firefly balloons
endless mountains hot air balloons, inc. is an authorized dealer for firefly balloons crafted in statesville, nc .
firefly balloons, inc. 810 salisbury rd statesville, nc 28667 (704) 878 - 9501 urltoken
since 1972, firefly balloons, also known as the balloon works, has been a leader in the manufacturing of hot air balloons and ballooning equipment of the highest quality and safety. internationally recognized by our signature triangle basket, firefly balloons is dedicated to providing our customers with custom handcrafted equipment tailored for any and every use. whether it be a sport, ride, corporate, or special shape balloon, the team at firefly is ready and excited to help your vision become a reality. to locate your neares firefly dealer visit the firefly website dealer locator urltoken watch for more news coming soon from firefly balloons
allow us to help you design and build your custom hot air balloon. get involved in the sport of hot air ballooning with firefly balloons and endless mountains hot air balloons .
head balloons, inc. po box 28 helen, ga 30545 1 - 800 - head - balloons urltoken
one of the largest manufacturers of sport and commercial hot air balloons in the world .
statesville, nc is where firefly balloons are designed and crafted. it’s a place with the earthy, friendly smells of wood shavings, leather, and wicker. everything that bears the firefly name is made there and the engineers still design products in - house to ensure they’re built to the exacting standards that have been progressively developing since 1972 .
lindstrand balloons 11440 danbar st. galena, il 61036 (815) 777 - 6006 urltoken
galaxy balloons, inc. 810 salisbury rd statesville, nc 28667 (704) 878 - 9507
the sky’s the limit ballooning, inc. is proud to be an authorized dealer for firefly balloons. we can help you buy your first new or used balloon, as well as replacement equipment. we also provide comprehensive balloon pilot training to accompany balloon sales .
firefly is the largest manufacturer of sport and commercial hot air balloons in the world. the company is dedicated to the research, development, manufacture and marketing of sophisticated state - of - the - art forms of mankind' s oldest and safest method of flight .
real people, real balloons. my favorite of all i' ve ever flown and there have been many .
firefly is the largest manufacturer of sport and commercial hot air balloons in the world. the company is dedicated to the research, development, manufacture and marketing of sophisticated state - of - the - art forms of mankind’s oldest and safest method of flight. firefly boasts features like “flexnet” envelope construction, non - conductive kevlar cables, protected fuel tank corner mountings, the powerful “mirage” burner, the long lasting fabric coating and the highest redline temperature fabric in the industry. it’s plain to see that safety and quality is the driving force behind our decision to carry only the firefly brand .
the mbc is intended to provide signature data on lightweight exoatmospheric traffic objects during space flight experiments. these deployed balloons will represent rapidly dispersing target subclusters to allow functional demonstration of tracking algorithms. the mbc concept is that five spherical balloons are compressed into a single canister consisting of a frangible glass tube and end caps. at the designated time, the glass franges and releases the packaged balloons. upon release, each balloon' s passive gas generator inflates the balloon, imparting a random dispersion velocity to all the balloons simultaneously. each balloon has its own supply of inflatant and is, therefore, independent of the other balloons. balloons were designed to meet optical and radar property requirements .
fantasy hot air balloons 3137 w. virginia ave. # 4 & 7 phoenix, arizona 85009 480 - 991 - 4260 urltoken
firefly is one of the largest manufacturers of sport and commercial hot air balloons in the world. the company is dedicated to the research, development, manufacture and marketing of sophisticated state - of - the - art forms of mankind' s oldest and safest method of flight. firefly is located in the beautiful brushy mountains of western north carolina, which is deeply steeped in the time honored traditions of textile and furniture craftsmanship. since two of the most important components of modern hot air balloons are the hand inlaid and sewn envelopes and the carefully crafted wicker and rattan carriage, the craftsman is the heart of the... (more )
firefly is one of the largest manufacturers of sport and commercial hot air balloons in the world. the company is dedicated to the research, development, manufacture and marketing of sophisticated state - of - the - art forms of mankind' s oldest and safest method of flight. firefly is located in the beautiful brushy mountains of western north carolina, which is deeply steeped in the time honored traditions of textile and furniture craftsmanship. since two of the most important components of modern hot air balloons are the hand inlaid and sewn envelopes and the carefully crafted wicker and rattan carriage, the craftsman is the heart of the finished product. piedmont north carolina is uniquely qualified to spawn a wealth of highly skilled and dedicated craftsmen .
the firefly is the most heavily instrumented inflatable target l' garde has designed, tested and flown. it was built for lincoln laboratory' s firefly experiment. this was designed to test the ability of a 100 joule lwir laser beam for discriminating a decoy from a re - entry vehicle on the basis of decoy dynamics. the target was designed and built with different optical properties in the packaged and deployed states to aid in target acquisition and experiment, respectively. target design and construction also accommodated observations in the l and x radar bands. the target had to eject with minimal tip - off, spin up to 3 hz in the packaged state resulting in a 1 hz spin rate in the deployed state through deliberate mass properties design. it went through a series of coning excursions, opening its precession angle from about 5 degrees to 20 degrees, then 40 and finally back to about 0, while conserving its initial angular momentum vector. the firefly was instrumented to detect and change its state of motion through an on - board microprocessor and a l' garde - developed light - weight coning control system; detect its absolute direction in space through a tri - axial magnetometer and a high - resolution sun sensor combination; keep track of all its status and housekeeping functions; and finally, process and telemeter 32 channels of data to both the bus following behind it and to the launch range below .
