A
hopper balloon (simply
hopper) is a small, one-person
hot air balloonThe hot air balloon is the oldest successful human-carrying flight technology and is a subset of balloon aircraft.On November 21, 1783, in Paris, France, the first manned flight was made by Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier and François Laurent d'Arlandes in a hot air balloon created by the...
. Unlike a conventional hot air balloon where people ride inside a basket, there is no basket on a hopper balloon. Instead, the hopper pilot usually sits on a seat or wears a harness similar to a
parachuteA parachute is a device used to slow the motion of an object through an atmosphere by creating drag. Parachutes are made out of cloth, most commonly nylon....
harness. Hoppers are typically flown for recreation. These
aircraftAn aircraft is a vehicle which is able to fly by being supported by the air, or in general, the atmosphere of a planet. An aircraft counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil An aircraft is a vehicle which is able to fly by being supported...
are sometimes called "Cloud Hoppers" or "Cloudhoppers." However, these terms formally refer to the products of a particular manufacturer, specifically
Lindstrand BalloonsLindstrand Balloons is a manufacturer of hot air balloons and other aerostats. The company was started by Swedish-born pilot and aeronautical designer Per Lindstrand in Oswestry, England, as Colt Balloons in 1978...
.
A
hopper balloon (simply
hopper) is a small, one-person
hot air balloonThe hot air balloon is the oldest successful human-carrying flight technology and is a subset of balloon aircraft.On November 21, 1783, in Paris, France, the first manned flight was made by Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier and François Laurent d'Arlandes in a hot air balloon created by the...
. Unlike a conventional hot air balloon where people ride inside a basket, there is no basket on a hopper balloon. Instead, the hopper pilot usually sits on a seat or wears a harness similar to a
parachuteA parachute is a device used to slow the motion of an object through an atmosphere by creating drag. Parachutes are made out of cloth, most commonly nylon....
harness. Hoppers are typically flown for recreation. These
aircraftAn aircraft is a vehicle which is able to fly by being supported by the air, or in general, the atmosphere of a planet. An aircraft counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil An aircraft is a vehicle which is able to fly by being supported...
are sometimes called "Cloud Hoppers" or "Cloudhoppers." However, these terms formally refer to the products of a particular manufacturer, specifically
Lindstrand BalloonsLindstrand Balloons is a manufacturer of hot air balloons and other aerostats. The company was started by Swedish-born pilot and aeronautical designer Per Lindstrand in Oswestry, England, as Colt Balloons in 1978...
. Nonetheless, "Cloudhopper" is used by many people as a
genericized trademarkA genericized trademark is a trademark or brand name that has become the colloquial or generic description for a general class of product or service, rather than the specific meaning intended by the trademark's holder...
, which refers to all craft of this general type. In more careful usage, "hopper" is the generic term. Most hopper balloons have envelopes that range in volume from 14,000 to 35,000 cubic feet (400 to 1000 m3) and have a maximum flight duration of 1 to 1.5 hours. The two principal commercial balloon manufacturers today offering hopper balloons for sale are
Cameron Balloonsthumb|right|A Cameron Z105 balloon.Cameron Balloons is a company established in 1971 in Bristol, England by Don Cameron to manufacture hot air balloons. Cameron had previously, with others, constructed ten hot air balloons under the name Omega. Production was in the basement of his house, moving in...
and
Lindstrand BalloonsLindstrand Balloons is a manufacturer of hot air balloons and other aerostats. The company was started by Swedish-born pilot and aeronautical designer Per Lindstrand in Oswestry, England, as Colt Balloons in 1978...
. Most other hopper balloons are
experimental aircraftIn generic use, an experimental aircraft is an aircraft that has not yet been fully proven in flight. Often, this implies that new aerospace technologies are being tested on the aircraft, though the label is more broad. Experimental aircraft is also a specific term referring to an aircraft flown...
designed and built by amateur constructors.
History
Balloon jumping as a sport emerged in the United States not later than 1924, and in England not later than 1927.. Balloon jumping really meant
jumping for many enthuasists: with insufficient
buoyancyIn physics, buoyancy is the upward force that keeps things afloat. The net upward buoyancy force is equal to the magnitude of the weight of fluid displaced by the body. This force enables the object to float or at least seem lighter....
to sustain flight, the balloonist actually had to use his muscles to start a balloon-assited hop. In the United States
heliumHelium is the chemical element with atomic number 2, and is represented by the symbol He. It is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic, inert monatomic gas that heads the noble gas group in the periodic table...
was hailed as the choice
lifting gasA lifting gas is required for aerostats to create buoyancy. Its density is lower than that of air . Only certain lighter than air gases are suitable as lifting gases.- Ammonia :...
due to its fire safety, allowing the balloonists to smoke while airborn; elsewhere,
hydrogenHydrogen is the chemical element with atomic number 1. It is represented by the symbol H. At standard temperature and pressure, hydrogen is a colorless, odorless, nonmetallic, tasteless, highly flammable diatomic gas with the molecular formula H
2...
was common, but not hot air balloons.
