Batman v0.1 was a Belgian shoemaker

April 19, 2013 4:30 AM

June 1874, and a peculiar sight could be spied over Chelsea. A hot-air balloon hovered a kilometre above the ground with the most curious of payloads dangling beneath: a gigantic bat with a human at its controls. (1 2)
posted by ersatz (4 comments total)

There's one in every generation, apparently!
posted by Mooseli at 7:49 AM on April 19, 2013 [1 favorite]

*charges up Vigor*
posted by The Whelk at 8:31 AM on April 19, 2013

I never would have thought of a balloon zooming anywhere; certianly not to the point the operator would pass out.
posted by Mitheral at 11:23 AM on April 19, 2013

Mitheral, that's what happened in the Luxor balloon accident recently -- after a gas explosion of some kind, likely due to an amateur repair, the pilot and one passenger fell out of the basket, and the balloon shot http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKs1sjY6BXA">high into the air with no one at the controls, where it burned out of control.

Here's another incident from 2007 where the loss of a fuel tank's weight -- the basket broke -- caused a balloon to gain altitude very quickly.

I can't find the account right now but I believe Steve Fossett had such an incident during one of his record-setting attempts, probably over the Pacific Ocean.
posted by dhartung at 2:40 AM on April 20, 2013