These are the best basic balloon kit instructions, beautiful. Check out the awesome maps he got with Bonny and other grassroots mapping folks.
kite balloon futures and histories
To follow on my love of kite balloons, and the kite balloon action at the grassroots mapping list. here are a few awesome kite balloon histories.
No-tech magazine, Airships Past and Present, 1908. Look especially for details on Parseval and Sigsfeld, drachenballoon developers. There is an inflatable airship designed for logging. then in Belgium, horse-borne air war. In america, an early aircraft carrier with a balloon dome. Glamor shots reveal a counterweight in the rigging. The priapism of war.
October 25, Natalie Jeremijenko in Portland, OR
kite balloon construction ideas with boston folks
Sketch of an elliptical kite balloon like the Allsopp Helikite constructed with a rolling heat sealer (on left).
Jeffrey Warren and I discussed these kite balloon designs when I was at his studio. Southern Balloon Works, where a lot of spherical Grassroots Mapping balloons come from, makes a similar kite balloon with a drag rather than lift structure for stability. John Borden of Peace River Sudios loaned me the roller sealer. I showed Jeffrey, he found one for sale at retail, and Dan Beavers found an online store that sells roller sealers.