Learning To Fly
Baron Britpop Blastfurnace • Chapter 31
Captain Peanut Butter ordered the crew to sail back to Mayaguana so he could try out his flying balloon.
Once we arrived, we unpacked the crate and unfolded the balloon sack. Then, we attached it to a wicker basket large enough to hold two men and a small cast-iron box stove. It was decided that I would accompany the Captain in the basket since I was the most qualified person to attend the furnace.
The crew filled the stove with wood and started a fire. Then, the Captain and I climbed into the basket. The crew handed us the stove, which we placed in the center of the basket. Soon, hot air started coming out of the stove’s vents. Four of the crew held the balloon opening over the stove, and gradually, the balloon began to fill with heated air. As it filled, it began to rise and slowly take shape. Everyone was excited.
Finally, the balloon was full, and to our delight, it began to rise off the ground. The crew let out cheers as we slowly rose into the sky. As we climbed higher than the masts of a ship, I glanced down at the crew below. They looked like bugs running on the sand. It was breathtaking.
Just then, the Captain said, “Close the vents.”
I closed the vents, constricting the flow of hot air. Soon, the balloon started to lower back to the ground. With a thud and some dragging along the grass, we landed safely near the center of the island. We were quite a distance from where we started. The balloon collapsed to the ground pulling the basket over on its side. I fell against the stove box and got a burn on my hand as I broke my fall. The crew, who had been running after us, pulled us out of the basket. There was much celebration.
Cookie came up to us and said, “I thought sure you two would fall to your death in that thing. I am pleased I was wrong.”
“As am I,” said the Captain. “It was beyond my imagining. I now know what a bird sees when it flies. I am quite eager for more. And for everyone on the crew to see it too.”
“You won’t get me in that unnatural contraption. I’ll leave the flying to the birds,” Cookie said.
The Captain laughed and said, “As you wish. But I truly hope you change your mind. It must be seen to be believed.”
We packed up the balloon and the basket and headed back to the beach. As we walked back, I shared my thoughts.
“Captain, I believe we need to devise a way to attach the stove box to the basket so it will not burn us as we hit the ground. I got a small burn on my hand as I fell and touched it.”
“That is a wise idea. Perhaps some sort of leather strap will work until we can fashion something out of metal.”
My blacksmith mind immediately began contemplating the problem and what I could create with a proper forge and materials.
We spent some time fashioning straps to hold the stove box in place. Once we were satisfied that the stove box was secure, we made another attempt at flying. Once again, we successfully got off the ground and rose even higher than the first flight. It was wonderful. We could see the entire island.
The Captain said, “Close the vents.”
I did as ordered, but this time, the balloon did not lower. It actually started to rise.
“Did you close all the vents?” The Captain asked.
“Yes. But it doesn’t seem to be working.”
We continued to rise. We floated across the island and started drifting toward the sea. I began to panic a little.
“Stay calm,” the Captain said. “Once the air in the balloon cools, we will start to descend.”
“But, we are headed out to sea.”
“Yes. But fortunately, I have a ship. The crew will follow us and rescue us when we come down.”
In fact, the crew was already preparing The Jellyfish to sail. We continued to rise.
I cannot say with certainty how long we floated out over the sea, but it seemed like hours. Eventually, we started to descend and splashed into the sea. Water seeped into the basket and extinguished the fire in the stove box. The balloon began to deflate and floated on the surface of the water. Fortunately, the wicker basket also floated, although it turned on its side. We clung to it and waited for The Jellyfish to find us. When I saw the sail of The Jellyfish approaching, my heart sang.
I thought the incident would be the end of our flying, but the Captain seemed undeterred.
“We must discover why the balloon continued to rise instead of lowering,” the Captain said as we sailed back to the island.
“I have a theory about that,” Andelbert said. “Hot air makes the balloon rise. Closing the stove vents cuts off the hot air supply, allowing the hot air to cool and the balloon to lower.”
“But I closed the vents, and it didn’t work,” I interrupted.
Andelbert continued. “Well, the first flight was this morning. The air outside was cooler then. The second flight was in the afternoon during the heat of the day. I believe the outside temperature allowed the air in the balloon to stay hot longer.”
“Genius!” Captain Peanut Butter shouted. “I think you have solved the mystery. From now on, we will only attempt morning flights when the temperature is cooler. Well done, Andelbert.”
We spent the next few days getting better at flying the balloon. As Andelbert predicted, the balloon was far easier to control in the cooler morning air. We even noticed that winds blew in different directions at different heights. Discovering this allowed us to steer the balloon to a small degree.
About a fortnight after we started our balloon training, the Captain said it was time to leave. We packed up the balloon and set sail.
