HAB Lift Calculator

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HAB Lift Calculator

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Free Install

50

app installs

Android 5.0+

minimal version

With ads

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21.11.2020

release date

Recent changes:

Completely new development platform! WARNING All settings from old versions 1.x will be lost! The app should now work as designed without crashing.

Feedback and comments are welcome!

Description:

Have you ever seen a hot air balloon? Have you ever wondered how much they can carry? If you are a hot air balloon pilot or just a passenger you can quickly estimate the capacity of the balloon. If you are a pilot and want to know if you can reach the desired altitude you can estimate the spare lift at given altitude and temperature on the fly.

The calculator is based on a simple model of a round balloon. There is different average temperature inside the balloon than outside. With that difference it is possible to calculate how much this round balloon can lift due to buoyancy. This method is not perfect and is just an estimate which gives similar results than some manufacturers.

This app has main page where you can quickly change important parameters and displays given whole mass, lift and difference between them. Settings page has default values, mass definitions and unit setter. You can change units of length (altitude), volume, mass, temperature and pressure independently. This way you can change units the way you want. You can also change mass of small and large tanks. Mass of basket, burner and envelope is summed up and displayed on the main page as suggested value. Typical mass of average human is 81 kg (179 lb) but you can also change that or just select desired decimal value on the main page. The sea level air pressure is used to calculate and estimate the air pressure at given altitude. Again this is just an estimate because the real world conditions can be different. But on average this kind of estimate works really good.

EXAMPLE
If you want to fly a 77000 cubic feet balloon to an altitude of 4500 ft above sea level where air temperature is 32 °F, the balloon can carry about 1460 pounds. If there are 3 people in the balloon with two 115 pound tanks and the balloon weighs about 441 pounds, there is about 250 pounds of spare lift. With this balloon and people you can safely go to 3500 feet.
All this calculated in metric units means that 2200 cubic meter balloon at 1000 m above sea level where the temperature is 0 °C can carry about 670 kg. Carrying 3 people and two 52 kg tanks with balloon weighing 200 kg there is about 120 kg of spare lift.

DISCLAIMER
If you are a hot air balloon pilot consult with the manufacturer's flight manual for actual lift capacity. This is just a quick and simple estimate. Here is a short list of manufacturers:
http://www.cameronballoons.co.uk/
https://schroederballon.de/en/hot-air-balloon-start/
https://ultramagic.com/
https://www.kubicekballoons.eu/
https://www.fireflyballoons.net/

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