Fesselballon, Ballon hoch bei Folwarki Ploska

The Imperial and Royal Aviation Troops (Kaiserliche und Königliche Luftfahrtruppen or K.u.K. Luftfahrtruppen) was the air force of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire until the empire's demise in 1918. It saw combat on both the Eastern Front and Italian Front during World War I. Despite being much smaller and usually less technologically advanced than the German or British air forces, it performed with tenacity and bravery during the war.

Blimp a large aircraft without wings, consisting of a large bag filled with gas that is lighter than air and driven by engines. In the past passengers were carried in a structure hanging below. In 1852, Henri Giffard built the first powered airship, which consisted of a 143-ft (44-m) long, cigar-shaped, gas-filled bag with a propeller, powered by a 3-horsepower (2.2-kW) steam engine. Later, in 1900, Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin of Germany invented the first rigid airship.