标签 白崖 下的文章

多佛尔白崖，英国多佛尔 White Cliffs of Dover, England (© LisaValder/Getty Images)

Of balloons and lost pantaloons

We all fly by the seat of our pants now and then, but how about flying with no pants at all? That was the plight of Jean-Pierre Blanchard and John Jeffries, who on January 7, 1785, made history over these chalk cliffs with the first aerial crossing of the English Channel. When their hydrogen-filled balloon dropped altitude due to overloading, the two tossed all the cargo they could into the drink below, britches included. Reaching France in their underpants, the undoubtedly chilly pilots still received a warm welcome.

Known worldwide as an emblem of England, the White Cliffs of Dover rise 350 feet over the strait where Blanchard and Jeffries made their crossing. The white chalk and gray-black streaks of flint match geologically with shorter cliffs on the French side—evidence of a land bridge that existed long before we primates got the notion to fly. Of course, even soaring over the waves is a bit outmoded now that you can zip under them in the Channel Tunnel, which has its entrance just down the coast.

气球和丢失的裤子

我们通常都穿着裤子坐在自己的座位上飞行，但是不穿裤子飞行怎么样？这就是让-皮埃尔·布兰查德和约翰·杰弗里斯的困境，1785年1月7日，他们第一次飞越英吉利海峡，在白垩悬崖上创造了历史。当他们的充氢气球因超载而下降高度时，两人把所有能装的货物都扔进下面的饮料里，包括裤子。穿着内裤到达法国，这些毫无疑问冷冰冰的飞行员仍然受到热烈欢迎。

全世界都知道多佛的白色悬崖是英格兰的象征，在布兰查德和杰弗里斯穿越的海峡上空350英尺高。白色的白垩和灰黑色的燧石条纹在地质学上与法国一侧较短的悬崖相吻合，这是早在我们灵长类动物有飞行的概念之前就存在的陆桥的证据。当然，即使是在海浪上翱翔也有点过时了，现在你可以在海峡隧道里滑行，它的入口就在海边。