Last night we finally got round to making our hot air balloons. It was the first time in approximately ten years since I'd last tried this and that last time was not exactly a success.
To make a scout hot air balloon you need only a few things. very, very thin wire, sellotape, cheap black bin liner (cheaper the better), cotton balls, meths and matches.
The idea of the wire is simply to provide a very small bit of structure. Run the wire around the big opening in the bag and over lap the plastic over the wire. Secure in four places – equally distant from each other. Imagine cutting a circle into quarters. Using another two thin bits of wire poke it through the sellotape securing the wire on the quarters of the bin bag. It should form a cross. Use one of the cross pieces to secure the cotton ball in the middle. Soak in a little meths and light holding bag upside down (ie hole closest the ground, bottom of bag up.
Let inflate, release.
My first bag had a perfect amount of fuel and gracefully lifted over the trees and landed in the field next to us.
The scouts scuttled in, made their own. The results were fairly good – two of the three patrols made a successful flight. Wolves had the best, unfortunately it went up too high to catch, caught in a slip stream and hurtled over towards the nearby airport. I’ve checked the news this morning, no plane crashes or airport closures so I hope it didn’t inconvenience anyone. Tigers made a pretty good effort however it didn’t make the lift off and crashed landed in the scout field. Eagles were last, the balloon took partially off and caught fire. I didn’t expect this one to fly and turned to pick up the meths. When I turned back, it was afloat following its twin over into the airport slip stream pouring burning plastic off the bottom. Fortunately this one came down before it reached the airport, but it’s reminded me to keep a better eye on the scouts creations in future!
To make a scout hot air balloon you need only a few things. very, very thin wire, sellotape, cheap black bin liner (cheaper the better), cotton balls, meths and matches.
The idea of the wire is simply to provide a very small bit of structure. Run the wire around the big opening in the bag and over lap the plastic over the wire. Secure in four places – equally distant from each other. Imagine cutting a circle into quarters. Using another two thin bits of wire poke it through the sellotape securing the wire on the quarters of the bin bag. It should form a cross. Use one of the cross pieces to secure the cotton ball in the middle. Soak in a little meths and light holding bag upside down (ie hole closest the ground, bottom of bag up.
Let inflate, release.
My first bag had a perfect amount of fuel and gracefully lifted over the trees and landed in the field next to us.
The scouts scuttled in, made their own. The results were fairly good – two of the three patrols made a successful flight. Wolves had the best, unfortunately it went up too high to catch, caught in a slip stream and hurtled over towards the nearby airport. I’ve checked the news this morning, no plane crashes or airport closures so I hope it didn’t inconvenience anyone. Tigers made a pretty good effort however it didn’t make the lift off and crashed landed in the scout field. Eagles were last, the balloon took partially off and caught fire. I didn’t expect this one to fly and turned to pick up the meths. When I turned back, it was afloat following its twin over into the airport slip stream pouring burning plastic off the bottom. Fortunately this one came down before it reached the airport, but it’s reminded me to keep a better eye on the scouts creations in future!
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