Success! Well moderate success… but success none the less

Well this morning I went out, got another couple balloons, filled them up with helium, attached them to my rig and went out for a test flight. I ended up using 3 three foot balloons at 3/4^th capacity for my lift. The lift generated by these 3 balloons was sufficient but a fourth one would have really made the whole thing soar a lot more easily, although it managed to work fairly well on 3. I did my first test next to a river near a trail. The second shoot was done at a park next to a primary school… I managed to get some shots but I was asked to leave since the kids were going to be coming of for PE (and we all know how paranoid everyone is these days). I am not sure who was more disappointed, me or the kids… yay!!! everyone loves big balloons! Anyway I was hoping to get back out after 4pm when everyone would be gone, but hubris struck poor Daedalus’s Eye down… one of my balloons popped when I was trying to get it back in to the house. Anyway although the photos are not to exciting, the project worked beautifully and proved the principle that this can be done fairly easily with the setup I have designed. I am happy with the results and am looking forward to my next attempt, maybe with an actual weather balloon instead of just 3 over sized party ones. Also I will be a bit more adventurous and let it get a little more height next time… oh well we will see. Thanks for reading!

And here is a little movie... enjoy