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Topcap Rigging
John Paul George and Ringo looking on...

Layout in field next to my house
That's a glider trailer in background

First Inflation
Yay!

Inflating - Bottom Shot
Rounder than I expected with load tapes on curved seams

Inflating Two
All my balloons have been named after Beatles songs

Rigging the deflation line
The first was "Here Comes The Sun" and was black, orange, yellow, and white

Inflating
The second was called "Ticket to Ride

First time standup
Should have put the harness on but forgot

Standing Up
And this one is "Daytripper". I also considered "Sputnik".

Standing Up 2
But the Beatles had no such song. I liked the idea of natural looking greens.

Standing Up 3
Contrasting neon at bottom is intended to make me more visible in SAR situation

Minor Gore Details
43 hours of sewing in this balloon.

Far Shot
Neon and mouth black have been sitting in a box for 13 years waiting for me...

Heating Up
All of the mouth fabric is 1.9 oz balloon cloth, the rest is 1.3 oz. Soarcoat.

Airborne!
I'm not all that crazy with the look of the neon yellow actually...

Airborne
After getting 4 feet off the ground, I figured I really should wear the harness!

Donning Harness
You're supposed to do this before inflation. There are quik-connect buckles

Clipped In & Ready to Fly!
Still haven't built the tank cover or "sled" sides.

Ready to Fly!!
Maybe I'll finish them before the 1st flight, maybe not.

Looking things over
My neighbor Don came over to help out, he was a big help!

Hangin' out
Harness allows standing, sitting, legs absorb impacts.

3 Ft. Airborne
Long time coming to get to this point!

3 Ft. Airborne
Swivels Nicely & Comfy!

Side View of "Sled"
On landing knees only bend so much, then harness loads straps and structure

Another Side View


Unclipped and Deflating
Disconnected harness from sled and pulling deflation line

Deflating
10' Deflation System seems effective. Can't believe it fit the first time!

Deflating Two
Was expecting problems with reseat of top but it seated very well after 1st use

Deflating Three
Can't wait to fly!!!

The Big Suck
My old '91 Jeep used to vacuum pack silicone coated balloon envelope

Existing ManifoldPort-What Luck!
All I had to do was unscrew the old fitting and screw in a valve and air hose $4

That's an 18" ruler
Regular old contractor's heavy duty trash bag

All ready to Vac
Note the self-inflating silicone balloon which fills any space you put it in!

30 Seconds Later
OK, Here we go! - The Big Suck

60 Seconds later
Most of the action happens quickly...

90 Seconds later
This idea might have come from that cheesy TV commercial

120 Seconds later
Where people are packing away comforters for the winter in vac bags.

150 Seconds later
The shape gets pretty funky when deflated

210 Seconds later
It would be good to find a way to control the shape more as its deflating

180 Seconds later
A handy backpack could be used when finished

240 Seconds later
The hefty bag leaked, hence the vice-grip on the neck

270 Seconds later
The vice grip helped some, but a truly sealed bag would do even better

300 Seconds Later
Perhaps a lightweight vinyl sealed bag that fits inside a cordura bag?

Deflated to ~1/5 initial size!
The bag would need a good seal and a vac port with check valve like kayaks use.

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