Since ancient times, human beings had nurtured the desire to fly although they did not have the technology to build a machine that could help them fulfill their desire. The hot air balloon is the oldest successful human-carrying flight technology. A hot air balloon consists of a bag called the envelop that is capable of containing heated air. Suspended beneath is the gondola or wicker basket which carries the passengers and a source of heat. The heated air inside the envelope makes it buoyant since it has a lower density than the relatively cold air outside the envelope.

Hot air ballooning as an adventure sport started in the year 1783, when two French brothers, Joseph Michel Montgolfier and Jacques Etienne Montgolfier, created and set aloft a 17.37 meter high 'fire balloon' from the courtyard of the Versailles palace.