Tethered helium balloon
Encyclopedia
A tethered helium balloon is a helium
Helium
Helium is the chemical element with atomic number 2 and an atomic weight of 4.002602, which 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...

-filled gas balloon
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...

 which is tethered to the ground, or to a road vehicle, by a steel rope and raised and lowered by a winch.

Tethered or Static Helium Balloon

Tethered passenger balloons were very popular in France in the 19th century.. (Possibly, if so, the lifting gas must have been hot air or hydrogen, but can not at all have been helium, having been detected by spectra on earth not earlier than 1895. Found not earlier than 1903 in natural gas, the first 4000 m3 He have been produced in the USA by 1918. The British started an experimental He producing plant in Canada.)

The first tethered balloon in modern times was made in France at Chantilly Castle in 1994 by Aerophile SA
Aerophile SA
Aerophile SA is a French company specializing in tethered helium balloons, which offer a safe aerial experience from a fixed location.- History :...

. The most famous are in Paris ( since 1999), Berlin (since 2000), Angkor Vat temple in Cambodia (since 2002), Istanbul (since 2003), Disneyland Resort in Paris (since 2005), The Wild Animal Park of San Diego Zoo (since 2005), Ocean Park in Hong Kong (since 2007), Great Park of Orange County in Irvine (California) (since 2007), Oct East in Shenzen (China) (since 2008), Conner Prairie in Indiana (since 2009) and Downtown Disney in Orlando (since 2009). AEROPHILE SA has installed more than 50 tethered balloons in 25 countries. Several million people have flown in them. AEROPHILE SA directly operates four of them in the United States and in France and is the largest lighter than air carrier ever with 300 000 passengers flown every year.

A helium balloon is tethered at Montecasino
Montecasino
Montecasino is a leisure and casino complex located at No.1 Montecasino Boulevard in Fourways, Sandton, Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa. Montecasino is built on 26 hectares of land . It was designed and built by South African architect company, Bentel Associates International, at a cost of R1.6...

 in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

 next to the Bird Gardens. The ride takes passengers up to approximately 120m above Fourways.

Lindstrand Technologies
Lindstrand Technologies
Lindstrand Technologies was founded by record-breaking balloonist, Per Lindstrand . The factory has been based on the same site in England for nearly 30 years producing lighter-than-air vehicles and inflatable structures....

 has installed 30 tethered balloons in 18 countries. Lindstrand Technologies is headed by Per Lindstrand
Per Lindstrand
Per Lindstrand is a Swedish aeronautical engineer, pilot, adventurer and entrepreneur. He is particularly known for his series of record-breaking trans-oceanic hot air balloon flights and, later, attempts to be the first to fly a Rozière balloon around the Earth - all with British entrepreneur,...

 who, with Sir Richard Branson, was the first person to cross the Pacific Ocean by balloon.

The latest entry in the world of tethered helium balloons has been of "Ahmedabad Eye"[2010], which has been installed as a new feature at the Kankaria Lakefront
Kankaria
Kankaria is the biggest lake in Ahmedabad . Many kings, or badshah, used to bathe in this lake. With an approximate circumference of 1.4 miles , it represents the regale history of Ahmedabad...

 situated at Ahmedabad
Ahmedabad
Ahmedabad also known as Karnavati is the largest city in Gujarat, India. It is the former capital of Gujarat and is also the judicial capital of Gujarat as the Gujarat High Court has its seat in Ahmedabad...

, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

 the site visited by millions of people after its transformation into amusement park.

AeroBalloon, Inc. incorporates technologies used in modern yacht design to build the AB-20 balloon gondola which carries over 1000 passengers per day at Chicago's Navy Pier
Navy Pier
Navy Pier is a long pier on the Chicago shoreline of Lake Michigan. It is located in the Streeterville neighborhood of the Near North Side community area. The pier was built in 1916 at a cost of $4.5 million, equivalent to $ today. It was a part of the Plan of Chicago developed by architect and...

. The modern composite gondola is lighter than traditional steel gondolas and requires less helium to lift its total payload. AeroBalloon is led by Douglas Hase, record holding lighter than air
Lighter than air
Lighter than air refers to gases that are buoyant in air because they have densities lower than that of air .Some of these gases are used as lifting gases in lighter-than-air aircraft, which include free balloons, moored balloons, and airships, to make the whole craft, on average, lighter than air...

 and ultralight aviation
Ultralight aviation
The term "ultralight aviation" refers to light-weight, 1- or 2-person airplanes., also called microlight aircraft in the UK, India and New Zealand...

 pilot. AeroBallons have flown at stadiums and parks including New York City's Central Park
Central Park
Central Park is a public park in the center of Manhattan in New York City, United States. The park initially opened in 1857, on of city-owned land. In 1858, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux won a design competition to improve and expand the park with a plan they entitled the Greensward Plan...

, Boston Common
Boston Common
Boston Common is a central public park in Boston, Massachusetts. It is sometimes erroneously referred to as the "Boston Commons". Dating from 1634, it is the oldest city park in the United States. The Boston Common consists of of land bounded by Tremont Street, Park Street, Beacon Street,...

, and Discovery Green
Discovery Green
Discovery Green is a public park in Downtown Houston, Texas, United States. Opened in 2008, Discovery Green is located on Avenida de las Americas across from the George R. Brown Convention Center and the Hilton Americas Hotel, adjacent to Toyota Center...

in Houston.

The World's Largest Tethered Helium Balloon is located at Conner Prairie in Indiana.

External links

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