Project on the side

At this point i am lacking some of the key equipment required to fly this envelope of mine and its not like me to lack a plan however i am diving knee deep in this project without knowing of the bottom end ill fly in once its complete. In spite of this lack of direction i have found an inflation fan that needs a complete overhaul. 

This project is similar to the sewing machine and the balloon itself, that being purchasing something that needs a new lease on life or going to whole DIY route.

Sadly with this fan a new lease on life isn't as straight forward as the sewing machine where i kept almost everything and applied some elbow grease to get it all nifty again. The plan for the fan is to flick off the motor (once its running a lot smoother) to anybody who will give me a buck for it along with the frame/wheels.

Realistically i am only keeping the prop and cage which will be attached to a titan 6.5hp engine and a stainless frame. Obviously everything is in the planning phase and only time will tell to what degree my vision will come to life (Attached below is the design at this point in time).

The work ahead is mostly money related which at this point therefore nothing is happening at the moment besides the elbow grease jobs. Once i am on holiday from class i will proceed with straightening up the fan cage followed by looking into powder coating the cage is possible. 

The next progression is purchasing the motor which will set me back $299 NZD which is significantly cheaper than a Honda motor. The motor is a Chinese knockoff of the Honda design and is not as top quality/won't stand as much abuse as a Honda motor. 

 

Taking this into account by my calculations an inflation fan will do between 5-10 hours a year and considering these motors probably do that in a day or week i doubt it will break any time soon. Even if it does break in 5 years i will be financially in a better place to buy a Honda motor or replace it with another Titan motor if it proves to stand up to the abuse.