Even the California coast is yours to claim from a vantage point unlike any other. A phenomenon more than 200 years old, ballooning is enjoying a resurgence in popularity, especially among the 30-plus set. It's not something teen-agers usually do. For that first launch, the brothers filled a bag 33 feet in diameter with smoke from a straw fire and saw it rise to a height of 1,000 feet. Soon it was realized that it was not the gas resulting from the straw combustion, but the heat, that made the balloon go up.
Air expands when heated so that a given volume weighs less than the same volume of cold air.
The experiment created a lasting impression, and in August of the same year, J.A.C. Charles, a French professor of physics, released a hydrogen-filled balloon from Paris. It had long been known that hydrogen was lighter than air, but only the year before, in 1782, Tiberius Cavallo made soap bubbles with hydrogen and saw them rise to the ceiling of the room. Over the years, ballooning has developed a dedicated following. Erick and Sylvie Moore became addicted to the sport after splurging on a balloon excursion with money from a tax return. A short time later, Great American Balloon Co. was born.