The Basket
The basket carries the passengers, pilot and propane gas cylinders.
Baskets come in a variety of different shapes and sizes, some smaller
for the more intimate flights for 2-3 people, right through to the larger
sizes (20+).
Most baskets these days are woven from Kooboo and Palambang cane as
these materials are extremely sturdy, flexible and relatively lightweight.
The basket must be extremely strong as it is constantly on the move,
being shifted from place to place and also when the balloon actually
lands there is a large amount of force exerted on it as it hits the
floor and comes to a halt.
TYPES OF BASKET
There are 2 main types of basket, Open and T-partition.Open is obviously
an open space where the passengers, pilot and fuel are all housed in
the basket in just 1 compartment and T-partition is where the basket
is split into sections so the passengers can be separated from the pilot
and canisters. The T-partitions main advantages over the open are that
it is fact a stronger structure due to the extra struts and also that
the balloon remains more balanced overall as weight can be spread evenly
over each compartment.
Here are some examples of different basket types below:
A single Open basket
A single T-partitioned basket
There are also double T-partitioned baskets used
for large commercial flights where 15-20 people are taken up at once.
A double T-partitioned basket
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