RC Ballooning

[Joe_Trinity1]

Just joined the site! I never knew there were other people as obsessed as I am with balloons! My name is Joe I'm originally from Albuquerque but I'm now in Tucson, AZ. With an interest in RC Balloons, I'm constructing a model. Where is the best fabric supplier and where can I get the RC and Burner setup? OR can I build my own (I would much rather build my own.)? thanks!

[matt Hurst]

hey i live in tucson az what side of town do u live on? i own three rc balloons and have built my own burns and basket. if u want i can show u mine and help u build a set. i got my fabric from stump balloons it's second hand fabric and it's silcone there is a othe place called westmaker u can find them on line

[Joe_Trinity1]

Thanks! I actually live on the Northwest side of town. Is your burner system RC?

[matt Hurst]

yep i made them form weed bruners

[Joe_Trinity1]

Cool, you think it's more cost effective to build your own RC/Burner System than to purchase a setup one? I would love the challenge and learning experience of building my own. The balloon I designed is a tetrahedron and it is 42 feet wide and 30 feet tall I did all the calculations and (if I'm right...) it should be able to lift 136 pounds... Nice pics from ABQ by the way...

[matt Hurst]

thanks thats a good size the big blue one i have is 4800cb and it has a big t basket and i fly a 1 gal tank and two 1 pounds in it and it lifts it just fine but i'am thinking of putting two 1 gallons in it. the best thing about the tetrahedron is that is has great lifting power i talk to keith a year ago about him making me one and i told him i want a 105 but he talk me in to a 77 or a 90 becuse the top is so big that a 90 has the lifting power of a 120 and a 77 has a lifting power 105 .

[matt Hurst]

it's kinda hard to build burns u want and get them to work off of rc for me it was but my next set will be coming from gremany form boling or hezal balloons but i'll make my own baskets. i'am sure the ur rc balloon can lift what ever basket u want to put on it. will diffent have to hook and i'll show how big my baskets r and go fly them

[Joe_Trinity1]

for sure, I'm usually off on Fridays and Sundays I would love to check them out and see how they work. where do you usually fly them?

[matt Hurst]

at a park or were we go flying out in marana or if i'am just working on them at my apt

[Justin Galbraith]

I can recommend the bolling burners they are a work of art.
Even if you just bought the burners and did all the rest yourself, that would probably be a good idea.
Angus and I don't really recommend the bolling control system as we had nothing but trouble with it.
Having said that my RC balloon is 4 years old and they may have changed the control system.
Angus and I have gone to 2.4ghz radio system and this seems to fix most of the interference issues we were having.
Angus has also now removed the bolling control board and built his own. If you want more information I would contact angus on aunty monkey.

There are a number of RC flyers in here now, probably about 10 I would guess.
Search under my video's if you want to see my RC balloon.

[Joe_Trinity1]

Thank you very much. So it seems I have 2 options the Bolling or ModelBalloon.com... I'm for sure sewing my own envelope (Our dog loves nylon so I bought 2 yards and to test sew I made her a bed.lol) Are the load tapes really a must?

[Justin Galbraith]

Angus and my balloons do not have and don't need load tapes. Scaling the size of the balloon down means the ripstop is well and truly strong enough to carry any load you would place on it.
Steve bought a model balloon from the US about 5 years ago, and I got to fly it at the Australian nationals in 2003.

The difference in the burners outputs is amazing. Bollings is just like the real thing, modelballoons is very weak by comparison. The flame is also not a straight and controlled, which makes the inflations just a little more tricky.
It would work but it not as good as the bolling. Only problem is the Bollings burners are much more expensive but I would say definitely worth it.

Post photo's of your envelope build as you go, always interested in other people toys.
If you contact Angus he would probably be very happy to send you the envelope design if you don't have one.

[Kasey Schwemmer]

I agree that Bolling's burners (modellballone.com) are a work of art. I have one myself. Only drawback for me is it takes FOREVER for the fuel to drain out of the coils once you shut off the blast valve (afterburn). Around 2 to 4 seconds depending. Doesnt sound long, but with a smaller balloon its really more than desirable and what I'm confortable with. But, I know there are many people who use and like them just fine. Maybe purchase one from him and see how you like it.

I've been using modelballoon.com's burners for a number of years very happily. Very simple and reliable, and no afterburn!

What is the volume of your balloon? Being 42' wide and 30' tall makes it sound huge!

As far as load tapes... it will depend on how much weight you intend your balloon to lift. If 136 lbs is the max it can lift, then you wont want to have it actually lift that much as it will be more likely to over-heat the fabric and burn up your balloon. Even if you only load it to half, I still would definately recommend at least -some- tape up the sides. Personally, I would suggest somewhere 3 to 6 feet of webbing in at least 8 to 12 evenly spaced locations around the mouth (you'll have to measure since you have a tetra).

Sounds like a cool project! Been thinking of doing a tetrahedron myself for a while. I've built a handful of RC's, though I dont have any pictures up here yet.

I'd be more than happy to answer any questions you have along with all the fine folks here on the Monkey :)