Being Airbourne
11/19/20251 min read
Mankind has always dreamt of flying, and pursuing his dream Gliders, balloons were heavily experimented on. According to reports, individuals such as Abbas ibn Firnas and Eilmer of Malmesbury made short glides attempts in (9th century AD and 11th century AD respectively). Lack of proper understanding of controls became hindrance for a stable glide resulting accidents.
On June 16, 1861, Thaddeus Lowe, a 28 year old man from New Hampshire, hovered 500 feet over the White House, Hanging in a tiny basket from ac balloon of his own design. “ This points of observation commands an area near fly miles in diameter – the city with its girdle of encampments present a superb scene”, Lowe wrote in a telegram to Abraham Lincoln, who waited far below.Thaddeus Sobieski Constantine Lowe (August 20,1832 – January 16. 1913), also known as Professor T.S.C Lowe, this was the first electronic message to be sent from the air to ground.
INTREPID
The Civil War Balloon – Thaddeus Lowe one of the first and best-known aeronauts for the Union army, rises from the ground in Intrepid, the largest balloon in the Federal inventory.
The photograph below (image ii), taken on May 31,1862, near Fair Oaks, Virgina, shows Lowe standing in the basket beneath his inflated balloon. Union soldiers below are holding onto the tethers that keep Lowes’s balloon from drifting away.
Prof. T.S.C. Lowes
Source : Internet, Wiki, website
Image II