It was a sad trick of Fate to kill Pilatre de Rozier – the first air pilot of history – in the most foolhardy aircraft that man could have devised. Foolhardy in construction, but wonderfully decorative. Two figures of the Winds, borne aloft on clouds, blow lustily towards the equator of the balloon, at the same time supporting an armorial shield between them. Below are wreaths and swags spaced out on a ground of heavenly azure. As will be readily seen, this dangerous flying machine is a combination of a spherical hydrogen-filled Charliere on top and a cylindrical hot-air Montgolfiere below, with a circular gallery for the crew. In the mouth of the cylinder there was slung a brazier to keep the air heated during the flight. The craft was called an “Aero-Montgolfiere” or “Roziere”. Pilatre, accompanied by PA De Romain, intended to emulate Blanchard by flying the Channel, but this time from France to England. They took off from Boulogne on 15th June 1785 and ascended normally. But a few minutes later a flame was seen to shoot from the balloon and in a moment the whole contraption was alight and plunging earthwards. Pilatre was killed instantly and his companion died shortly afterwards. Thus the first air pilot became the first air victim. The exact details of the accident were never discovered, but escaping hydrogen from the upper balloon probably found its way into the top of the cylindrical balloon and was caught by a spark from the brazier. This type of balloon also killed the aeronaut Count Zambeccari in 1812 and was never used again. But it was popular with imaginative French artists, one of whom pictured an aerial invasion of England in which a fleet of “Aero-Montgolfieres” are seen floating across the Channel laden with troops.