Installed the Parachute

Over the last few days I have managed to sneak in a few hours to cut my parachute lines and tie the whole thing in (with assistance of my trainee/coworker Angel). My fingers are SORE. In just a few hours, we tied nearly 70 knots and 70 back up knots. I also installed the upper and lower parachute lines. After the entire parachute assembly was completed, I installed the suspension cables (minus my four carabiners which I still need to get) and started working on the envelope bag. Here are some random pics AND a short video of us putting some air inside of it for the first time inside the shop.

Here is the link to the VIDEO  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIIfoUPWymQ

Hanging up the valve edge to partially inflate the balloon for tying in the parachute

 A little air anyone?

It's ALIVE!

 Finished tying in the top.

 Upper and Lower parachute line with pulley and bridle lines.

 Interior shot of the balloons first partial inflation

 Inside my balloon

 Attached the suspension cables

 Another shot inside the balloon

The beginning of my envelope bag. It will be made of ballistic nylon and will have green and pink diamonds on the sides.
                                       


I only have three final things to install on the balloon! My carabiners, my turning vent lines and my thermistor wire. Those should only take me about two hours to complete. Once I have that done, I will complete my envelope bag and pack it up. It might take a few weeks to begin working on my lower end but I look forward to working with the stainless steel tubing. Check back in a few days for another update.