Monday, November 25, 2013

More Changes and Installing The Parachute

I have the rebuilt balloon "in the bag"... well...kinda.

Following my recent trend of making improvements to the rebuilt envelope , I have replaced some of the components to save more weight. I'm keeping this post short and sweet. Enjoy the photos!

The old velcro attachment on the envelope 

I added some load tape to reinforce the seam.

It got a little tight in the sewing machine sewing together the last gore tape.

These are the new confluence and centering lines that will replace the parachute cord previously installed. Saved about 2 pounds.

Knots for the new confluence lines

The new centering and confluence lines stretch so I measured them under 5lb load to get the proper length

5lb's of tension to get the proper length for the new lines

 Pulleys and attachments for the turning vent lines


Turning vent pulley installed

Installed the crown ring

Inflated the balloon inside the shop to tie in the new lines

Parachute top tied in


Excited to see this fully inflated!

I'm using parachute cord for the top section of the turning vent. I will use 1/4" black and green line for the lower section.



I reinstalled the suspension cables and tied in a new crown line. With all the changes I have saved about 35 pounds. Not too bad! 

This week I will start to tackle the chair again. Not sure how much I will get done. Check back in a few days for another update.

3 comments:

  1. I've been tied to the inner wall of a hot air balloon envelope. But first I had to wear the remaining nylon from the balloon to limit my movement.
    Before I could enter into the balloon envelope I had a large round sheet of nylon with an opening at the top for my head go through placed on my shoulders then draped over me and i was handcuffed underneath. I was finally entering the balloon envelope then had to lay down to be tied to the inner wall of a balloon envelope and suspension lines with my back against the wall.

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  2. I stumbled on this from google... has it been inflated yet? I assume it has. Any further progress pics or do you have a place where you keep your progress online besides this page? Thanks!

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