FOR YOUR INFORMATION
What
are balloons made of?
Construction of
today’s modern hot air balloon envelope is usually rip stop nylon or polyester.
This is similar fabric that parachutes and “K-Way” style pull-over jackets are
made of. It has a weight of 1.1 oz/yard to 2.5 oz/yard.
What
kind of fuel do they use?
All hot air
balloons use propane. In our RE/MAX balloons we carry two 15 gallon, stainless
steel fuel tanks. This is enough fuel to fly for about two hours.
How
do you heat the air?
The air is
heated with burners. The RE/MAX balloons have a double burner system that
outputs over 32 million BTUs (British Thermal Units). The extra burner adds
additional safety and performance values. In comparison, an average gas barbecue
generates about 40,000 BTUs and the furnace in an average house would generate
60,000 – 80,000 BTUs.
What instruments
do you carry on board?
The three
instruments that all balloons are required to carry are:
- Pyrometer:
This is a temperature sensitive device which tells the pilot the temperature at
the top of the envelope. The sensor, which is located inside and at the very
top, transmits the information to the instruments in the basket by either hard
wire or infra-red light waves.
- Altimeter:
This informs the pilot of their altitude and the modern day versions are usually
calibrated digitally and will display the read out in either feet or meters.
- Variometer:
This device indicates vertical speed and is usually calibrated as an analogue
style instrument.
In addition
balloons are required when flying close to an airport, to carry an aircraft
radio to communicate with the control tower. They also might carry two way
radios to communicate with the chase crew on the ground.
MODERN HOT AIR BALLOON SYSTEM
Today’s hot
air balloon systems consist of three major components: envelope, basket, and
burner. The most popular envelope size is 57 feet in diameter with a volume of
approximately 90,000 cubic feet. It is the AX-8 category.
The wicker
basket houses the propane fuel tanks and flight instruments. An altimeter, rate
of climb meter, and pyrometer are standard instruments in balloon systems. The
double burner illustrated here generates 32,000 BTU/hr. (Burner rating is at 128
PSI at an ambient temperature of 80oF)