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Food Living Outside Play Technology Workshop
Solar Hot Air Balloon Message-in-a-Bottleby crrdlx on July 26, 2011
Table of Contents
Solar Hot Air Balloon Message-in-a-Bottle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Intro: Solar Hot Air Balloon Message-in-a-Bottle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Step 1: Materials and Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Step 2: Layout and Taping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Step 3: Write Your Message and Inflate It . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Step 4: Watch It Go! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Related Instructables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Comments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
http://www.instructables.com/id/Solar-Hot-Air-Balloon-Message-in-a-Bottle/
Intro: Solar Hot Air Balloon Message-in-a-BottleThis is a hot air balloon made from trash bags and heated by the sun. Once airborne, it should stay up 'til the sun goes down or behind the clouds. Needless to say, itcan travel a long, long way. Attached to it is a "message-in-a-bottle" asking anyone who might find it to email their location, just to see how far it flew. There's justsomething romantic about a message seeking out who-knows-whom in far away who-knows-where.
As a note, as boys, my brother and I lived on a tidal river in Florida. Walking the mangroves, we found a couple of messages-in-bottles that people sent. One came fromanother state. It said something like, "Send a postcard with your address and we'll send a present." My brother sent a note and sure enough they sent back a King JamesBible (it was a "Fishing for Men" outreach project by a Georgia church). He still has that Bible. It was inspiring to think of how far that message had come and the paththat it took. The magic of a message-in-a-bottle is to imagine, "Where will it go?" and, "Who will find this?"
Image Notes1. Message2. Solar hot air balloon launching
Step 1: Materials and Tools-----------------------------------------Materials-----------------------------------------1. Trash bags -- They must be THIN, I used 0.6 mil but the thinner the better. Most quality bags are heavy, at least 1.0 mil. We want the cheap-O bags.2. Tape -- I used regular masking tape. Likely scotch tape is okay too. Don't use the wide package tape though--too heavy.3. Thread4. Pen and paper5. Plastic bottle -- I actually had to get rid of the bottle because it added too much weight.
-----------------------------------------Tools-----------------------------------------1. Scissors2. Blow drier
http://www.instructables.com/id/Solar-Hot-Air-Balloon-Message-in-a-Bottle/
Image Notes1. Trash bags, tape, thread, plastic bottle, message.2. Blow drier and scissors.
Image Notes1. 1.2 mil2. 1.1 mil3. 1.01 mil4. 1.0 mil5. 0.6 mil These are the bags I used.
Step 2: Layout and TapingThis may look harder than it actually is. To go with the pictures, I tried to sketch some diagrams. Just realize that it's pretty simple.
STEP 1Get 4 bags and cut them open by cutting the bottom and ONE side. It'll unfold then to a big rectangle. Lay out all 4 opened bags like in the picture/diagram. Tape themtogether to make a huge rectangle.
STEPS 2 and 3Fold the huge rectangle over then tape the two sides closed. You now have only the bottom untaped and open.
STEPS 4 and 5Hold the center of the open seam and lift it open so that the points marked A & B in the diagram come together. Tape and seal off the last open seam.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Solar-Hot-Air-Balloon-Message-in-a-Bottle/
Image Notes1. One bag opened up.
Image Notes1. Four bags opened and laid together to make a huge rectangle.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Solar-Hot-Air-Balloon-Message-in-a-Bottle/
Image Notes1. Four bags opened up and taped together.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Solar-Hot-Air-Balloon-Message-in-a-Bottle/
Image Notes1. Corner C2. Corner D3. Corner A4. Corner B
http://www.instructables.com/id/Solar-Hot-Air-Balloon-Message-in-a-Bottle/
Image Notes1. This is the last open seam.
Image Notes1. Last seam taped and sealed up.
Step 3: Write Your Message and Inflate ItGet your message ready. Once it's inflated, it's go-time! I scratched the plastic bottle after it became clear that it was weighing down the balloon. I just rolled up themessage, then tied it off with a piece of thread about a foot long. Essentially, the message asked for an email back to me simply saying where the balloon was found.
