Back pedaling with balloon progress

Since my last post we screwed up the template we were doing which was annoying but it has to be perfect. We now have some more suitable tools like a long length of box section which will help covering those distances of panel F which is one of the biggest panels.

So we haven't attempted to cut out a new template so we are not progressing at all on that front. With an assignment and test coming up i will be focusing on class work with planning for Japan on the side which i leave for on the 25th which is the day after i have my final test of my degree (hopefully).

Alright that is enough negative, lets talk about what i have managed to achieve in the last month or so since my last post. Alright so i haven't managed to get a single inquiry for tank straps but i couldn't care less. Rebecca has been over and working on the tank covers. At this point she has finished the two Kav 55l Tanks and now working on the Worthingtons of Katie's. At this point we have sewn together one electric blanket and still have to remove and sew the other two once we are ready to sort out the positions of plug holes and where the pockets will sit.

The tank covers are only one part of sorting out Katie bottom end. The images below are of the new shortened tie-off i have sewn up for those occasions that a shortened tie-off might be more suitable i.e. windy inflations. Also having a spare might come in handy.

Next item on the cards was wrapping Strata's instrument panel with some carbon fibre wrap to pretty it up a little bit.

It hasn't made its way back into the balloon yet but that will probably happen once we get ready to fly again or pull it apart to sort the pockets on the new tank covers however with Japan only 4 weeks away it may have to wait.

One of the little projects i did one night while Rebecca was working on the tank covers a took a leaf out of my friend Mitch's book and made a pocket to throw commonly used tools to keep them out of the way but not out of reach. What can also be seen it the very new looking switch which i got with the brushless motor i got this week. I decided to swap over from a clutch motor because the clutch motor runs continuously and when you push the pedal it contacts the full throttle motor Because of this it makes the clutch motor a little bit 1950's. With the new motor the machine is a lot easier to control, quieter and more energy efficient. Bonus marks for my light plugging straight into the switch box. Hopefully spending the money on a new motor will save me some time with unpicking.

Its looking like once i am back from Japan i will be busy with the general Christmas rush and clocking up hours so i can fly in Balloons over Waikato. I will hopefully find some time to sew finish off cutting and start sewing. Once i get the sewing down i will hopefully knock out a large amount of the balloon but then again we will see because it seems like every post covers the same wrap up.

Balloon Progress is getting closer!

Well as you might of figured out by now i have been undertaking a lot of balloon projects. Sadly most of these are not really to do with my building my balloon. I finished up making 20 tank straps at the start of the week that i am attempting to sell to members of the kiwi community however i haven't had any bites yet which doesn't phase me. Tank straps are one of the few ballooning items that take up very little space but come in handy from time to time.

One of the other benefits of sewing up these tank straps is to test my machine and kind of iron out all the kinks prior to sewing the balloon. The exercise of sewing has taught me a lot of things about the machine and i have learnt to sew a little better.

The major issue surrounding the sewing machine is the clutch motor. They are horrible motors for control and its pretty much all or nothing when it comes to sewing. I have sorted out minor control however riding that line between slower than hand cranking and full speed is not easy, because of this i bit the bullet and purchased a servo motor which has a led control which modulates the top speed of the motor. Once again spending more money on sewing machines however i have saved money else where so i am happy to spend it on something that will improve the overall quality and potentially save me time unpicking.

As can be seen in the image below we have finally finished making a banner from an old skirt. which was hastily made this week so i am truly embarrassed by my sewing skills. We pulled it off a dead balloon last year which showed a lot of signs of history so we thought it was worth saving.

What can also be seen is the beginnings of a panel template. This is for panel F which turned out was measured wrong and it wasn't noticed until we went to cut the panel. So this is the first step back into the world of balloon building. Once this is cut ill have to set aside time to finish cutting the remaining panels which should only take a couple days. After all panels are cut we will have to mark all the panels to ensure they are sewn on the right side as it seems one side might have more coating on it.

Finally i have a friend of mine making a new cover for the tank i purchased back in March. Hopefully both covers will be completed this week and then she can start work on Katie's tanks. I purchased the fabric for the tank covers from Hamilton canvas. It cost me about $12.90/m and it only takes about 800mm wide of fabric to make a tank cover and pocket. The fabric i got is a oxford nylon with PVC backing with a velcro strap on the back of the tank to make it easier to remove around inspection time.

See what i mean a lot of projects just not many to do directly with the building of the balloon. It seems that every project i am doing away from the actual building of the balloon has an degree of benefit towards the overall project.