I'm gutted to be stuck at home under the weather this weekend, was looking forward to a weekend of flying with you guys 😞 bring on next weekend 🙂

@TheBigBalloonFestival I've snuck off to Glasgow this weekend but the weather isn't kind this weekend. Hopefully we can get some hours in the next few months.

When you say 'design' do you mean structural design I.e. shape of the balloon, number of gore's, stress analysis etc. Or do you mean graphic design as in colour schemes, surface visuals etc.

@@TheBigBalloonFestival a little bit of both, but mostly coloring.

@@dakotaplayz3988 try this one from lindstrand balloons USA their design centre software let's you visualise your ideas lindstrand.com/designcenter/

Hi 👋 at the moment I'm not really making model balloons a lot, just a matter of finding the time with all the other balloon related things I do, there are some Facebook pages for second hand equipment to get you started if that's of interest

@@TheBigBalloonFestival oh ok where can i find the link please

@@user-zh5pu5lt5f they searching facebook for this group -Modelballoons-For-Sale-

It has a stark beauty to it, that I'd not really seen on my previous Albuquerque trips, having stayed in the city and only drived out to a few spots, cool place to fly with the mix of open desert and small holdings (if that's what you would call them?) And stretching on for ever to the west !

@@TheBigBalloonFestival Don't remember exactly in which year the local balloon club organized a balloon flight where a group of us drove West of Rio Rancho ALONG WAY. We launched flew over the Sandia Mountain flew 47 miles and attained an altitude of over 20,000ft! Great flight!

WOW that's awesome 20K is a LOOONG way up, and 47 miles as way beyond anything I've done LOL, challenge accepted (NOT)

@@TheBigBalloonFestival One for the books for sure. One needs to grow, keep pushing your and your aircrafts limits and do it with friends. As I recall, this flight was done in Feburary. It was neet that when I flew over the Sandia Peak, I was at 17,500ft and still climbing. Watching the Skiers go down the slopes was quite a sight! Keep bringing your videos.

Thanks to some model balloonists

BRILLIANT that's great to hear, I'm glad you had a good time and that your part of the ballooning community now :-) happy days

From memory that year I wasn't booked in as a pilot, just as crew for a hot air airship

@@TheBigBalloonFestival oh

Very valid question, and something which has been experimented with on and off over the last 50 or so years of modern hot air balloons (my own balloon has a dark side in the hope of getting some solar gain) I have flown in black topped balloons and it can make landing a little interesting if the sun pops out just as you trying to touch down, so it suggest a little advantage maybe gained in normal flight, but it's hard to pin down just how much - I think we might see more of it in the future

@@TheBigBalloonFestival I would think a little more precision in controlling the vents would make it easier to counter any excess buoyancy generated. But you are in England, no? Hard to get solid sunlight there.

That sounds 😎 cool, it's like 100 degrees c in the top of the balloon, there is a company I think in Austria that will cook a meal inside the balloon and winch it down for you to eat as you fly across the alps ! #lifegoals

We usually fly for about an hour, 10 miles an hour is probably the top speed for one of these style balloons, you defiantly want to be landing 🐌 slowly, so yeah about 10 miles

😄😁 I resemble that remark 😄 I recon most of them would say they need bigger balloons than they used too, if your not a fat old white dude, then the sport needs you - as much as we need to be younger and less fat

we usually fly in winds less than 10 miles / Hour, and you can get about an hour in the air for a tank that size before you need to be working out just how to get down or gravity will do that job for you

@@TheBigBalloonFestival oh that it so awesome

only by changing height and using the different layers of wind at different heights, each layer has a subtly different direction, have a look at this video it shows some unusual conditions, but gives an idea of how we can use the winds kzfaq.info/get/bejne/mceCdNikkruvj6s.html

@@TheBigBalloonFestival I would love to see a single man thermal airship

There are a couple of companies in China making 3 / 4 man balloons, but nothing like this, you could always go for building your own playlist on how to build your own kzfaq.info/sun/PL-FtZ8D04WMNwAIsVEUVmS7UKhuMqmoab

Lol 😂

ohh that would be cool, I've seen pictures of a guy riding the tank like a cowboy all good till the landing :-0

if your not too keen on strapping it to your back (the cloudhopper) you might prefer a sky chariot, where you sit on the tank, a mini basket where it stands next to you (that's what I fly) or an air chair where the tanks are like arm rests on a sofa :-) here you go kzfaq.info/get/bejne/Y7ZzeZyVztWUiZ8.html

Is there a way to control the general direction you go in?