Just as a note, since this is a SOLAR balloon, so you'll want to do this on a bright sunny day.
Cut about 3 inches off of one corner. Just cut enough to shoot hot air in it from your blow drier. Simply start blowing hot air into the balloon. Be careful not to burn or meltthe bags. The balloon will quickly take shape.
As soon as it's inflated, twist the opening so it closes, then tie your message onto it. Once inflated, I moved into the sunlight so the sun would start heating it up.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Solar-Hot-Air-Balloon-Message-in-a-Bottle/
Image Notes1. The now-closed opening where it was inflated.2. Message dangling by a thread.
Step 4: Watch It Go!Nothing much to say here, launch it and watch it go!
After floundering around a bit, it started to gain some altitude, bounced off some power lines and shrubbery, then finally got above the treeline. Then it was gone!
I intended to chase after it on my bicycle. I quickly saw that was pointless. Within 10 minutes, it was out of sight last seen heading north--still gaining altitude. It's hard toguess the distance, but I'd say 5 miles in 10 minutes (that'd make it 30 mph once it got up high).
Now, it's just wondering where it went, how far, and hoping that someone finds it and shoots back an email.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Solar-Hot-Air-Balloon-Message-in-a-Bottle/
Image Notes1. You can't see it in this pic, but the balloon was a speck right here just before itwas gone from sight.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Solar-Hot-Air-Balloon-Message-in-a-Bottle/
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Become theMaster of theSkies by Takinga Hot-AirBalloon Ride byvossboss
Make a SolarHeated Balloonby ongissim
Project Up - HotAir Balloon(Photos) byglitchus
How to crew fora hot air balloonby just mike Crocheted Hot
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Build a SolarMess Kit andcook with thesun byStupidGenius
Comments
50 comments Add Comment view all 58 comments
rimar2000 says: Jul 26, 2011. 2:14 PM REPLYWonderful!
Damp air is lighter than dry air. Maybe you can inflate the balloon with your lungs (many persons, because it is a great volume) instead of the hair drier. Thatshould give it longer scope/range.
jester_rob says: Jul 28, 2011. 5:42 PM REPLYjust wondering how you came to the conclusion that damp air is lighter than dry air? 0_o
deitzgen says: Jul 29, 2011. 6:16 AM REPLYAir is about 78% Nitrogen (N2) , about 21% Oxygen (O2) and about 1% other gases. Nitrogen has a molecular weight of 14 so a N2 molecule has amolecular weight of 28. Oxygen has a molecular weight of 16 so an O2 molecule has a molecular weight of 32. given the ratios of air and themolecular weights of the components, air has a molecular weight of 28.6 (0.78 * 28 + 0.21 * 32 = 28.6).
Water is made up of two hydrogen and one oxygen atoms (H2O). Hydrogen is the lightest element and has a molecular weight of one. So a watermolecule has a molecular weight of 18 (2 * 1 + 1 * 16 = 18). Water is a very light molecule and much lighter than the average weight of the moleculesfound in air.
as you can see above water vapor is lighter than air, and when the air is moist, water vapor displaces an amount of air (replacing heavier air withlighter water vapor), thereby making the moist air lighter. Of course the temperature and pressures must be the same for this to be true.
