Matt McCarthy
Energy and Transportation
5/27/14
Hot Air Balloon Summary
Why did you select the design you did?
My design was quite different than anyone else's in the class. Instead of constructing the gores of the balloon, I built the panels. I selected this design because, after my research, I determined that this balloon was less likely to have the potential for one huge rip that would ruin it. I also determined that it would be lighter than using whole sheets of tissue paper to build each gore. In the beginning it seemed like the most effective design in my eyes.
How successful is this design?
In the past this design has been shown to be very successful. However it is quite a tedious and meticulous building process so it cannot be rushed and I am hoping I have enough time in class to build it correctly.
Design description and details
To start 16 pieces of tissue paper are paired up and glued together for a total of 8 layers.
Gas Lamp no. 313
airship update
2006 Ojiya Balloon Festival (2006年おぢや風...Then from there the strips that will complete each panel of the balloon are cut out. They will be glued together to form circles with the bottom being bigger than the top to give the balloon a "balloon-like" shape. The only area that cannot be constructed like this is the top, which will be covered from the inside with a single piece of tissue paper at the end of the build.
Discuss the building process
The building process was incredibly long and tedious. The small individual pieces required a lot of time to be cut out, glued together, and finally glued on to the balloon. The process was very methodical and logical and the steps all made sense, but it took forever. The final part of gluing the two separate...