... as a designer, i was impressed with what tracy barnes was doing with his triangular baskets and diagonal cut envelopes (i finished 2nd in the' 71 nationals, which qualified me for the 7 - up invitational in columbus, ohio on september 1 and 2, 1972; and tucker comstock had pics of tracy' s balloons). when i finished training al desmond of aurora. illinois, i suggested we go see what tracy had to offer. we flew down to statesville, where tracy was still operating out of the chicken coops, and i sold al the first barnes that tracy built for someone other than himself. al named the balloon
the ieo configuration for the rvto - 3a consisted of an inflatable bladder replicating the mk 12 external shape, a carbon fabric outer skin for optical and radar matching, an integrated water blanket between the inflatable and the outer skin for surface temperature control, a triaxial magnetometer for determining attitude and dynamics, and a nose positioned s - band telemetry system to transmit ieo temperature, pressure, acceleration and telemetry housekeeping data. a unique ejection deployment mechanism (edm) was used to store the packaged ieo and then inflate, spin and eject it. the design of the ieo and the edm were unique because it allowed a debris - free ejection of a complex target. the ieo was flown on an atlas f booster. the payloads, in addition to the ieo, were a mk - 12 reentry vehicle and calibration balloons .
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tracy barnes' design was so far ahead of its time, early versions look like anachronisms among their contemporaries .
between the zig - zag envelope and the triangluar basket, it doesn' t take a highly trained eye to spot a barnes .
images click on any of the images below to open a new window with a much larger version. some files are over 300kb, so downloads may take a while .
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symbol indicates photo scanned with permission from ballooning magazine and the bfa .
tracy barnes took first place at the inaugural st. paul winter carnival race (essentially the first american competition of the modern hot - air era), beating such lighter - than - air heavyweights as ed yost and don piccard .
barnes lost little time moving beyond the standard zig - zag pattern - this patchwork effect showed off the envelope' s design flexibility as early as 1972 .
made up this ad in 1972, shortly after completing his first commercial ballooning contract .
i figured if i sold one ,
he says today ,
i' d be a dealer .
the well - known barnes triangular basket (and, of course, triangular burner), this one from 1978 .
mid -' 70s barnes instruments, neatly integrated into the opulent basket (sloppily colorized by the author). with bigger baskets came bigger control panels, complete with appointments like remote blast valves (from a barnes sales brochure, circa 1978, contributed by tom oerman) .
tracy barnes built this solar balloon, which first flew on may 16, 1973 (later flown, wisely, with a backup burner). apologies for indicating the wrong date above (by two years), an error left uncorrected for far too long .
. barnes' entry was the dragonfly - spartan by barnes standards, but still a class leader in its appointments .
this barnes flew at the 1973 worlds, as did this one (with the competition' s only female pilot), and this one, mentioned in tom oerman' s recollections below. the photo above is also, incidentally, the only shot i' ve seen of homebuilt
hail atlantis
( not a barnes, just a favorite) actually in the air (lower left) .
the company has kept some prototype burners around at the statesville, n. c. headquarters .
barnes introduced the low - cost
stormer
( get it ?) in' 80, identifiable, in part, by the short, square skirt and the steep angles of its zig - zag pattern (that' s tracy himself conversing with the basket' s occupant) .
from the early 1970s, barnes advertised consistently in ballooning magazine, owning the back cover for a decade, and often running multi - page fold - out ads inside. early ads were similar to other manufacturers' - pictures of product, often festooned with attractive models - but it wasn' t long before the ads took on a unique character. featuring crisp technical drawings and a clean graphic style, the enduring campaign' s instantly identifiable look is as up - to - date today as it was in the beginning. with the assistance of jon radowski, teyosb presents a sampling of barnes' remarkable print ad campaign .
use the scroll bar under the thumbnails to navigate, clicking on thumbnails to display photos below. for a full - screen version of this gallery, click here. to download photos, click the
download
button under the main image, or right - click the main image and select
download image
( popups must be enabled! )
after his wife and it was a beautiful balloon. the design was chosen from about thirty colored pattern sheets on the floor of the balloon works when al, his partner and i went to statesville. i said :
al, look at this one. it' s the most beautiful !
