Jay Honeck wrote:
The Montgolfier brothers, in 1783. But I wouldn't call that
flying. Birds don't use that sort of lift.

Although it's cool, floating ain't flying.

Um, why not? There is definitely skill and learning involved.

Anthony Smith and Mark Wagner, writing in the book "Ballooning" (1998)
noted that:

"Balloons, as everyone knows, can only travel with the wind. The wind, as
everyone knows, blows as it chooses, with no one able to modify its
direction. Therefore the notion of competitive ballooning seems strangled
at birth, with every participant being subject to the same overwhelming
forces of the encircling atmosphere. The fact that competitions _are_ held,
and that balloonists _do_ compete, is due partly to the human urge for
confronting others (and hoping to win) but also because the winds are
inconsistent.

....

As the golfer said, "The more I practise, the luckier I get". So too with
ballooning. There is skill in bending chance towards a desirable end, in
giving Dame Fortune a push in the right direction, in blending human
cunning with opportunity.

Besides, unlike a lottery's random choice of winners, the same ballooning
names do tend to be proclaimed at prize-giving time. Pilots doing better
than the rest on one occasion are more likely to do well next time."