A blimp is a simple object built to a hard specification. Here is what is actually inside the price.
The envelope
Panels of polyurethane, welded into a shape that holds pressure without a rigid frame. There is no structure inside. The helium does the work, which is why the material choice matters so much.
A well-built envelope keeps its shape when it is soft. A poor one wrinkles and looks deflated long before it actually is.
Lift and tethering
Net lift on the 13-foot blimp is about three pounds. That is enough to hold altitude and light enough that a sandbag or a solid tie-off handles it. You are not anchoring an aircraft.
Every blimp includes your choice of a 120-foot tether line or a 105-foot metallic pennant line. One or the other, not both. The pennant line adds a moving column beneath the blimp; the plain tether keeps attention on the envelope.
What it is designed to survive
- Sun — Polyurethane tolerates ultraviolet far better than PVC. This is the main ageing factor.
- Folding — Deflates, folds and stores flat in the shipping box, repeatedly, without creasing permanently.
- Daily handling — First inflation takes some reading. After that, ten minutes and one person.
- Wind up to 25 mph — Above that in the forecast, bring it in. Wind causes losses, not wear.
- Years — Customers are still flying the same balloon after fourteen years.
What it is not designed to survive
A storm you decided to ride out. We are direct about this because it is the one failure mode that is entirely avoidable.
If it wears out, send it back and we replace it. That covers wear. It does not cover a balloon lost to weather, and no manufacturer covers that. The 25 mph rule is the whole of the maintenance manual.
More at usablimps.com.