Fort Omaha Balloon School
Fort Omaha Walking Tour
Until after World War I, no other method equaled a soldier’s ability to send intelligence information directly to the ground by telephone from an observation balloon.
Fort Omaha entered America’s balloon and aviation history in April 1909 when the first free balloon, inflated with hydrogen gas, started a journey with Captain Charles Chandler, pilot, and Lieutenant J. Ware, passenger. They made a good landing in Iowa but lost the bag when a static discharge set it on fire.
The army soon learned successful enemy observation could only be made from a balloon controlled in flight. Therefore, free-flown balloons were discontinued and captive (stationary) balloons were developed. Several captive balloons were tested at the Fort Omaha Balloon School.
Marker is on North Road, on the left when traveling west.
Courtesy hmdb.org
