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Title: St. Agil |
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Description: A day of special events at St. Agil, Sunday, July the 12th commenced with a car show at 10:15, followed by a car contest at 12:00, lunch outside in the parc at 1:00, and an ascension by the celebrated balloonist, Charles Dollfus at 3:00. The evening ended with music and dancing. A special feature of the day was the balloon flight of the famous Charles Dollfus. The only spherical balloon flights in France since World War I have been made by the celebrated balloonist Charles Dollfus. Dollfus was born March 31, 1893 in France. His work in aeronautics began in 1903 when he successfully constructed and flew a homemade glider. Dollfus made his first ascension in a spherical free balloon in October 1911. In 1913 Dollfus made his first solo flight in a spherical balloon at St. Cloud. Dollfus made history in 1914 when he crossed the English Channel, in his free balloon and again in 1928 when he ballooned across Lake Erie. In 1918 Dollfus broadened his pursuits when he founded and became the curator of the Musee de L’Air in France. In his long and fruitful career as a free balloonist, Dollfus competed in many contests earning 1st place 10 times, 2nd place 6 times, and 3rd place 7 times. Dollfus’ exceptional talents in ballooning made him eligible for membership with an honorary club for pioneers of flight, called the Early Birds. The Early Bird organization awarded Dollfus for his outstanding early records as well as his participation in flight, and accepted him as a member. |
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