Hopper balloons, or
jumping balloons, consisting of nothing more than an air bag and a suspension sling with a primitive bench, were immediately employed by operators of large
airshipAn airship or dirigible is a lighter-than-air aircraft that can be steered and propelled through the air using rudders and propellers or other thrust...
s and stratospheric balloons as cheap tools of inspecting and repairing aircraft surfaces. The tool was especially handy, since the most safe places to launch large high-altitude balloons (
StratobowlThe Stratobowl is a compact natural depression within the limits of Black Hills National Park in South Dakota, south-west of Rapid City. In 1934–1935 it housed a stratospheric balloon launch site, initially known as Stratocamp, sponsored by the National Geographic Society and the United States Army...
and
Crosby, MinnesotaCrosby is a city in Crow Wing County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 2,299 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Brainerd Micropolitan Statistical Area. Crosby is adjacent to its twin city of Ironton...
iron pits) were located in remote places without real airport facilities. In one instance, the second launch of
Georgy ProkofievGeorgy Alekseyevich Prokofiev was a Soviet Air Forces balloonist who coordinated military stratospheric balloon program in 1931–1939...
's ill-fated USSR-3, it took two hopper balloons to untie the tangled nets on top of the giant balloon: the first jumper fell off his bench but managed to hold on to the balloon's cables and survived.
The first modern hot air balloon was flown by
Ed YostPaul Edward Yost was the American inventor of the modern hot air balloon and is referred to as the "Father of the Modern Day Hot-Air Balloon." -Inventor:...
under sponsorship by the U.S.
Office of Naval ResearchThe Office of Naval Research , headquartered in Arlington, Virginia , is the office within the United States Department of the Navy that coordinates, executes, and promotes the science and technology programs of the U.S...
on October 22, 1960, in
Bruning, NebraskaBruning is a village in Thayer County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 300 at the 2000 census. During World War II the U.S. Army Air Forces operated Bruning Army Airfield nearby...
. Since Yost's balloon had a small envelope of 31,000 cubic feet (900 m3) and a chair for the pilot, not a basket, this was arguably also the first hopper balloon ever flown since the golden age of airships in 1930s.
Cloudhopper
The name Cloudhopper is often used to refer to a one-person hot air balloon where the pilot sits in a harness or small seat. There is often a
propanePropane is a three-carbon alkane, normally a gas, but compressible to a transportable liquid. It is derived from other petroleum products during oil or natural gas processing...
tank behind the pilot's back, and the burner is on a frame above the pilot's head. Often the balloon's burner, tank, and pilot's harness can swivel independently of the hot air balloon envelope, to let him turn to any direction he wants or needs while in flight and for landing.
The term "Cloudhopper" was originally coined and trademarked by British balloonist Colin Prescot. The development of the Cloudhopper was carried out by Per Lindstrand of Colt Balloons in 1979. Colt Balloons later merged with Thunder Balloons to form Thunder & Colt Balloons, which inherited the Cloudhopper name. Finally, Per Lindstrand left Thunder & Colt to form his own Lindstrand Balloons, which manufactures the present-day Cloudhopper.
Shortly after the team at Colt built and flew its first Cloudhopper, Cameron Balloons came up with its own backpack-style balloon, called the SkyHopper. Its main distinguishing feature was a twist-grip mounted on an arm rest to control the burner. On the original Colt Cloudhopper, as well as all modern-day Cloudhopper designs, the burner controls are mounted at the bottom of the burner, like on regular passenger-carrying hot air balloons.
See also
- Hot air balloon
The hot air balloon is the oldest successful human-carrying flight technology and is a subset of balloon aircraft.On November 21, 1783, in Paris, France, the first manned flight was made by Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier and François Laurent d'Arlandes in a hot air balloon created by the...
- Gas balloon
A gas balloon is any balloon that stays aloft due to being filled with a gas less dense than air or lighter than air . A gas balloon may also be called a Charlière for its inventor, the Frenchman Jacques Charles. Today, familiar gas balloons include large blimps and small rubber party balloons...
- Cluster ballooning
Cluster ballooning is an uncommon form of ballooning in which a single balloonist is attached by a harness to a cluster of relatively small helium-inflated rubber balloons....
- Experimental aircraft
In generic use, an experimental aircraft is an aircraft that has not yet been fully proven in flight. Often, this implies that new aerospace technologies are being tested on the aircraft, though the label is more broad. Experimental aircraft is also a specific term referring to an aircraft flown...
- Ultralight aircraft
External links