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Collage of two images featuring Dewey Reinhard pointing at a map and Julian Knott with a face mask inside an experimental encasement.

Julian Nott (top) in his pressurized gondola and oxygen mask designed for high altitude flights. Charles "Dewey" Reinhard (bottom) preparing for the "Great Atlantic Challenge." 

Experimental: Beyond the Standard

This exhibit explores the inventive side of ballooning, where there are no off-the-shelf answers. Discover home-built balloons, unconventional designs, and specialized aircraft created for missions that demanded something different. These are balloons built not just to fly, but to explore what’s possible.

Additionally, throughout the Balloon Museum, you'll see gondolas labeled ''experimental." This designation does not mean a balloon is unsafe. Rather, it often means the balloon was home-built for personal use or specially designed for a specific purpose, from record-setting flights to scientific exploration. Experimental balloons give balloonists the freedom to design, modify, and test new ideas beyond the limits of standardized commercial designs. They can build balloons for unique challenges, unusual missions, or simply to explore what is possible.

Inside this exhibit, discover how balloonists have turned creativity and ingenuity into balloons that defy standardization. 

Ed Yoast with ballooning colleagues attaching a load ring.

Ed Yost assisted with the flight preparations of the "Eagle."

Featured Past and Present Faces in the Experimental Ballooning Community:

  • Ed Yost, inventor and balloon builder
  • Julian Nott, (2026 FAI CIA Hall of Fame Inductee)
  • Charles "Dewey" Reinhard, pilot, consummate scientist, and FAI CIA Hall of Fame Inductee
  • Steve Stephenson, pilot
  • Alan Eustace, engineer and world record holder
  • Larry Newman, world record holder
  • Maxie Anderson, pilot, world record holder, and FAI CIA Hall of Fame Inductee
  • Ben Abruzzo, pilot, world record holder, and FAI CIA Hall of Fame Inductee
  • Peter Cuneo, pilot, home balloon builder and world record holder
  • Barbara Fricke, pilot, home balloon builder


  • Johnathan Wolfe, pilot, home balloon builder, textile artist, engineer, and chemistry enthusiast
  • Caryn Welz, pilot, home balloon builder, and educator
  • Sharon Welz, home balloon builder
  • Bert Padelt, balloon builder, and world record holder
  • Brian Boland, pilot, balloon builder, and world record holder

The individuals featured above represent a range of connections to the world of experimental ballooning. The titles and descriptions accompanying their names highlight the contributions, experiences, and roles they have taken on within the experimental ballooning community and do not necessarily represent their primary professions or day-to-day occupations. Through their curiosity and determination, these individuals offer valuable insights into scientific exploration and the journeys that shaped stories related epic flights.