[Balloon-makers] Racer Shape

[Donnelly, Shanon]

Don & Dave,

The first time I saw one of this generation of racers a few years ago 
(I forget which one--Ultra Magic or Kavanagh or something) it 
definitely reminded me of some of those pictures.  I actually thought 
it was kind of a throw back design.  Amazing how popular they have 
become in the last couple of years.  Its all cyclical, I guess.

best,
Shanon

Quoting Don Piccard <donpiccard at usfamily.net>:

> Hi Shanon,
>
> The Semco balloons in the National Geographic article on the Nationals at
> Reno by Bill Berry sure look like "Racers" to me.
>
> The story that I heard was that Mark Semmich had used all his in-stock
> fabric to cut the gores for three or four balloons when an order came in for
> another one that had to be ready for Reno.    So, as I was told, he took a
> few gores from each balloon to make the extra balloon with the resulting
> shape.  (The balloon with the pointy top was made by Lloyd Muma to his own
> design.  He claimed it was flat on top because that was the view he had from
> the seat!)
>
> Don Piccard
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: balloon-makers-bounces at taleos.com
> [mailto:balloon-makers-bounces at taleos.com] On Behalf Of Donnelly, Shanon
> Sent: Thursday, August 09, 2007 2:02 PM
> To: Dave Steven
> Cc: balloon-makers at taleos.com
> Subject: Re: [Balloon-makers] Racer Shape
>
> Dave,
>
> Just the kind of experience I was hoping to hear about.  I would
> certainly agree that there are some questions about safety and going
> too far.  People seem to be getting close to the limits with this
> generation of racers and rates of climb and decent in the 2000 fpm ball
> park.  Any balloon can be pushed too far and it is our job to not do
> that.  I would love to hear Phil's talk on the history of racers.
>
> I guess my general answer is that I hope to minimize the unkowns by
> following in the footsteps of tested products.  Even if I don't
> reproduce them exactly.  Part of the fun of homebuilding, to me, is the
> freedom to screw up and the responsibility to not screw up too badly.
> But in no way am I advocating people to build one thing or another.
>
> Given the choice, I bet most folks would choose a racer over a Semco
> and lots of folks survived those :)
>
> Thanks and good to see some action on the list,
>
> Shanon
>
> Kent, OH
>
>
>
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