Exhibitions

Balloons and Airships

July 1, 1976 – 1990

National Air and Space Museum
6th St. & Independence Ave., SW
Washington, DC

Balloons and Airships, Gallery 206, 2nd Floor, West Wing

See on Map Floor Plan

This gallery highlights the history of lighter-than-air flight.

Highlights include:

  • Objects and prints that testify to the early preoccupation with achievements of flight through balloons for fun and adventure
  • The military uses for balloons in the American Civil War and the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871
  • Montgolfier Balloon: a working model is demonstrated
  • Zeppelin: the magnificent airship of Count von Zeppelin
  • Hindenburg: a model of the original and a full-scale reproduction of the Hindenburg's gondola