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The HiFlyer

Gas Balloons

Lindstrand Technologies manufactures two main types of gas balloons: the pure gas balloon (AA) and the Rozière balloon (AM).

The typical pure gas balloon is the 1000 m³ Gordon Bennet, which is built to use either helium gas or hydrogen. As the lifting gas will assume the temperature of the surrounding atmosphere, the balloon must carry ballast to compensate for the cooling of the lifting gas when the sun goes down. This normally limits flight endurance to 3 days.

The Rozière balloon was first used in 1785, when Jean-Francois Pilatre de Rozière applied heat to a gas cell and thus was able to accurately control buoyancy. The Rozière balloon is normally a sphere of helium gas with a hot-air cone fitted underneath. Typically, the Rozière will fly with little or no heating during the day, but when the sun goes down a propane burner (located at the throat of the cone) is used to keep the helium at a constant temperature, and thus ensure a level flight. Only a small amount of propane is needed, which enables this type of balloon to fly for lengthy periods of time. The longest flight ever made in a Rozière type balloon lasted for 20 days.

In 1998, Lindstrand Technologies Ltd designed and built the world's largest Rozière balloon (with a volume of 36,000m³), which was flown by Per Lindstrand, Richard Branson and Steve Fossett in an attempt to circumnavigate the globe in a balloon. In December 1998 it flew from Morocco, but was forced by bad weather to land near Hawaii on Christmas Day.