Included is a link to calculate weight of dry air, moist air and amount of water vapor in moist air.
https://www.brisbanehotairballooning.com.au/faqs/education/116-calculate-air-density.html
rimar2000 says: Jul 29, 2011. 5:31 AM REPLYIt is not my conclusion, it is a fact. I am guiltless!
csnowman00 says: Jul 28, 2011. 6:36 AM REPLYMaybe you can get a spray bottle and 'spritz' the air going into your hair dryer. That possibly could make the air damp, especially if you put the heat onhigh.
pdionne says: Jul 28, 2011. 3:50 PM REPLYHERE's your sign!!!
devonfletch says: Jul 28, 2011. 2:22 PM REPLYDON"T DO THIS!!!!The water will make the thing too heavy to fly, and you'll be too dead to observe the effect.
skylane says: Jul 28, 2011. 10:46 AM REPLYIncredibly DANGEROUS and stupid idea...Your post should be removedSpraying water into a hair dryer? surely you jest!
http://www.instructables.com/id/Solar-Hot-Air-Balloon-Message-in-a-Bottle/
csnowman00 says: Jul 28, 2011. 11:52 AM REPLYas long as you don't spray salt water you should be fine. Saltwater conducts electricity more than tap water. Everybody knows that.
pdionne says: Jul 28, 2011. 3:52 PM REPLYDistilled water would be the safest. Tap water has all kind of minerals and iron in it. Ever see rusty water? That's iron and it is conductive.
badcoconut says: Jul 28, 2011. 12:39 PM REPLYToo Funny!!!....... true salt water does conduct better than tap water..... Tap water will still kill you ... maybe you will not be as dead with tapwater as with salt water but dead is still dead :-)
t.rohner says: Jul 28, 2011. 8:08 AM REPLYHehe we used to fill them with Helium.
mycroft618 says: Jul 28, 2011. 9:20 AM REPLYWe use 2 bags, large top one helium, one gallon small bottom one was oxy-acetylene from a torch. lit the torch, set it for best burn, put it out filled bottomballoon, tape on about 2 minutes of fuse, light fuse and release the balloon out over the lake. Made a massive boom.
DO NOT try this. We never even thought about static electricity.The explosion can take tour arm off, or kill you.
For the non-believers, We demonstrate to new employees in out maintenance dept. use a small paper water cup put a pencil size hole in it, fill with thegas mix. relight the torch and wave across the hole. The small blast It shakes the shop area.
t.rohner says: Jul 29, 2011. 3:55 AM REPLYFunny things you can do with household items... If the mixture is right.Good idea to set the torch for best burn.
kimblebear says: Jul 29, 2011. 3:52 AM REPLYYou don't need the hairdryer at all. Make it BIG enough and light enough - probably needs to be about 12 feet long and 4 ft diameter if I remember how weused to make them.
Ideally don't use the tape but get some Pritt or other stick adhesive to join bags together.
Seal off one end and then run a few yards along trapping the warm air as you go, you'll look stupid but hey this is meant to be fun.
When it is full, tie it off with a thin piece of cotton and in a couple of minutes - on a warm day - it will be off.
Environmentalists can hang on to the cotton and bring it back down to ground - the 'killers' can just let go.
We used to fly them in the UK all the time during the summer vacation from school. Now with global warming, you should be able to do it a Christmas!!!
fatchumba667 says: Jul 29, 2011. 2:36 AM REPLYHey! Just saying this SCHAB (self containing hot air balloon, as i call it) looks great! Good job! I'm definitely gonna try it out!
daleputley says: Jul 29, 2011. 1:41 AM REPLYHey, I just saw it here in Romania as well !Joke aside, I like this little project, I think it makes a good educational toy for a kid, as long as you tie the baloon to a pole, with a rather long thread. Thenwhen the day is over, recover the bag and dispose of it so that next door environmentalists have no reason to jump up and save the world today.
devonfletch says: Jul 28, 2011. 2:16 PM REPLYWe used to attach a flashlight to a kite, and fly it at night, the papers would light up with UFO sightings.
pdionne says: Jul 28, 2011. 4:05 PM REPLYI took two aluminum pie pans, mounted 10 small battery powered lamps around the rim, then took a rotating beacon off a toy fire truck and put that in thecenter of the top plate and put a piece of mono from the side of the rotating beacon. I put a small multi-contact switch inside that was driven by a smallmotor. The switch turned and supplied power to the lamps making them turn on and off. I hooked the batteries up, then took the plates and stapled themtogether, top to top to form a saucer. I also hid a walkie talkie on the opposite side of the trees. I took the saucer and hung it from a tree in the back yardand had my sisters call their friend that lived next door. She came right over and they showed it to her then I called out her name. You should have seenher running and pissing her pants at the same time.
