NYCBalloon.com
WARNING: If you are easily offended by abnormal hot air balloons or the controversial topic of the World Trade Center terrorist attacks, you may not want to browse this site.
This website was built to show off a hot air balloon concept which I brainstormed and eventually shelved before even attempting to take the concept through the public opinion stage (information gathering). My reason for discontinuing development was that this balloon would never have gained complete acceptance in the public's eye.
The primary purpose of most special shape hot air balloons are to bring wonder to the children of the world, both young and old. There have been a handful of shapes built that have been somewhat controversial, most notably the Condom balloon and "Golly," the now-defunct mascot for Robertson's Jam in the UK. After deliberating at length within myself, I decided it would be in poor taste to build a balloon such as the one featured below.
Too many survivors, family members, and loved ones still have deeply rooted emotional ties to the image of the once-magnificent towers of the World Trade Center, and it would be a disservice to them to portray the buildings in such a whimsical fashion as in the form of a hot air balloon. No matter how respectful the motive for building such a balloon may be, the concept itself might still come under extreme criticism from some public group. It would be impossible to have the entire public body accept this balloon and embrace the concept fully.
It's worth noting that my personal belief is that the two towers should be rebuilt and improved on their original form.
With that out of the way, here's what I had planned to build:
Dimensions |
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| Length: | 120 ft. |
| Width: | 90 ft. |
| Height: | 240 ft. Overall |
| Towers: | 130 x 20 x 20 ft. (each) 35 ft. Antenna on Tower 1 |
| Volume: | 440,000 cu. ft. |
| Weight: | Approx. 1400 lbs. |
This balloon would have been the largest, tallest, and heaviest special shape hot air balloon ever constructed. I'm actually somewhat glad I talked myself out of the idea - both building the balloon, as well as flying it! |
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