Army Museum, Vienna: early reconnaissance balloon

My intended blip for this day was be a photo of the Gräf & Stift Double Phaeton car in which Archduke Franz Ferdinand was shot on the 28 June 1914. However, the part of the Army History Museum covering the origins of WWI was being reorganised for a special exhibition.

I was instead to come across L'Intrépide, an experimental hydrogen balloon used by the world's first airforce, the French Company of Aeronauts, between 1794 and 1799. This balloon was captured by the Austrians after the battle of Wűrzburg in 1796; the small painting to the right shows the balloon being presented to the victor, Archduke Charles. (For more information about the Archduke, click here.)

Its military uses were for reconnaissance and signalling. It had a very small basket by modern standards, and was designed for use as a tethered balloon. There was a speaking tube for communication at low altitudes, if flying higher signalling flags and lanterns were used. French commanders were uncertain about its usefulness, and Napoleon dissolved the Company in 1799.


Half a century later, during the American Civil War, the Union Army created a Balloon Corps. The best known of its seven balloons was "The Intrepid". This was a sophisticated and useful machine designed to accommodate telegraph equipment and an operator.


[Blip added in July 2014]