and he agreed. al really was a test pilot for tracy; there were so many little things wrong with the balloon! basically, it was a well thought out design, which is why i wanted to represent the company .
i' m deeply indebted to tom oerman for the contribution of a great many pieces of ballooning memorabilia, from which i' ve taken several images on the site (including five of the images on this page). very special thanks to mike emich, for the use of his amazing collection of photos and brochures from throughout the' 70s, to jon radowski for several ads from ballooning (barnes and otherwise), lance terry, for the loan of his' 78 -' 81 ballooning magazines, and to glen moyer, for the generous permission to reproduce images from ballooning. thanks, also, to tracy barnes' younger sister lynn, for information and encouragement, and a link to this page on the website of mr. barnes' current venture, the blimp works .
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great job on my galaxy 77 new build. keith, monica, jimmie and michael were so easy to work with and treated us like family. the balloon is everything
the migration is starting in february? thanks karl stefan jr. for the opportunity to remake this classic balloon works gem .
the balloon pilot conducted multiple sport parachute flights throughout the day without obtaining a weather briefing. a sigmet for severe thunderstorms, hail, and cloud tops to 45, 000 feet was in effect for the area surrounding the takeoff and accident sites. shortly after the balloon lifted off on the accident flight, the ground crew was advised of a severe storm warning for the area and observed the storm on radar via their cellular telephones .
urltoken is a resource to help new and old jump pilots learn to fly skydivers safely. learn more ...
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urltoken
countermeasures are designed to increase the probability that the reentry vehicle from a threat missile reaches its intended target. bmds testing would include the use of robust countermeasures designed to mimic those that could be used on potential threat missiles. by testing the capabilities of u. s. interceptors against realistic targets including countermeasures the ability of the u. s. to respond to an enemy missile attack would be greatly enhanced .
there are two primary types of countermeasures, penetration aids or penaids and inherent countermeasures. penaids are items that are added to the missile to increase the chance of the missile reaching its intended target. penaids could be housed in the target reentry vehicle separation module. one penaid technique is for an offensive missile to carry, in addition to the actual target reentry vehicle, several decoy target reentry vehicles. these decoys when released, appear to be actual warheads. inherent countermeasures are elements of normal operations of missiles that make it harder for interceptors to identify and destroy the target missile. this would include the separation of the reentry vehicle from the booster, which decreases the size of the portion of the missile to be tracked and destroyed by the interceptor .
there are various basic categories of countermeasures that could be used in characterization and in testing the bmds. these include simulation, anti - simulation, traffic maskers / obscurants, aim point denial, and maneuver. each uses different methods to add potential threat characteristics to targets used in the measurements program or in other testing .
simulation countermeasures deploy various materials to confuse sensors and prevent them from correctly identifying the reentry vehicle. these countermeasures would primarily be fabricated from graphite, stainless steel, and tungsten. anti - simulation countermeasures attempt to disguise the reentry vehicle by making the reentry vehicle look to the sensors like something other than a reentry vehicle. traffic countermeasures deploy many items at once; this could include using multiple reentry vehicles or multiple countermeasures to confuse sensors. maskers or obscurants are materials or objects that move in flight along with the reentry vehicle to confuse the sensors and prevent them from correctly identifying the reentry vehicle. aim point denial is the ability to confuse the sensors from identifying the point on the reentry vehicle that should be hit to prevent the reentry vehicle from reaching its intended target. maneuver countermeasures include the ability of reentry vehicles to change trajectory as they enter the atmosphere thus preventing the interceptor from predicting the path of the reentry vehicle. other countermeasures are designed to increase the probability that the reentry vehicle reaches its intended target .
development of countermeasures would involve detailed planning for test events, and identifying test objectives, appropriate countermeasures and counter - countermeasures, and acquiring any necessary materials .
two types of defensive measures would be used to oppose countermeasures. the first would be improving sensor technology to more completely discriminate between the reentry vehicle and any deployed countermeasures. during the development of flight tests involving countermeasures, appropriate sensors would be selected and scheduled to participate in the test event. the second defensive measure would be improving interceptor technology to increase the chance that the interceptor can correctly identify and destroy the reentry vehicle. development activities would include modeling and simulation as well as ground testing to characterize physical properties of countermeasures and predict behavior during flight tests .
by 2001 bmdo sponsored a red team approach to the possible development of countermeasures. operated at very modest funding levels, countermeasures hands - on program (chop) developed and demonstrated row countermeasures that could be challenging for u. s. missile defense systems. by charter, chop did not try to develop'' sophisticated'' countermeasures. however, the unsophisticated, row countermeasures they do develop are realistic and challenging and should be included as an integral part of the nmd flight testing and ground test hwil simulation programs .
