Re:Why didn't the Romans have hot air balloons?
by pbhjpbhj on Sunday February 27, 2011 @05:23PM
(#2269182)
>Strangely, I wasn't suggesting the Montgolfier brothers were going to take Gibraltar single-handedly.
Lol, nor I, I was assuming that creation of one balloon would allow creation of multiple balloons for use in any given battle.
I'd imagine the access a balloon gives, with the addition of surprise and maybe a steering fan, to be pretty good. You could send up some test balloons and then send up some huge ones with bombs on the bottom and shoot them down over the target for yourself. Or perhaps a pile of diseased food to a hunger-stricken garrison, or ...
You can't readily break down a whole castle with a single trebuchet either.
Lol, nor I, I was assuming that creation of one balloon would allow creation of multiple balloons for use in any given battle.
I'd imagine the access a balloon gives, with the addition of surprise and maybe a steering fan, to be pretty good. You could send up some test balloons and then send up some huge ones with bombs on the bottom and shoot them down over the target for yourself. Or perhaps a pile of diseased food to a hunger-stricken garrison, or ...
You can't readily break down a whole castle with a single trebuchet either.