Of course her mother had to see it to, so here they come walking down the street and Sharon showed it to her mother when the got to the side of thehouse. Should have seen her, she pissed herself, but not from the saucer, but from laughing so hard. When she stopped she started yelling my name. Ithink I had a reputation for doing crazy stuff.
That was fun!
http://www.instructables.com/id/Solar-Hot-Air-Balloon-Message-in-a-Bottle/
devonfletch says: Jul 28, 2011. 11:57 PM REPLYYou should do a 'structable on it, sounds like endless possibilities here!
timloco says: Jul 28, 2011. 11:01 AM REPLYyes, it's romantic to kill wildlife with plastic bags.
roland985 says: Jul 28, 2011. 9:09 PM REPLYBah, this will do absolutely nothing to wild life except kill it.
Edmundo096 says: Jul 28, 2011. 7:40 PM REPLYReally like the idea.. Thanks!
alcurb says: Jul 28, 2011. 7:42 AM REPLYThis reminds me of an indy film. Should be called: BAG!-- "Beautiful and graceful it gently floats into the air... but it takes out endangered wildlife at the end the bag's life cycle ". ;-)
Did Edmund science sell something similar, but they were cylindrical? I kinda remember the ads for those.
pdionne says: Jul 28, 2011. 4:16 PM REPLYThey sold weather balloons that you could blow up and they would fly off. We took one and filled it from the gasses produced from Draino and zinc chips.We went through quite a bit of the stuff to fill the three foot balloon up. Then we took some heavy underwater fuse and tied a knot in it so it wouldn't pullout. If I remember right we put 50 feet of fuse, so it would have plenty of time to get to altitude.
In case you don't know about Draino and Zinc, when added together with water they produce massive amounts of hydrogen gas. I guess the balloon wasat 1000 feet when it blew and you could feel the pressure back to the ground. It looked like a hydrogen bomb going off.
Now, for the environmentalists, don't worry there was NOTHING left to the balloon after it went off!
pdionne says: Jul 28, 2011. 3:49 PM REPLYTo hell with the wild life, what if it gets sucked into a plane engine! You had good intentions, but you should have thought about the consequences first.
l8nite says: Jul 28, 2011. 3:32 PM REPLYthe enviromentalists and safety ppl do have valid points but doggone it , its FUN !
tripodtim says: Jul 28, 2011. 2:19 PM REPLYYeah it's way better to bury bags of rubbish in the ground than it is to do this....
lucek says: Jul 28, 2011. 1:17 PM REPLYAhhhhhh! A flying D4! Run for your life!!!
jproffer says: Jul 28, 2011. 6:56 AM REPLYits cool but this is kind of very environmental unfriendly. plastic isnt biodegradable, and if you're near a lake or beach, it can kill birds and other animals if itgets high enough and you lose track of it.
skylane says: Jul 28, 2011. 10:43 AM REPLYLOL.. I can see the headlines now...HUNDREDS KILLED, THOUSANDS INJURED by solar powered messages...
rogercaplan says: Jul 28, 2011. 8:01 AM REPLYYeah, this is a regular killing MACHINE!
Lo-couk says: Jul 28, 2011. 10:12 AM REPLYIf you used Kevlar bin bags you could also bring down aircraft as well as litter the envoroment :D
http://www.instructables.com/id/Solar-Hot-Air-Balloon-Message-in-a-Bottle/
rodrigaocosta says: Jul 28, 2011. 9:14 AM REPLYI saw it today here in Brazil :)
rivers92 says: Jul 27, 2011. 3:33 PM REPLYomg i see an UFO! D:
ainabnitt says: Jul 28, 2011. 9:14 AM REPLYHaha, I was thinking the same thing!
