We’ve all marveled at their beauty and grace as they float through the air. Airplanes will get you to your destination quicker, helicopters may get you into places where no roads go, but for the ultimate flying experience, nothing compares to a balloon lazily drifting on the air currents. At the National Balloon Museum in Indianola, Iowa, 200 years of ballooning history is chronicled, from the first lighter than air flight in 1783 to present day sport ballooning. Here you will find displays of balloon gondolas, flight equipment, historic artifacts, and the U.S. Ballooning Hall of Fame, which honors the greatest names in American ballooning.

The first manned flight of a balloon in America was on January 9, 1793, when Jean-Pierre Blanchard, who was the first to cross the English Channel in a balloon, lifted off from a prison yard in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He ascended to about 5,800 feet and made a successful landing in Gloucester County in New Jersey. George Washington observed the launch.

Modern hot-air ballooning was born on October 22, 1960, when Paul E. (Ed) Yost piloted the maiden flight of a balloon employing a new envelope and a new propane burner system which he had developed. The flight lasted 25 minutes and traveled 3 miles. Yost’s balloon was 40 feet in diameter, with a volume of 30,000 cubic feet. Yost is known as the father of modern hot-air ballooning. Soon, Yost’s company, Raven Industries, was making balloons for sale, and by the mid 1960s there were three balloon makers in the United States.

By 1963 sport ballooning had grown in popularity, and the first U. S. National Hot Air Balloon Championship event was held in Kalamazoo, Michigan. In 1971 the National Championship event moved to Indianola, Iowa where it remained for 18 years. Since that time the Nationals have moved around to various parts of the country. Many local ballooning clubs now hold events all over the United States. As the technology of burners and balloon envelope construction improved, ballooning continued to grow in popularity. 

The National Balloon Museum’s location in Indianola came about because of the community’s association with the early days of the National Hot Air Balloon Championships, beginning in 1970. By 1972, exhibits of ballooning history were set up in temporary displays in various locations in the city each year during the U.S. National Hot Air Balloon Championships. The materials then had to be stored until the next year.

In the spring of 1973 the Balloon Federation of America, sponsor of the National Hot Air Balloon Championships, announced plans to establish a ballooning museum in Indianola. The first official National Balloon Museum display was opened in the old Rock Island Depot building during the 1975 and 1976 National Hot Air Balloon Championship. Ground was broken in 1986 for the new museum building, at its present location in Indianola, and the museum building was opened to the public on April 23, 1988. The building was designed to resemble two inverted balloons. Indianola is the home of the National Balloon Classic, a nine day premier ballooning event that attracts balloonists from all over the country.  

Visitors to the National Balloon Museum have the opportunity to see many historic balloon gondolas, including the Channel Champ, the first hot air balloon to be flown across the English Channel, and arguably the single most important historical artifact of the sport of ballooning. On April 13, 1963, pilot Ed Yost and photographer Don Piccard launched the 60,000 cubic foot hot air balloon from the village of Rye, England. Just over three hours later, Yost landed the aircraft near Gravelines, France, completing the historic voyage. Newspaper headlines around the world proclaimed their success the next day and introduced the hot air balloon to the world. During the flight, Yost and Piccard sat on a board between two 30-gallon propane tanks. The tiny one can burner produced a mere 2-million BTUs, compared to today’s modern hot air balloon burners that produce 11-20 million BTUs.

Several unique designs of gondolas displayed include a bullet-shaped metal gondola made in Italy for Link Baum, who became the youngest pilot to cross the English Channel, at age 22, in the early 1970s, and the Body Basket, a gondola that resembles a telephone both and was used in a 64 hour gas balloon flight.

The museum’s displays include odd items such as a smoke balloon cannon, used by seventeen year old daredevil Florence Allen, a member of the famous Flying Allens. The smoke balloon was inflated in typical fashion, with the cannon harnessed alongside. Rising two to three thousand feet, Florence would “fire” herself from the cannon and plunge toward the ground, attached to the balloon by a single suspension rope. Within a few hundred feet of the ground she would deploy her parachute and glide gracefully back to earth, thrilling crowds of spectators across the nation in over a hundred performances.

One scrap of fabric on display at the National Balloon Museum is a remnant from a World War II Japanese Fugo balloon. Launched from Japan, the 19,000 cubic foot balloons carried bombs and were designed to float across the Pacific Ocean and detonate in the United States. The Japanese hoped that in addition to causing casualties, the balloon bombs would start massive forest fires in the Pacific Northwest, diverting manpower and equipment away from the war effort. One such bomb did succeed in killing six people on a picnic in Oregon on May 5, 1945, but the rest failed to perform. The Fugo (Holy Wind) fabric on display at the museum came from a balloon that landed in Flint, Michigan in February, 1945, but did not explode.  

The museum honors women balloonists with special exhibits chronicling the achievements of women pilots, crew members, crew chiefs, observers and the balloons they work with and details of some of their accomplishments and awards. One such woman honored is pioneer hot air balloon pilot Nikki Caplan, who set many records in the sport, including making an amazing flight from Albuquerque, New Mexico to Duncombe, Iowa in 1982 in a gas balloon. 

The museum's Learning Center provides a learning environment for children and adults. It includes a "Book Basket" filled with cushions covered with balloon fabric where children can sit and read a book about ballooning. It also has places to color balloon pictures. A special feature is a video game called Hot Air Pilot, which allows older children and adults to fly a virtual hot air balloon.

It is amazing what you can learn at the National Balloon Museum. Did you know that Wonder Bread was named for hot air balloons? When bakery manager Elmer Kline witnessed the wonder of a hot air balloon festival at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, he was inspired to name his bread Wonder Bread. The red, yellow and blue balloons on Wonder Bread’s packaging represent the balloons Kline saw that inspired the bread’s name. Wonder Bread still recognizes its balloon heritage. In recognition of Wonder Bread’s 80^th birthday in 2001, Interstate Bakeries Corporation began touring the Wonder Bread hot air balloon. Every summer the Wonder balloon travels across the country to balloon festivals.

Whether you dream of someday floating above the ground in a hot air balloon, or prefer to keep your feet planted on terra firma but still appreciate balloons for their silent majesty as they ride the air currents, a visit to the National Balloon Museum is sure to delight you.

The National Balloon Museum is located at 1601North Jefferson (US Highway 65/69), on Indianola’s north side. The museum is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Sundays 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Winter hours are shorter. The museum closes for the month of January, and on all major holidays. Admission to the museum is free, though donations are welcomed to help support its operation. Parking at the museum is limited to passenger sized vehicle, but a nearby WalMart Super Center has room to park an RV while you visit the museum. For more information on the museum, call (515) 961-3714, or visit their website at www.nationalballoonmuseum.com.