stackyFACTSIn 1852, long before the Wright brothers, Henri Giffard achieved powered, steerable flight by strapping a literal steam engine to a hydrogen-filled dirigible.
In 1852, long before the Wright brothers, Henri Giffard achieved powered, steerable flight by strapping a literal steam engine to a hydrogen-filled dirigible. The exhaust pipe pointed straight down so the sparks wouldn't instantly vaporize him in a massive fireball. Flying from Paris to Élancourt at a blistering 6 mph, Giffard essentially rode a slow-motion bomb to prove that humanity could finally dictate its own direction in the sky, provided there was no headwind.
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