Well how time flies past. I have been distracted on this project and have
done very little in a long time. The balloon has still only flown a short
hop. This is because I made the vent too big and is the cause of a lot of
heartache and extra work. I have just finished adding a new half panel to
the top of the balloon and I have also built a new vent. It is now 2005! 2
years since I started the project and I have built and flown another balloon
in between!
I hope to focus back on this balloon early this year when our flying season
kicks off again and have it all flying and through its test hours in time
for a few of our bigger events in March and April. Should be straight forward
now I have redone the vent. Moral of the story is " use your brain",
I didn't do it very well and it cost me a lot of time and frustration.
I have updated the look and feel of the site for this balloon and have incorporated all of the photos into appropriate sections. In the process I may have created a couple of dead links, apologies if this is the case, and I will rectify them as soon as I can. I hope you enjoy the site.
Still here - Dec 2003
Its been just over a year now since I started on this project and the time has rushed by. I have inflated the balloon on several occasions now and have done a very short hop down a field for about 8 Seconds, not even as long as the Wright Brothers! There has been some trials and tribulations with the build so far.
I rebuilt the cables for the balloon but in the process
made an error in my trigenometry which meant the cables came out 50cm shorter
than the shuld be. Thats now been fixed but not inflated since then. Likewise
I put the anchor points for the Vent too high so when I tried to pull the
vent in it just pulled the sides of the balloon and the vent stayed where
it was! Bummer! So I have moved these as well and lowered them by a good amount.
These are things that you never give much thought to before building a balloon,
but they are critically important.
Our ballooning season in Australia is at an end as it gets very hot so I will
probably have to wait until March before I can start flying the ballon to
build the 10 hours required for testing.
I have updated most of the pages on the website now including the test inflation
page. The Test flights is still to be done and there is some info missing
from the Everything you need page which I hope to have up soon.
A long time between Drinks - 13th August
Well its been a while since I've update this page now! This is mainly due to two things, my competing at the Nationals in June/July and the fact that not much has been happening on the balloon front.
As I write this I still do not have my Certificate of Airworthiness from CASA. This is mainly due to a stuff up in the paperwork on my part. There is also rules that need to be changed before I can fly it. Currently the ABF which runs balloooning in Australia has a rule that basically says only production balloons can be flown here. This completely shuts down experimental ballooning. this rule is being changed however, and I hope to have the paperwork complete within the next week.
I have updated the site with some new pictures in the Gallery area and have finally completed the "Everything you need" page which has details of all my components, suppliers and costs for anyone who is interested in following in my footsteps. Also updated some of the paperwork section including a full cost breakdown of the build process, and copies of my flight manual and builders log.
I am taking the balloon out this weekend to one of my favourite events and hope to be able to get a good tehter done in it so I can really see how she looks.
Inspection day - Thursday 29th May
Today was the day that the CASA Airworthiness inspector
came out to have a look at my balloon, hopefully to approve of what I have
done and then issue me a certificate of airworthiness so I can start the test
flying program.
Things went well with the exception of the registration which is 2mm shorter
than it needs to be. So I will have to put a new registration on the balloon.
This isn't a huge problem and is quite a quick job when the balloon is back
in the house.
There is a couple of pics at the bottom of the inflation page that show the process quite well.
Its been a long time between updates - Sat 3rd May
Since the last update below the balloon has had its first hot inflation in Albury, NSW. Over the course of a two day event I was organising, I managed to get out and put some heat into the balloon and stand it up. The centreing cords were too long and the vent had a tendancy to pop out the top of the balloon. I have corrected this now and have also added some spiderweb tapes along the top to help the vent stay inside the load tapes.
I have done very little on the balloon over the weekend as the flying season has started here in Australia and I have spent the last 10 days attending different ballooning events. I flew 8 of the 10 days I was away from work!
Inflated the balloon again this morning in a school gym. Was pretty funny as it took up the entire space and was pushing on the lights on the roof. It was an inflation just to get it all straightened out ready for another hot inflation tomorrow morning. Hopefully I will get some pictures of this one! Some pics of this mornings cold inflation in the gym here.
I have made contact with my CASA inspector and hope to have a time set up for an inspection in the very near future, then I can get into the free flight testing which I am really looking forward to.
Its now a cold air inflatable! - Sat 5th April
As you can see form the lead in photo I have got the
first inflation out of the way. I was up all night with worry about how it
would go, and trying to remember all the things I needed to go through, e.t.c
I was very happy with the result for the first inflation. It was a basic run
through to have a look for any big problems and to get the vent tied into
place. There was a couple ofminor problems with one of the load tapes at the
drown ring crossed over and a wrong placing on the vent panel. Apart from
that it all went very well. Pictures are in abundance in Gallery
6 and 7.
