The Praha balloon was purchased in 1904 by František Hůlka, a Prague aviator, member of the Czech Aeronautical Association and noteworthy person in ballooning in Prague at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries.

Hůlka had already purchased the Ressel balloon in 1985; when it wore out in 1900, he decided to purchase a new one.

Hůlka predicted rising interest in balloon flight and hoped to prosper in it. After careful consideration, he elected for the French firm Godard, as he had with his Ressel balloon. In June of 1904, a new balloon was delivered from France and was named "Praha", after the capital city of the Czech Kingdom.

Hůlka conducted the first flight successfully on September 25th, 1904, lifting off in Prague and landing in Velvary (about 15 miles away).

První let s ním provedl Hůlka úspěšně dne 25. září 1904, kdy se vznesl z Prahy a přistál u Velvar.

1905 is worth mentioning in connection with a flight during which the solar eclipse of August 30th was to be observed. Professor K. V. Zenger, the then-head of the Czech Aeronautical Association was to take part in this scientific experiment, but due to strong winds, the flight did not take place.

But a flight on September 28th, 1905 was successful, photo-documented by engineer Jan Plischke. He captured the balloon's launch from its basket, the receding earth with bystanders waving from the fairgrounds and then photographed Prague, the fairgrounds, the industrial palace, the Holešovice train station, the Troja floodgates and the countryside during the course of the flight. Plischke captured a unique set of the first Czech aerial photographs.

Technical parameters:

The balloon has a volume of 1000 cubic meters and is made of 32 pieces of a cotton fabric named pergal. The fabric has a tensile strength of 1000 kg / square meter. The balloon is sewn from 32 sections of pergal, has a circumference of 39 meters and diameter of 12 meters.
The envelope weighs 162 kg and is impregnated with 4 layers of air-proof lacquer. The balloon's parachute valve is made of nut wood, has 12 horizontal springs joined with 16 screws and 16 straps.
The balloon's net is made of Italian hemp rope 3 mm thick and comprising 128 diamond –shaped segments. The net is finished with 32 ropes, anchored to a suspended ring, joining the basket to the net. The joining ring is of oak, wrapped in rope and attached to 40 pegs.
The basket is made of woven cane and Spanish reeds. 4 ropes 16 mm thick are woven through the basket, with a tensile strength of 1600 kg. The ground line is made of coconut fiber, is 66 meters long and weighs 30 kg. A second line for the anchor is 40 meters longs, and the actual anchor weighs 20 kg.

Koš je spleten z proutí a ze španělského rákosí. Košem jsou propletena 4 lana o tloušťce 16 mm a pevnosti 1600 kg. Vlečné lano jez kokosových vláken, je dlouhé 66 metrů a váží 30 kg. Druhé lano ke kotvě je dlouhé 40 metrů, kotva sama váží 20 kg.