All Stories

Although some may presume Top Gun was the first time a major Hollywood film joined forces with U.S. naval aviation, that honor belongs to the 1931 film Dirigible.

On May 6, 1937, German airship LZ 129 Hindenburg burst into flames upon its approach to Naval Air Station Lakehurst, in New Jersey. Soon after, the airship plummeted to the ground in a crash that shocked the world. The incident marked the beginning of the end of the era of the airship. Read about one of most famous disasters in aviation history.

On the scale of thrilling aviation activities, hot air balloon rides normally rank pretty low. But how would you feel if one balloon ride was your ticket to a better life? AND what if you had to not only pilot the balloon yourself, but build it from scratch, in secret? What started with a magazine article about the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta ended with a thrilling aerial escape from East Germany in 1979. On this episode of AirSpace, we hear what it was like from someone who lived it firsthand. And we talk to a modern-day balloonist to learn just how difficult it is to create your own air-worthy balloon.

The first high-altitude piloted balloon observation missions were launched in the late-1950s as part of the U.S. Navy’s Strato-Lab program. Between 1958 and 1959, the U.S. Navy launched four separate missions for numerous celestial observations high up in the atmosphere. Before projects like the Hubble Space Telescope was even a concept, images which were once thought to be impossible to capture were taken via telescopes carried by balloons, such as those of Operation Stargazer.

The 1900 Olympic Games, held in Paris as part of the Exposition Universelle (World’s Fair), was the only year in which ballooning was an official event.

The world of sport ballooning lost one of its pioneers with the death of Don Piccard on September 14, 2020. He was involved in the renaissance of hot air ballooning and a true pioneer of the sport. All of us who wonder at the sight of a hot air balloon in the sky, are in his debt.

A. Roy Knabenshue became interested in lighter-than-air flight after seeing a balloon ascension when he was 5 years old and would become the first person to successfully pilot a dirigible in the United States, flying Thomas S. Baldwin’s California Arrow at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition.

Historian Thomas Paone explores the important role played by K-ships in hunting German U-Boats during World War II.

Beneath the colorful exterior of our Goodyear C-49 control car, which provided coverage at sporting events in the 1980s, lies a World War II veteran. Museum historian Tom Paone explores its service. 

The new film The Aeronauts truly captures the excitement of ballooning in the 19th century, even if it makes a few historical errors along the way. Ballooning expert Tom Paone explores the history behind the film.