I have the burner almost complete and hope to be able to use it and test the
system for a hot inflation next weekend. Remember: My Completion date was
the 10th April, so I am very very close to being on schedule. Its amazing
that although things at times seemed to be falling miles behind I have come
out on schedule.
I am saying that I still don't have a hot air balloon,
I have a cold air inflatable, weather and events willing, I should have a
hot air balloon next weekend. Amazing, simply amazing.
The weather has defeated me :( - Sunday 30th March
Well everything was ready to go. Bought a trailer,
and a fan yesterday so we could inflate this morning but the weather decided
it wanted to have a bit of fun with us so the balloon is still in the house
and we were still in bed.
To entertain myself I have decided to suspend the vent from the roof of the
house and tie in the vent before inflation. Given that I now have a couple
of days before I can inflate again this seems like the most obvious thing
to do to keep moving with the project. I have also finished my paperwork for
CASA and will submit it this week for their approval and inspection.
Still more pictures going up here as the project rolls along.
!!!Test Inflation scheduled for this weekend!!!! - Tuesday 25th March
All things being equal I plan to do the first test inflation (cold inflation only) on Sunday mornng in the park at the end of the street. Progress has been ver pleasing over the last week and it now currently stands as per below:
Main envelope is COMPLETE! Amazing. The balloon is closed. The top and bottom tapes are on. The horizontal tapes and velcro have been joined. The attachment points for the vent are installed. The ring and anchor for the vent line are installed. The load tapes are attached to the crown ring, with plenty extra in case I need to make an adjustment. And finally, the flying wires are attached to the mouth of the balloon. I cant tell you what a relief it has been just to close the balloon.
Parachute Vent is ready to be cut out. I need to cut it out, add the edge tape to it and the loops for the centring cords and then it is ready to be fitted to the main envelope. I also need to add the velcro to the vent. This could be tricky to get to line up with my velcro on the lip tape, all part of the fun I guess :) I will fit most of the vent and centring lines during the first cold inflation.
I cant believe I am hearing myself say that with the knowledge that it will be this weekend.... How Exciting! Lots of new pictures added on gallery pages 4 and 5, enjoy!
Its been exactly 2 months since I started sewing, 59 days in total and 165 hours which equates to 2.75 hours every single day since I started sewing.
Vent almost complete - Sun 16th March
The vent has progressed and it is almost done. When I say almost I mean that
it is in a square. I still need to get it laid out and draw a circle then
cut it out and attatch the edge tape and loops for the centring lines. Pictures
in the gallery.
One seam left! - Mon 10th March
Not entirely true but only one seam to close the envelope into a complete
circle. I still have some horizontal tapes to sew on but it is getting very
very close to the end of the building side of the project. Over the last few
days I have added the last two gores to the balloon and have also added the
bottom mouth tape, and the top horizontal tape. However, I have now run out
of tape but have more on order.
I have built my attachment points for the parachute but have not sewn them
in yet. I will do this over the next day or two. More info on this on the
Atttachment points page. There is
also a couple of new photos in the gallery page here.
Progress is a beautiful thing - Thurs 6th March
Two weeks since the last update here. I apologise for my tardiness but I have been preoccupied with sewing, wrestling with my sewing machine, and more sewing. A lot happens in two weeks. Last update I had finished all of the panels into gores. Now I am well into the sewing of the Gores together. It has been a steep learning curve again. Trying to get the tape to apply correctly and line up the panels can be quite tricky.
The first tape I put on I had a shocker and the whole thing had to be unpicked. 16m is a lot of unpicking! Now I have the hang of it. I have had the usual dramas with my machine but now realise the trick is to keep it swimming in oil and then it performs beautifully.
I have 10 Gores sewn together now out of 12. I am on the final stretch. I Still have the parachute to make which will take a day or two. Apart from that I have three Vertical seams, two horizontal seams, the mouth tape and the lip tape left to do. I'm getting there and I am still on schedule for my early April test flights.
Finished the Gores! - Sat 22nd Feb
Never thought I would get there at some stages. But
all the panels are into their gores and stored in their own garbage bags until
I get to sewing them together. Lets go back a step or two though... On Tuesday
the fabric arrived and a I cut out the last panel set that night. Then over
Wed, Thurs, Fri nights and today I have been sewing that panel into each of
the gores.
Now I need to measure out my load tapes and cut them to length and sew the
gores together. I have no idea of how long this will take but I expect it
will be a fairly tedious job as I have to att the parachute attatchment points
while I go. At least I've figured out how to do that now. Some more pictures,
still of me sewing, are up on the gallery page 3 here.
