When flying a hot air balloon, you must be prepared for anything and play it safe. You do not have the control in a lighter-than-air aircraft that you would in a normal airplane. It can be very dangerous indeed. There is nothing more peaceful than to watch the sunset in a hot air balloon and then, as the air cools slowly sink back to Earth in your pre-designated spot. Unfortunately all that depends on the weather doesnt it. If you are going to do this it pays to have some good lighting, however the lighting you take up with you needs to be lightweight, this means large batteries are not such a hot idea for a hot air balloon. The trick is to stay without lots of weight, not add more. I propose a relative wind flutter system, which would vibrate and power up an LED lighting system. The flutter system can power up the lights using electromagnetic induction technology to charge a capacitor instead of the headlights working off a battery. Currently there are some nifty micro-flashlights being used which you can buy which use a similar technique and are available thanks to the Everlite Flashlight technology research lab. These smaller flashlights work by shaking them for about thirty seconds and shine for about 6 minutes and they shine quite bright since they use a very bright LED light. Here is a link to this home use flashlight: http://www.modernoutpost.com/gear/details/ee_shakelight.html Hot air balloons are a joy indeed, but you need to see where you are landing to prevent injury or death from an unfortunate eventuality of landing on inhospitable terrain. Perhaps this is a good way to save weight and save lives of those who love to live and live to fly hot air balloons; Up, Up and Away. Think on this. |