the chop program needed to be supported for aggressively examining the potential of states of concern to develop more sophisticated countermeasures. the defense intelligence agency (dia) needed to begin tracking chop experiments. they could then investigate and bound the ability of states of concern to develop and apply the technologies that the chop teams use in their experiments to counter an nmd system. this information could then be fed back to chop management for planning and executing chop developments .
the 2. 2 meter balloon deployment was demonstrated in the zero - g facility at nasa glenn research center. the packaging scheme was that used on the ieo. the ejector and launch tube were the same as for the lrep. as with most of our inflatable targets, the optical properties can be adjusted using special coatings. the unit is debris free. the diameter, spin rate, and the coning angle can also be adjusted as well as the radar cross section .
six inflatable lreps were flown on talos - sergeant - hydac rockets. the missions were called have jeep 7a, 7b, and 7c. the rocket failed on hj 7b. four lreps were ejected on the remaining flights .
the technology for the inflatable exoatmospheric object (ieo) was an extension of a trade study and preliminary design performed on the exoatmospheric decoy program. mlt / lincoln laboratory contracted for the development of a balloon decoy which would be a credible exoatmospheric optical - radar replica of a mark - 12 reentry vehicle. the ieo mark 2 version was developed for the rvto - 3a program with the objective of obtaining optical and radar signatures of the ieo during midcourse and early reentry, determining if the ieo and mark 12 surface temperatures match to within 10k, determining the reentry altitudes that the optical signatures, radar signatures, and ballistic coefficients of the ieo and the mk - 12 clearly diverge, and determining the physical survival altitude of the ieo .
two successful flights above the terminator were conducted using terrier - malemute rockets, resulting in excellent data and the proof of principle for the firepond laser radar as a useful discriminator .
the mbc includes an ejector that imparts a specified velocity to the canister and begins a timer to initiate its opening. the firing signal is provided by the bus .
the overall system is designed to have no radar observable debris and only minimal optically observable debris .
the mbc design is based on two other l' garde systems - cso and srmp - both of which have flown successfully .
the frangible glass tube was used in the closely spaced objects (csos) of the red tigress ii program. this tube shatters into thousands of very small pieces, releasing its contents. the inflation technique adapts the cso' s use of an inflatant that sublimates to generate a gas to inflate the balloon. four csos flew on two red tigress ii sounding rocket missions: two on red tigress iia and two on red tigress iib .
the ejector closely models the lrep ejector. the lrep flew successfully on talos - sergeant - hydac rockets, ejecting four lreps on two separate missions .
the diameter, shape, number, and optical properties of the inflatables can be easily tailored for different missions .
discover a new state college and happy valley from the air in our beautiful hot air balloon. drift through the skies, float over meadows, and brush treetops on a memorable flight in our balloon .
hot air ballooning is one of the safest forms of flight known to man. our balloon is of the highest quality and is inspected regularly by an faa - approved facility to ensure it remains in excellent condition. our pilot is certified by the federal aviation administration and holds a commercial pilot’s license .
gift certificates are available now for any special occasion. perfect gifts for holidays, graduations, birthdays, weddings, and anniversaries .
local photographer heidi lewis produced this slideshow using photos she took during her flight. note: this is a large file and some viewers may be unable to download the show .
copyright © 2006 the sky' s the limit ballooning, inc. all rights reserved. site by: groovy web design
order your tickets now and save time in the line! click here for online ticket sales .
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avian balloon corporation building 101 spokane industrial park 3808 n. sullivan rd spokane, wa 99216 - 1607 (509) 926 - 6847 urltoken
national ballooning, ltd. 2004 west euclid ave. indianola, ia 50125 (515) 961 - 6113 urltoken
ultramagic aerodrom gral vives apt. 171 - 08700 igualada barcelona, spain 34 93 804 2202 34 93 803 5604 fax urltoken
firefly balloons is an american hot air balloon manufacturer that started as the balloon works ( tbw ) in 1972 in statesville , nc . the company is one of the oldest hot air balloon manufacturers in the united states , behind raven industries ( founded by ed yost ) , semco and piccard balloons . the origins of the company 's designs can be traced to the work of tracy barnes in the late 1960s . 
firefly balloons is an american hot air balloon manufacturer that started as the balloon works (tbw) in 1972 in statesville, nc. the company is one of the oldest hot air balloon manufacturers in the united states, behind raven industries (founded by ed yost), semco and piccard balloons. the origins of the company's designs can be traced to the work of tracy barnes in the late 1960s.
firefly balloons is an american hot air balloon manufacturer that started as the balloon works (tbw) in 1972 in statesville, nc. the company is one of the oldest hot air balloon manufacturers in the united states, behind raven industries (founded by ed yost), semco and piccard balloons. the origins of the company's designs can be traced to the work of tracy barnes in the late 1960s.