@@qwertyuiop-ke7fs yep we control the balloon vertically and use the different layers of wind at different heights to move, if the wind isn't there at a height your not going to get the direction you need though. This is pretty unusual but It gives you an idea of the subtle changes that we can use to steer kzfaq.info/get/bejne/mceCdNikkruvj6s.htmlsi=5V1A1VmMWf9KBgC0

You could probably get your hands on one and your feet off the ground for around £15,000 - £20,000 though some of us choose to do the labour ourselves and home build, like I did for this one.

I don't like heights standing on a building, or looking over the edge of a cliff, but with this I'm fine, and once you open your eyes it's a great view :-) I've known quite a few people get over their fear of heights by flying in a balloon (not solo of course)

Ha ha 😂 yeah pretty much, grab your lawn chair let's fly 🤪

I will admit I'm not a a specialist in sewing machines, but from what I have learned any project in balloon building becomes a mission to keep the machine doing what you expect and need, there are a few off screen moments where I was not getting on with the machine I'll tell you 😀

Lol I assumed ,they are temperamental

Wow I've not watched that in ages, I remember thinking 'the sky is your friend, no one ever crashed into the sky - but it was so new and air tight I was all 'aahh how do I get this thing to come down' had a few celebratory drinks after and a lie down 😆

Absolutely, I think this video overs about 3 days of the overall build, we were working as a great team and Claire (also a great pilot) just took it on and was all 'I'm going to smash this' 👍

The burner and the tank are the only bits you can buy off the shelf in this balloon, everything else is amateur built, the fabric bit he sewed in his house / spare room / office, quite a squeeze

A beautiful sunday morning in late August

Is the Chrysler Balloon a Rozier?

@@davidnewbrook8628 it's a hot air replica, there are a couple about and I've done a bit of a talkover as to what they are all about, one for a future video, I've never seen a true rozier

@@davidnewbrook8628 no it is a model of the one that flew

Remember going to the World Championships at Castle Howard in 1977, there was no flying on the day I attended due to high winds😢

What shape do you think 🤔 would be a good one

😄 nothing to see hear just a guy cloudhoppin' 👍😎

Having a little balloon sure has its benefits, on the flip side you can't fly your mates

Sadly not this year, taking a break for 2024 maybe back in the future, are you going? You need to get chatting with some model balloonists over the fence and get to know them face to face, they are a great bunch of people

😄😁 you don't want it reading double digits, gets the heart ♥️ pumping when you go fast in one of these things #notetoself

@@TheBigBalloonFestival To be honest, the closest I got to your experience was downloading hotair baloon addon for Microsoft Flight Simulator and floating over Split, Dalmatia/Croatia drinking wine and showing our neighbourhood to my (impatient) wife!😂😂😂 I envy you! (on the other hand I have a sailboat for floating in the fluids so I shouldn't complain😉) Soft landings!

@@hrvojebartulovic7870 I saw that, I did wonder about making a 'how VR ballooning compares to the real thing' it looked pretty good, I just didn't get round to trying it / making a film

Ah thanks that a really nice thing to say, this event is coming up in 10 days hopefully I'll be able to get some more footage this year

@@TheBigBalloonFestival where abuts will it be held

@@user-zh5pu5lt5f it's in the village of Wrenbury near crewe, look at nwbac.com for information they are the regional club that organising it

:-) LOL old school - though I think I might know the guy LOL

I've done designs that are roughly the same for 20/30/40/50/60/80/100m3 envelopes and then made varying amounts of each, so the 40/50/60m3 were quite popular 15 years ago I just reused the same template for the 40m3 over and over. think I built about 35 model balloons over a 10 year period, was pretty cool seeing them go off to people to fly

@@TheBigBalloonFestival how do you make them

Ha Ha Yes your right, not the most practical idea, but there was a guy in Paris who flew around for a while in a single person gas airship, tied it off the his balcony above the street (Santos Dumont) what a guy :-)

Could you imagine how wacky LA traffic would be? 😂

​@emergencyroomandy9425 it might be harder to "balloon jack" someone.