All I can do - Sun 16th Feb
I have sewn all the panels together that I can for the moment, why.....
because I am still waiting for my fabric to land from South Africa. I should
get it on Tuesday. So at the moment I have 156 panels together out of 168.
That leaves 12 panels or if you like, 24 seams, before I can start the verticals.
Once cut its about three nights of sewing to get the last panel into all of
the gores. I have got my tape feed foot from my local sewing supplies shop,
cant believe they had an adjustable tape foot in stock! Pictures of it on
page 3 in the gallery soon. Now I'm off to figure out how to make the parachute
vent.
Three figures! - Wed 12th Feb
102 panels and counting. Its been an interesting couple
of days with my inspiration and drive waning a bit, hence the small improvement
in panel numbers But still, I'm into the hundred now so I can see the finish
line! The missing fabric is flying out from South Africa and should arrive
to me on Monday of next week, cut it Tuesday and start sewing it in on Wednesday.
I hope to have the rest of the panels sewn in ready for verticals by next
weekend - 22nd Feb. Then I need to start on the parachute. Still working on
plans for the parachute but it will be basic colour slices to make it easier
to work with..
Over halfway - Sun 9th Feb
I have passed half way over the weekend so I'm on the homeward journey now. At last count I have put 92 panels together. The machine played up on Saturday but a good service from the technician has it running the best since I've had the machine. The top panels I am sewing now are a lot easier to align than the bottom panels which makes the sewing a lot quicker. I have ordered the extra fabric I was missing after my miscalculation and it should be here later this week. I hope to start on the vertical seams within two weeks.
Still sewing - Sun 2/2/03
The sewing is progressing. I had a lot of problems trying to figure out how to get the panels to line up properly. It is quite hard to get it right and have them align closeely enough to be sewn in for the vertical gores. I have had quite a productive weekend and at the end of the weekend I find myself with 50 panels together out of 168, which equates to over 1/4 of the balloon together. I now have great seams happening and they are folding nicely into the french seam. I never imagined I would be so pleased about a simple seam :)
Sewing has started! - Mon 27/01/03
Finally its happened. The sewing has commenced. After practice, practice and more practice I have today completed 15 panels worth of sewing. Sounds impressive until you realise they are some of the smaller panels and there is about 151 panels to go! Plus the vent of course. But its a start, and that is always a good thing. My start was somewhat delayed by a rather big night that saw me a bit too delicate to do much on the balloon yesterday. Check out the sewing page for more pics and the like.
I forgot to mention that last weekend we had a party to get rid of some of the brown paper I have left after the pattern manafacture. Everyone had to do something with a 1.5m *1.5m piece of paper. There were some fantastic things done and a good night was had. Check out here for the pics of the event.
New colour scheme available - Sat 25/01/03
Have the new colour model of the balloon available. Click here for the balloon shape with colour on it and here for the spreadsheet of all colour. You will notice that the orange is not even all the way around. This is on purpose as it is more expensive than the blue. There are two different blues, but they are so close you cant see the difference to look at. That is until it gets on the balloon in volume. So I have allowed for that in the colour scheme as well.
Troubled waters - Wed 22/01/03
Have had some dramas over the last couple of weeks which is why I have been slow to update the website. First and foremost is the fact that I ran out of fabric before finishing cutting the panels. What a bugger! I am about 80m of fabric short. I have realised my problem though. When calculating how much fabric would be required I did not factor in enough for wastage. Through the cutting process my wastage has been at approximately 12% of the total amount. A good tip to remember for next time!
So I moved to the sewing side of things. I got my seam folder on the 13th Jan and have been trying on and off to get the thing to fold the seams correctly. I am having nothing but problems with it. It is not folding the seams consistently which means that I do not get both needles through all layers of fabric. I am sure it is just a technique problem that I will overcome with more practice. This is why you spend a lot of time sewing all the offcuts for practice before you start on the real thing. This weekend is a long weekend here in Australia and I hope to have my technique sorted out by the end of the weekend so I can get underway with the sewing on the balloon itself. I will not start though, until I am happy that I have it right.
New look web site - Mon 6/1/03
Changed it around a bit haven't I! Well the last one was a bit clunky and wasn't as smooth as it could be. This one even has a Home link and a link to the gallery. Hope you all find it a bit more useful than the last one.
On the panel front, I have 12 sets out of 14 complete now and will have the last two complet before the weekend. It's a great feeling to see empty rolls where once there was a lot of fabric, that is, until I look at all the bundles of fabric that now need to be sewn..... bugger!
