Author(s): Helen Rogers

Australiana

Fledgling balloonists in nineteenth century Australia realised that their aerial endeavours added little to their pockets, or to science. Re-inventing themselves as showmen and women, they performed daring acrobatics from trapezes and parachutes, touring towns and cities all over the country.Along the way, they faced primitive and challenging conditions; experienced petty squabbles, farcical incidents; aeronauts blown out to sea, onto rooftops. Many were crippled. Some even died.Lighter Than Air showcases the exciting history of ballooning in Australia, and gives us an insight into these larger-than life pioneers of the skies, and the emergence and expansion of modern ballooning.