After the miserable fail of our first hot air balloon, the members of our new group decided to scrap the old design altogether, and come up with something completely different. We spent quite a bit of time thinking what device to model our hot balloon after until it hit us: Chinese Lanterns.
Though it was somewhat of a farfetched idea at first, we eventually began to see the light of it. Chinese Lanterns used extremely light materials, and with a simple candle, they were usually able to float. So, with that in mind, we began our design. We wanted a tall, cylindrical shape to match that of the Chinese Lantern's, leaving the candles at the bottom. Since we were mimicking the Chinese lantern, we chose materials that were also fairly similar. Tissue paper would cover our entire structure (except for the bottom) since it seemed to resemble rice paper quite well, and to hold up the entire structure, we would use thin, light, and flexible wires.
During the construction, we were constantly thinking of methods to make our lantern as light as possible. Therefore instead of using glue or masking tape, we used double sided tape so we were able to stick the tissue paper without adding too much weight. As for the wires, we used it to build the skeleton of the structure. We realized that the bottom probably needed more support than the top, so we doubled up the wires. When we wrapped the tissue paper around the skeleton, it was a tedious process because the tissue paper was so delicate and served to be a factor of frustration when it ripped or teared.
Unfortunately, even with this creative design, the Chinese lantern was not successful. Right before we flew it, we poked a hole at the top, thinking it was going to help our lantern fly. It didn't. And it probably made everything worse. If we had to make any improvements, it would probably be making the bottom lighter, as it was too heavy for the lantern to float.
But, this project was extremely fun, and even if the hot air balloons were unsuccessful, we had a great time making it!
Photo Credits: Wa Sang Tse.
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