Morgo says: Jul 28, 2011. 7:03 AM REPLYI'm not sure if people remember the controversy back in the 80's and 90's over helium balloons killing dolphins and other sea life. The balloons used to belaunched into the air (sometimes with messages) and many would make their way into the oceans. Jelly fish would swarm around the balloons, and dolphinswould accidentally eat them and choke to death. I would warn that something similar could happen if these trash bags made their way into bodies of water(and therefor, eventually the ocean).
moebuspcgold says: Jul 28, 2011. 8:19 AM REPLYJust like a weather balloon, hundreds get released every day worldwide, they burst and come back to earth though. Hmm, if the bag was heat sealed onboth ends it would be much more ligter and able to go a little higher. The coldness of altitude is the limiting factor of its max heigh.
eheupel says: Jul 28, 2011. 7:45 AM REPLYIronically I believe you will find this would fall under littering statutes in most locations. And you are attaching your name to it... so the ticket / courtsummons may be your reward.
More seriously though, I have picked up too many mylar balloons and plastic bags from 20-30 miles out to sea. I have had to remove plastic bags thatwere wrapped around coral heads, smothering them. I have seen the necropsy on turtles and marine mammals that ingested balloons and plastic bagsthat landed in the ocean.
This is a nice instruct able well put together, and I have always loved he message in a bottle idea, but please think hard and come up with an way to do itthat won't have a high likelihood of causing harm.
WPee says: Jul 28, 2011. 8:37 AM REPLY
I hope they come up with a GOOD APP-for-that. :-)
Maybe something like TRACKABLE airborne GEOCACHING ???Someone will take the next step in this direction I am sure, it's just too obvious to be passed up....
----------------------------------I have often wondered WHO retreves all those WEATHER BALOONS ?-----------------------------------
mcresearch says: Jul 28, 2011. 6:58 AM REPLYThis is a danger to wildlife in its current form.
danielatom0 says: Jul 28, 2011. 7:30 AM REPLYYes i Agree, but if you get Bio-Degradable bag then its fine.
Phony_Baloney says: Jul 28, 2011. 7:28 AM (removed by author or community request)
ScottyAlmanjoy says: Jul 28, 2011. 11:18 AM REPLY*you're
mcresearch says: Jul 28, 2011. 8:10 AM REPLYThanks for your thoughtful words. Check this out if you think I'm a nut:
http://www.plasticbageconomics.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=17&Itemid=31
http://www.instructables.com/id/Solar-Hot-Air-Balloon-Message-in-a-Bottle/
Phoghat says: Jul 28, 2011. 8:33 AM REPLYI actually thought this was a very cool idea and was going to use it with the Cub Scout Troupe I'm helping out with, until I went to your link andread the stuff there. I said to myself "How can I even suggest the use of plastic bags in this way, what am I saying to this bunch of 10 year oldkids" ? Then I did some more research and found that http://www.biobagusa.com/ (featured on Oprah etc.) is the largest maker ofBIODEGRABLE Garbage Bags in the World.Remember: Google is your friend !
beartoe says: Jul 28, 2011. 8:30 PM REPLYGoogle is Google's friend. Use Scroogle instead of Google to do your searches:
http://www.scroogle.org/cgi-bin/scraper.htm
..and stop letting Google sell information about you.
grrrrsty says: Jul 28, 2011. 6:32 AM REPLYAny thoughts on environmental impact? Having lots of big empty trash bags floating around seems a little questionable.
jbouffard says: Jul 27, 2011. 5:39 PM REPLYtwo things1. if i find an garbage bag in my backyard, i wont search a messagew atached to it.
2. stop the vid at 0:31 and compare the image!anyway it a good instructable!
draugninja says: Jul 27, 2011. 6:06 PM REPLY1. I would totally search a message attached to a hot air balloon type construction that landed in my backyard.
I hope someone finds it!
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