---General description---
A hot air balloon is a lighter than air aircraft consisting of a bag called the envelope that is capable of containing heated air. Suspended beneath is a wicker basket, which carries passengers, propane tanks and open flames burner. For modern sport balloons, the envelope is generally made from nylon and Nomex. The heated air inside the envelope has less density than external air, so the balloon can fly under buoyancy force. The hot air balloon is the first successful human-carrying flight technology. The first untethered manned hot air balloon flight was performed in 1783 in a balloon created by the Montgolfier brothers.
---The model---
The model represents a classic hot air balloon carrying two people and its measurements try to replicate the shape and proportions of a real balloon. For this reason the model itself is quite big. In order to reduce its weight, the balloon has an internal structure made of Technic bricks. The structure is composed by one central pylon and eight radial arc beams. Each piece of the envelope (the colored part) is connected to one of these eight braces. The stiffness of the structure is obtained with diagonal beams. The colors chosen for the envelope are eight and are the most common used in hot air balloons. Despite the dimension of the model, the building process is quite simple and repetitive. In fact both the internal structure and the envelope are modular parts. I put much care in the creation of the model, chosing the best angles in orde to avoid any gap between the bricks in angular connections.
---About me--- My name is Luca and I'm an aerospace engineering student at the univerisity of Pisa. My great passion for flying machines guided me through the creation of this model. I would share with other people the beauty of aircrafts. But despite all, my great passions are Star Wars and Lego bricks.
