Instron Tester

Fabric testing is paramount when making passenger carrying gas balloons. The heart of every textile testing room is the Instron tensile tester. The most common tensile test is the 2 inch strip test followed by the double tongue tear. This Instron machine has a software package allowing a fabric sample to be tested continuously as if it was in flight for weeks on end if required. Our Instron tester has an environmental chamber running from -60oC to +300oC.

Spectophotometer

This instrument, manufactured by Minolta, is primarily used for measuring colour. It will detect the light reflected from a surface. This is very useful in detecting UV induced material deterioration as it pin points at what frequency the losses have occurred.
Other uses include measuring the reflectivity of a surface in the visible wavelength, particularly important for gas balloons where the degree of superheat due to any absorbed radiation effects the performance dramatically.

Weatherometer

By using accelerated weathering equipment it is possible to generate reliable data for the weathering of materials. The QUV panel instrument simulates the effect of sunlight and moisture. One years exposure to sunlight outside in the UK is roughly equivalent to 5.4 days exposure to UVB-313 at 50oC in this instrument.
The next valve test is low temperature and this chamber can go down to -67ºC and a few bright ideas have failed at this stage. This test has now been superseded by our recently commissioned altitude test chamber which can combine pressure with temperature.

Hyperbaric Test Chamber

It is fairly straight forward to source testing on temperature and pressure individually but much more difficult when you want to combine the two. Consequently we built our own chamber which is capable of reproducing an equivalent altitude of 170,000 ft and down to -90ºC. There are several features here not normally found in similar chambers. The centre section is built from composite materials that are electrically transparent and the chamber can thus be used for testing electronic equipment and particularly antennas. The whole chamber and the cryogenic vessel are on wheels and can therefore be wheeled outside for antenna testing and in extreme cases the whole chamber can be moved easily to a different location. The chamber is 1.5m long and 1m inside diameter and can also be used for fabric testing.

	Precision Scales
Consistent fabric coating is achieved a precision scale coupled with a circular cutter to measure a 100.00mm sample weight to within a thousandth of a gram.

Eddy Current Tester
	NDT Thickness Testing - for checking fabric thickness in production which is particularly important for solution coated materials, which are normally used in man carrying gas balloons. This is an eddy current tester which gives an instant reading.

Elmendorf Tear Tester

An Industry standard tester for a knife initiated tear propagation test.

Helium Sniffer

This machine was custom built for the Global project to check helium permeability in the welded seams. It will measure one metre of seam at a time and each hit takes about 30 seconds. The helium sniffer as its’ sensor uses a mass spectrometer. While being an expensive solution it affords an almost instant answer with extremely high repeatability and with an accuracy a magnitude higher than required for balloon work. The central control panel will present the operator with a simple Go/No Go indication while the hand held meter will give an exact permeability value. In order not to waste helium the machine will first carry out a gross leak test using air and if the material passes that test it will then flood the chamber underneath the sample with helium at a precise pressure. Whatever helium quantity that permeates through the sample will then be picked up by the mass spectrometer.

Emissometer
	The emissometer measures the emissivity of a surface. It is primarily used to check the condition of aluminised balloon materials. These materials have a very high reflectivity when new but tend to deteriorate when handled during manufacture. Lacquering the aluminised surface will normally halt the deterioration but the lacquer itself will cause losses i.e. reduce reflectivity.

Lindstrand Balloons Ltd - hot air balloons, gas balloons

Lindstrand Balloons Ltd. are manufacturers of hot air, gas balloons, airships, tethered aerostats and aeronautical fabric engineering products. Special products include inflatable buildings. Leaders in technology of all lighter-than-air products.

lindstrand balloons limited, hot air balloons, gas balloons, airships and blimps, lighter than air technology, inflateable buildings, special projects, aerostats and hiflyers

Hot Air Balloons Lindstrand Balloons has been supplying high quality hot air balloons since December 1991 and is proud of its reputation as a leader at the cutting edge of balloon technology. HiFlyer Presenting the ‘Lindstrand HiFlyer’ – an exciting and innovative business or hot air balloons theme park adventure. Located at key tourist sites, these passenger-carrying tethered balloons make money, BIG money. First seen in the skies over a hundred years ago,

hot air balloons gas balloons

this exciting 19th century gas balloons inspiration is brought right up to date with Lindstrands' aerospace technology Airships The Lindstrand HS110 is a new development in hot air Airships airships and blimps technology. It is built by the team that first pioneered pressurised airships in 1991 and continued to produce over 100 airships flying worldwide. Hot air Airships are designed primarily for the commercial operator. They are probably the safest aircraft available. lighter than air technology In the unlikely event of engine failure, the airship reverts to a hot air balloon and is flown and landed in the same way. Shapes Lindstrand Balloons are inflateable buildings renowned throughout the world for their design of complex special shaped envelopes.

airships and blimps special projects

All hot air balloons will attract attention - but shaped special projects balloons stand majestic, commanding aerial attention by observers on the ground. Special shapes make a dramatic appearance and are long remembered and photographed wherever they fly. Our design team will help turn your ideas into reality with a colourful visual of your aerostats and hiflyers proposed idea. Once approved, and with the use of our computer aided technology, we turn the visual into a full working drawing from which we start our manufacture of your very special shape.