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Burner Tips |
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Cleaning |
To clean outside of your burner use McGuir's Cleaner
Wax. This works great to cut thru Suit buildup and gives
the burner can a great shine. Works especially well for Aerostar Stainless burner cans. |
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Slupers |
Slurpers are the
little tube that the manufacturers install in the burner
to pull the condensation out of the bottom of the burner
can and throw it up into the flame to be evaporated.
If your burner drips while your flying this may indicate
that your Slurpers tube is blocked with suit. You
will need to use a compressor with a small nozzle to blast
the suit away from the end of the tube. |
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After the Annual |
After your burner
has been thru is annual Hook it up and fire it. Do
this before you take your next flight. Out on the
launch field is a rotten time to find out that your blast
valve will only open half way or that you have an O-Ring
leak or a sticky valve. These things happen trust
me. Some of the newer burners have real complex
triggers and sometimes they will not feel the same way
after they have been torn apart and re-built. |
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Basket Tips |
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Cleaning |
Take your basket to the car wash. A good blasting of
water will help remove sand and grit from the wicker as well as
give it a nice drink of water. Wicker can become extremely
brittle if left to dry out over long periods of time. To
seal the wicker never use a varnish because this will seal the
wicker and not allow it to breath. Use boiled linseed oil
as it will allow the wicker to breath and moisturize it. |
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Upright's and Pins |
On the Aerostar
balloon uprights you must keep the pins oiled for best
performance. Any silicon works just fine.
NEVER NEVER stand
the uprights on the ground. I cringe every time I
see this. You will get sand and dirt on the end of
the pole and in the holes the quick pins go in. I
have heard people say "It's
ok, we wipe them off" This is a
rather stupid statement. First of all why create
work for yourself. Do you
go out and get your car dirty just so you can wash it?
Don't get them dirty in the first place.
Second, How exactly are you going to wipe off the inside
of the hole that the pin goes into? Sand and dirt
can cause the pins not to work properly as well as ream
out the hole and cause your basket to fail the annul.
Yes the manufacture has standards
for the size of that hole and the amount of (Slop) you are
allowed to have. If you must lay the
uprights down on the ground lay them on their side to
reduce the amount of contact the ends have with the dirt
and debris. |
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Envelope Tips |
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Balloon |
Fast Pack.
We all know that moisture will hurt the fabric.
Especially if the balloon is stored wet in the bag.
When I fly, I normally pack the balloon as fast as I can
after the flight. At one time we knew we were going
to have bad weather for several days and were worried that
the balloon might be wet in the bag and were going to have
to get it out and dry it. When we opened the bag we
noticed that it was dry. Much drier than it was when
we put it in the bag. We learned that the residual
heat from the envelope had dried the balloon out in the
bag. We now pack the balloon away as fast as we can
after each flight to take advantage of the heat still in
the fabric. think of it this way. Take a load
of clothes out of the drier and throw them on your bed.
Wait ten minutes and then stick you hand into the middle
of the pile. It will still be warm. That heat
will push moisture out of the pile and the same will
happen to your balloon so FAST PACK!!! |
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Scoops |
First of all lets
clarify what the purpose of a scoop is. the scoop is
designed for Tethers. That is it, there is no other
useful purpose for it. If you have a scoop on your
balloon keep it looking good by not having it hooked up
when you inflate. Many people who have scoops on
their balloon burn or scorch them regularly. This is
caused because the scoop will catch the air from the fan
and fly up into or near the burner when your inflating.
Take the scoop and fold it back under the balloon during
inflation. This way it is not possible for it to fly
up near the burner. Once your upright and stable
have one of the ground crew climb up and hook it to the
basket. |
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Propane Tanks |
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Inflator Fans |
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Trailers |
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Tether Ropes |
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Instruments |
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Winter Flying |
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Night Flights |
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Night Blind |
One of the things
that occurs on a night flight is Night Blindness.
This is caused by the brightness of the burner when it is
turned on. During the daylight we do not think about
how bright the burner is. At night your eyes take
time to adjust to the dark. When the burner is fired
it will cause your retinas to close and reduce the amount
of light allowed into your eye. When the burner is
turned off you will not be able to see a thing. To
help stop this effect, when you turn on the burner just
close your eyes. This will help reduce the amount of
light and allow your eyes to adjust much faster to the
dark after the burn. |
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High! |
At night the
perception of how high you are flying is a hard one.
Make sure by several thousand feet that your safe.
Look at your sectional before the flight and find out what
the AGL height is on any obstacles in your flight path
might be. Then stay a thousand feet or more above
it. Have a small penlight or flashlight with you so
you can keep a good grip on your altitude during the
flight. |
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air
balloons. His useful tips and tricks are meant to help
balloon pilots keep their balloon equipment in good flying
condition between annuals as well as help cut the cost of
ballooning by avoiding some of the mistakes we all make.
Suggestions may be sent to