Come and surround yourself in history and the "Beginning of the Space Age" with Ballooning from 1783 to the present. Learn about many of the Pioneers of Ballooning from our Hall of Fame and Women in Ballooning displays. The Children' Learning Area will entertain and teach them about ballooning through simulated video games, videos , balloon pictures and books.Our collection covers gas,smoke and hot air balloons as well as airships, blimps and Zeppelins and their memoribilia.
The museum is operated entirely by volunteers and its only support comes from contributions and gift shop sales. Your membership contribution will help assure its continued operation and help to make possible future enhancements of its programs and facilities. You will also enjoy special membership privileges. See our website to find out how you can become a member and what membership benefits you will receive.
It is the responsibilty of the National Balloon Museum,Inc to promote, teach and provide the accurate knowledge of ballooning by collecting and preserving artifacts, documents and images representative of the history of ballooning.
We have been in existance since 1972 because of the U.S. Hot Air Balloon Nationals which was started in Indianola,Iowa in 1970 and flown here for 18 years, then Indianola started their own race called the National Balloon Classic which is flying in August yearly. We have exhibits and collections that help the public better understand ballooning and its history from 1783 to the present.
We have collections of meterology, barrage ballooning, gas, hot air and smoke ballooning, Hall of Fame memoribilia.
We have a fabulous ballooning/aviation research library which is open to the public.
We have a learning center for children-adults providing a reading place for children and families with games, and coloring of balloons etc. Included is a video game called "Hot Air Pilot" which is a game for virtual flying of a hot air balloon.We have a space designated as a theater for the showing of videos and PowerPoint slide presentations about ballooning and ballooning history. Activities for childrens groups are scheduled regularly.
Board of Directors made of of 14 persons
Access: General Public, Students, Scholars, Members
Appointment required: False
Tours are $5.00 and need to be reserved ahead. We also can schedule an additional tour at a local Balloon manufacturer for an additional fee of $5.00 each.