Passarola: Bartolomeu de Gusmão's aerostat
Passarola: aeróstato de Bartolomeu de Gusmão
- Date
- 1709 · confidence low
- Place
- Lisbon, Portugal
- Credited to
- Bartolomeu de Gusmão (born in Santos, Brazil)
- Field
- Movement
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
The Santos-born priest petitioned King John V in 1709 for a privilege on a flying machine, the 'passarola', and is credited with a demonstration of a hot-air balloon at the Lisbon court. It is a disputed forerunner of aerostats.
Only the 1709 privilege is documented; the 8 August 1709 demonstration at the Casa da Índia and a manned flight of the 'passarola' lack solid contemporary evidence.
What it led to
- Founding myth of Brazilian and Portuguese aeronautics
- Historical memory prior to the Montgolfier balloons