scientist Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier on 15 October 1783. He was the first person to ascend in one of the Montgolfier Brothers' lighter-than-air balloons, which had been set in the garden of Jean-Baptiste Réveillon on Rue du Montreuil in Paris, France. The balloon remained firmly tethered to the ground for the duration of the test, rising to just 25 m (84 ft) and remaining at that level for four minutes.

The Mongolfier brothers made their first public demonstration flights in June 1783, and followed this up with a flight from the gardens of the Palace of Versailles with an experimental payload of farm animals. This flight didn't go as high or as far as the brothers had hoped, due to gas leaks, but the animals did at least return to Earth unscathed.

With flight having been proven to not cause sudden death, the brothers received permission from King Louis XVI to attempt a crewed flight. Initially permission was only given provided the passengers were condemned prisoners, but after a short campaign of lobbying by the adventurous young scientist de Rozier, the king relented and said that the honour of being the first to fly could go to him.

Having learned from the disappointing performance of the Versailles flight, the Montgolfiers' next balloon was larger and stronger. Working with their friend, wallpaper magnate Jean-Baptiste Réveillon, the brothers built a balloon from study fabric and paper that measured around 23 m high and 15 m wide (75 ft 5 in x 49 ft 2 in). There was a narrow walkway around the neck of the balloon, where de Rozier was to stand. It was made from light wicker and around 1 m wide with a low handrail. An iron brazier was fitted inside the neck of the baloon, and portholes were added to allow de Rozier to add fuel from the walkway.

In an attempt to restrict the crowd of onlookers, the Montgolfiers tried to conduct these initial flights in secret, setting up their balloon in the garden of Réveillon's home on the Rue du Montreuil in central Paris. Their efforts were in vain, however, and a huge crowd thronged the streets around Montreil's home.

On 15 October 1783, the balloon made its first tethered flight, lifting to a height of 84 ft, which was as high as it could go. By feeding more fuel into the braizier, de Rozier was able to keep the restraining ropes taut for 4 minutes 25 seconds. Encouraged by the success of this first flight, de Rozier made several more tethered ascents over the course of the day, learning how to adjust ballast and how quickly adding fuel (straw soaked in alcohol) increased the balloon's climb rate.

A more ambitious series of test flights followed on 19 October. Now feeling fairly confident in his ability to control the balloon's flight, de Rozier reduced the number of tether ropes to just one. The people of Paris were amazed to see the brightly coloured balloon rise to around 80 m (262 ft) – higher than the towers of Notre Dame cathedral – and stay there for 8 min 30 sec. A further two test flights that day saw de Rozier rise to roughly 100 m (325 ft), this time with passengers. A man called Girond de Villette was on the first, and the Marquis d'Arlandes, an army officer, was on the second.

With these flights completed, the stage was now set for the first crewed untethered flight.