Daily gadget

The Darth Vader Balloon Has Risen

Fully operational Darth Vader balloon

By Robert Ursache, Gadgets Editor

25th of April 2007, 19:16 GMT

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If you've ever been afraid of going up in a hot air balloon, maybe this balloon is not a good choice if you really want to start flying. This is indubitably the scariest and also the coolest balloon ever. I know, the headlines probably explains the story, but let me tell you how it all started. Bare with me for a

sec.

Hot air balloon specialist Benoit Lambert, a member of the Belgian 510th Legion Garrison, first talked about it as a joke and a fantasy, but FanWars's member Nicolas took it seriously and found that it could someday turn in a Star Wars "Mecha item". So, he decided to give it a try. Right. As soon as he got Lucasfilm's approval, he sent a Darth Vader replica and a 3D vector file to Cameron, the largest manufacturer of hot-air balloons in the UK. And they did it! In 8 weeks. The first flight open to public is programmed to take place on 7-8th July in Zwijndrech, Belgium.

Here's some technical data about the Baloon:

-26 meters (86 feet) high, basket included
-21 meters (69 feet) wide
-24-meters (78 feet) depth
-estimated hot air volume: 3.000 cubic meters (106, 000 cubic feet)
-estimated weight 290 kilos (640 lb)

All we need now is the Star Wars intro text floating next to Vader's head. And of course, it would be nice to mount huge speakers on each side of the balloon in order to play the Imperial March as it flies. imagine smoking some pot, tripping out and seeing this huge freak. A mechanical breathing Darth Vader balloon would be nice though. I wonder if Yoda will ever get to take a ride in this.

We are just a few, but there are many of you, Softpedia users, out there. That's why we thought it would be a good idea to create an email address for you to help us a little in finding gadgets we missed. Interesting links are bound to be posted with recognition going mainly to those who submit. The address is

TAGS:

Hot air balloon | Darth Vader | Star Wars | Cameron | Balloon

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