LOL... tried to get some artistic shots of the envelope bag, envelope, cables, carabiners, upright cover, poles and stuff and it was dark... But we will go ahead and post it.... what the heck! All but a few are HDR.
So here ya go.. a down view of the basket.. Its a flat topped basket. Your choice with Lindstrand for no extra cost. Flat topped are safer in my opinion. Across from one 15 gallon tank to the other is one mylar upright pole. The discoloration at the ends is due to the slots they go into. Nothing wrong with it. Happens for all balloons. See the cool rubberized collars on the tank rings.. sweet. Great grip and so padded. In the closer side of the picture are the burners in their case and the pole and upright cover bag tied to the handle for transportation.In the picture to the left you can see the upright ( pole ) cover. Again.. super soft leather with three velcro straps for accessories. Yum! The third tank is Eric's. I have to move it out of the basket but my arms hurt. I moved rock and cleaned up my side yard today. So there! In this picture you can see the soft upper leather bolster and my Wicker Slicker (TM) on the far side. See the colors I chose. Reds and Blues with Yellow straps. Since the envelope is largely yellow it was good to keep the yellow down on the bottom end. You really cant see it but there is an inch foam pad in cover ( also made for me and FREE!! ) I do have a manifold on the left inside wall for an extra tank. Having extra fuel is a good thing.
The envelope bag is a standard bag. It has a rubberized bottom to save the fabric of the bag from scrapes and the envelope from getting wet on damp ground. Again. Stayed with the blue for the bottom and red for the bag with matching yellow strapping. Good suggestions from Lindstrand. It has a top cover flap that turns into a carry case. The rope has been tied in a normal slip loop to ease opening it up fast. Its awesome. See how it all matches with the basket colors. See the rope colors on the basket and the wicker patterns in the middle. You can make up your own patterns and colors.. which is again... totally included in the package. Everything is in my trailer and strapped to the wall.
Now the picture on the left shows the carabiner set ( 4 ) with all the 24 down kevlar lines ( purple/black ) that come down from each gore load tape. three lines you can see.. Black, Green, and Candy-striped are the two turning vents and crown vent lines with french clips ( suggested and purchased by my friend and dealer. The gold colored clips attach the yellow scoop to the downwind of the envelope to the burner frame to direct air. The black strap you are seeing are on the inside of the scoop and are called load tapes. The next photograph shows two carabiners snapped together but they really do go to two different corners of the burner frame. You can see the french clips on the green, black and candy-striped vent lines better. All that stiching you see is structural. There are specific stitch counts per inch. Lines also are specified by the manual following FAA standards just like a fixed wing airplane. We have the same standards as the planes you fly on everyday No difference.. Yearly inspections.. Hourly limitations too.
This picture to the right shows the pockets.. I call them pockets. These are stitched into the throat and cover the connections from the load tapes that support the envelope fabric ( talked about this in one of my earlier blogs on basic ballooning ) to the kevlar lines that come down to the top of the burner frame. There is not one metal cable or line that comes from the envelope to the basket. If you hit power lines there's no conducting metal to transmit voltage down to you. This is very important to me because I have been in power lines and I have felt the voltage pass around me ( I had metal cables from throat to burner frame and a metal instrument line also ). Very frightening and dangerous. More standard classy protection from Lindstrand. Love the pockets. Where the pockets are stitched to the throat you will find these cool little number tags. These are the load tape / gore number there are twenty four of them. notice that the fabric looks like ... well heavy fabric? That's because the scoop and one panel of the throat are made out of fire resistant Nomex. It will take the heat of the burner and not just melt like normal fabric. I have burned my throat and all it did was turn gray. seriously ugly but survivable. Where envelope fabric will melt and flash away under a flame from the regular burner this stuff stays intact for a while. Nice stuff. Expensive.
You can see how she catches the sunlight. Sa-weet! Remember. if your thinking about buying a balloon and you have questions.. I am always here. I have owned three different makes.. Aerostar, Cameron, Lindstrand. You cant see it on this picture but I have white little numbers in a red and blue square on the equator of the envelope. Those are my tail numbers. Like on an airplane.. I don't have a tail though so thats where they go..
Oh... Lindstrand Racers also have a baffle.....
Whats a baffle?
Are you baffled?
Are you asking?
Maybe I'll tell ya if you want to know....Lets just say.. again.... Lindstrand took a request and went one step farther... and did it for free... and made my day...
With my baffle...... I like saying baffle.... baffle baffle baffle!!!
Here be some links for you to ponder....
http://hotairballoon.ning.com/
http://hotairballoon.ning.com/profile/towerpmc
http://hotairballoon.ning.com/profile/Zephyrus?xg_source=profiles_memberList
http://hotairballoon.ning.com/profile/mike1dwn?xg_source=profiles_memberList
