Professor Wise, as he would be known later in life, had made almost 28 balloon ascensions in the Sunbury and Danville areas in June 1841, and at least one from Williamsport in July of 1841.
Wise wrote a book titled Through The Air: Forty Years Experience As An Aeronaut.
Sunbury and Williamsport are not mentioned in his memoir, but his ascension from Danville is.
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Ascent from Danville, Pa.
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Ascent from Danville, Pa.
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THE next ascension worthy of note took place at Danville, Pa., in June, 1841. By reference to my aerial log-book I find that at two o’clock thirty-five minutes I lost sight of Danville, and in a few moments afterward passed into the clear sunshine above, when the gas began to expand and cause the balloon to ascend with an increased rapidity. The Susquehanna was now lost to my view by the intervention of clouds, and the country beneath presented one vast wilderness as far as the eye could reach ; the atmosphere was extremely cold for the height over this extensive coal region. The clouds beneath me were sufficiently broken to afford me constantly recurring glimpses of things below, and I never before had found them so extremely diversified on their upper surface. On this occasion there were two strata, but not of that distinctive character which were met with in a former voyage. The lower bed was cumulostratus, resembling uneven and rugged precipices; the upper was more of a cirrostratus, and consisted only of patches here and there, but very high above the lower layer.
At two o’clock forty-five minutes I crossed the Pottsville road between the Bear Gap and Northumberland road, travelling at the rate of about fifty-five miles per hour. At three o’clock I crossed Pottsville, and again brought to view the cultivated fields of the husbandman. My altitude was so great that I could not recognize the town until crossing Schuylkill Haven and coming in sight of Orwigsburg. The cold atmosphere became so uncomfortable that it impelled me to descend ; but after lowering some distance, I found the valley in which it had been my intention to descend had been passed, and the chain of Blue Mountains already reached, which required me to seek refuge in the clouds again.
At three o’clock forty minutes the clouds began to thicken beneath me, so that I could at intervals only see the face of the earth. Perceiving a village which the balloon was about crossing, I threw from the car a new bread-basket which had been placed in it at the time of starting, intending to serve me as a temporary seat should I prolong my voyage. As it fell toward the earth, it presented a beautiful appearance to my view ; it had not gone far before it assumed a rapid rotary motion, bottom downward, its upper being the concave side, looking like a beautiful rosette set into a circular motion on its centre. Its descent on the earth, as I was afterward informed, caused considerable aston¬ ishment to several persons who saw it coming down, they not knowing j anything of the balloon above them at the time. At four o’clock I passed the town of Reading a little to the west of it. This place had a handsome aspect; the white streets crossing at right angles, and the beautiful spires and domes, white as snow, with their glittering balls and vanes, made the prospect highly interesting.
I found the atmosphere much colder in crossing this mountainous
region than it usually is in crossing over a level and cultivated country at the same height. During this voyage I observed a peculiar motion in the balloon, which had on former occasions drawn some attention from me, but which had not been closely investigated. It was this: When a balloon is sailing along with a steady current, while in equilibrium with the atmosphere, it revolves slowly on its vertical axis. This rotation is not at all times a smoothly continued circulation, but is pulsatory, like the notched wheel of a clock which is actuated by the pendulum. At first I attributed this motion to my breathing, believing the vibration of the lungs sufficient to give a corresponding motion to so delicately balanced a thing as a balloon is when suspended in space.
I held my breath as long as I could, and this was done several times, but the pulsations of the balloon were not interrupted by it; on the other hand, they seemed more audible during these experiments. Upon timing these pulsations, I found them to be every two and a half seconds, and this seemed to be regular, as far as my observations indicated.
This left me at a loss to account for the motion, as it seemed not to be caused by my breathing, and did not correspond with the beat of my pulse.
At twenty-five minutes past four o’clock I descended near the house of Mr. Wm. Mcllvain, near Morgantown, about seventy miles from where I started in a straight line, where I was cordially received by that gentleman and his hospitable lady.
My landing here was caused by mistaking the Downingtown turnpike
road for the Pennsylvania railroad, which was some eight or ten miles farther to the south. During this voyage I also distinctly felt the difference of temperature in crossing- large valleys, where a degree of warmth rose up quite congenial to one’s feelings while in a frosty region.
This, I presume, arises from a greater quantity of the sun’s rays being reflected upward from a valley than from level ground. I forgot to mention that the pulsatory motion of the balloon was not perceptible when it was rising or falling, and is only to be detected when the machine sails a considerable length of time at a great altitude in a steady horizontal direction. Fluctuations of the balloon by rising and falling from any cause soon neutralize this delicate motion.
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An Index Of Hot Air Balloon Stories
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