Now I'm rolling - 4/1/03
Patterns are all done this morning and I have now hooked into cutting out the panels. With the aid of my Rotary cutter, I am able to cut all 12 panels with one cut which is awesome. It means all panels are identical which is a huge bonus. Its taking me about 2 hours per set of 12 panels which includes laying out the fabric, cutting it out and marking it up. So it equates to about 10 minutes per individual panel. I'm really pleased with how its running, and I've got 4 panel sets complete out of a total of 12.
The other bonus has been the Gelvenor fabric. Even though its seconds, the blemishes I have found so far are very very small comsetic problems only. No pulled threads or deep scratches to the coating. This is great as it means everything progresses much more smoothly.
There are pictures on the new Cutting section which I've just put up today.
Patterns Still - 02/01/03
Still patterns. Over half of the panel patterns (9 now) are now done. Its slow going and I did the pattern for panel D 4 times before I got it right. Don't know where my head was but it wasn't on the job. Hope to have started cutting out panels themselves over this weekend.
Patterns underway - 22/12/02
Cut out the top three patterns today. Cut out of brown Kraft paper and it is a bugger of a job as it takes about 1 hour per panel pattern. Only 11 to go ......
Fabric is Here! - 21/12/02
The beauty of not updating the page for a few days at this stage of the project is that a lot happens in that time. The most important of all is that my fabric arrived safely and intact from South Africa. The fabric cost me AUD$2200 to have it shipped out here. On top of that I had to pay $800 extra for customs duties and GST and the fee for the customs broker. A bit more than I expected but at a total of $3000 all up, its still $500 cheaper that I first thought. Pictures of the fabric are in the gallery here.
The other thing that happened was that the sewing machine turned up. It is a little ripper, looks like nothing will stop it. It comes fully serviced for $25 a week. I am having a flat fell seamfolder built for it to make the process a whole lot quicker and more accurate in the folds. Should be ready in mid January. Pictures are also up on the gallery page.
Hoping to have my first panel patterns cut out tomorrow afternoon.
Components coming together - 11/12/02
Spoke to Gelvenor textiles in South Africa this evening as I haven't heard from them for a few days on email. The shipment is ready to go and it should be departing Durban before the end of the week....yeehah! But now I also have to pay for it as well....ouch!
The big issue has been finding some brown paper wide enough to hold the patterns I need to cut out. But I've found it now and it comes on a roll of 450metres which is a huge amount more than I need but at least I'll have plenty left over for my next balloon.
Also have the crown ring which was laser cut out of a square of Stainless steel. I picked stainless AISI 316 because I know its breaking strength. Picture of the crown ring is here. Also have my rotary cutters ready to roll for the fabric. I am so damn keen to get started it is killing me, so I am working out the angles now for the cables to get the right length for the Aerostar burner frame I have. This is keeping my mind well occupied in the mean time.
Cutting table done - 08/12/02
Cutting table is now complete. Picture
s here. Pretty straightforward, its big enough to hold the largest panel in the balloon. The beauty of a horizontal cut balloon is that it only has quite small panels which can be easily laid out on the table. My largest panel is 1.4m high and 4.2m wide. The table dimensions are 1.6m * 4.4m.
Fabric is Go! 5/12/02
Have just ordered the fabric for the balloon this afternoon. This is the expensive part of the whole exercise, depending on the exchange rate I should be able to get away with it for just under $3300. Takes about a week to get here from South Africa.
In other news I have reserved the registration mark for the balloon. I'm pretty happy with it as well, the rego will be VH-OME. I love the fact that when looked at in another light it is vHOME. The reservation of the mark lasts for a year before it must be on the balloon. No probs I hope.
The cutting table is about to arrive. Its a couple of MDF sheets that I will bolt together to give me a cutting surface of 4.4m long by 1.6m wide which is big enough to fit the largest panel for the balloon (just). I am itching to get started with the cutting and sewing. Bring it on!
NEWS - 30/11/02
Just had my basket delivered for the balloon. It was
given to me by a friend of mine. Its a 1984 Raven
Rally II basket that used to fly under the old
"Stardust" balloon for those of you who remember it.
The basket also came with the original instruments
and the original drop line. It also has the original flying
wires from the balloon. The basket has a the HPII
which is very common on this model and has a rated
output of around 12 million BTU. This compares to
the TBW3 burner which has about 6 million BTU.
Check out the components page for some more pics
of the basket and some closeups of the burner and
the attatchment points for the load frame of the basket. Its different in
that it uses aircraft
grade aluminimum tubing for the load frame instead of the suspension wires
commonly found in most mass production balloons in Australia. This style is
still in production by Aerostar in the USA today and is well proven.
Hope to have my fabric order placed with Gelvenor in South Africa by the middle of December. The fabric for the 69 should cost me about $3500 AUD landed in Australia including all taxes. Not too bad all things considered.
