how do 4 forces of flight affect a Hot Air Balloon?
use thrust, weight, drag and lift
Hot Air Balloons aren’t exactly designed with thrust and drag in mind.
Obviously, the weight of the balloon acts upon it like any other aircraft, attempting to pull its mass to the ground. Lift is produced by the difference in density inside and out of the balloon. The Hot air within is less dense than the cool air outside, so it will attempt to rise. The mass of hot air produces enough upward lift to counteract gravity, and it pulls the entire balloon and basket assembly upwards.
A conventional hot air balloon does not have any means of producing thrust. Any forward movement is actually produced by, well, drag. Air moving around the craft will create pockets of high and low pressure which will pull the balloon around it. How much this affects the craft is entirely dependent on the air currents that it is flying in. In designing a balloon, if one wants it to move more, they would actually design it to induce more drag in the air flowing around it.
| | Where’s the Runway? and Other Flying Stories: Adventures of a General Aviation Airplane and Hot Air Balloon Pilot $12.32 … |
