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Splash Started conversation Jul 27, 1999
Why did the The French Montgolfier brothers when they pioneered flight in june 1783 use a sheep, a duck and a cockerel? two out of the three could fly anyway! Was the sheep the navigator? or did it just think it could fly.
test pilots
Researcher 14835 Posted Aug 1, 1999
The answer may be here:
http://www.bris.ac.uk/Depts/Union/BUHABS/first.html
To quote:
"[...]confirmed that you only need be as skilled as a small farmyard animal to become a pilot."
It sounds plausible to me. On the other hand, given the fuels used to get the balloon to fly, they could have just been in the right/wrong place at the right/wrong time.
I think it's even possible they were meant to be fuel, but escaped that fate.
test pilots
Splash Posted Aug 8, 1999
You have an interesting theory there. It was lucky they were not using elephants as fuel. If your theory is correct and the elephants had tried to escape it could have put ballooning back years?
On the other I spent 20 years in the Fleet Air Arm as an Aircrewman and come across a lot of pilots who were probably more dangerous in the air.
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