|
Post by Linx Exotic on Mar 11, 2008 16:07:03 GMT -5
Linx had discovered that air contracted when cooled and expanded when heated early on in designing pneumatic weaponry. However, he had only seen it as a hindrance to his work and a general annoyance when trying to store pressurized air-powered ammunition. Now he was working it to his advantage. A small steel oil lamp, when lit, would fill a hollow structure of canvas with hot air, and make it so light it could fly. Or so he hoped.
The hollow structure of canvas had a skeleton of copper wire and three wire arms attaching it to the lamp. Nearly perfectly spherical in shape, there was an aperture at the base to allow heat from the lamp to enter it, and prevent it from burning. Linx had the balloon on a long string tether so he could keep it from flying off if it actually worked, and having just lit the flame, all he needed to do now was wait.
There were probably better places to do it in than just outside the village gates, but he didn't want to get any unwanted attention unless it actually worked... In which case everyone would see a red ball floating in the air above the brush.
|
|
|
Post by Cressida & Cerdic Lindinshield on Mar 11, 2008 16:29:02 GMT -5
Cressida had been going outside of the fort to rest a little in the fresh outdoors, when she had seen the intense view of what seemed to look like a balloon. Walking up to it, she noticed a person standing close by.
|
|
|
Post by Linx Exotic on Mar 11, 2008 16:30:43 GMT -5
Linx glanced over at the squirrel leaving the fort walls. "Cressida, right?... Yeah. You're free to watch this if you like." It was just a matter of time before the air heated enough inside the balloon to lift it...
|
|
|
Post by Cressida & Cerdic Lindinshield on Mar 11, 2008 16:32:39 GMT -5
"Oh, well thanks....I guess." Cressida said. I wonder what he's up to now..... Cressida thought to herself with a grin spreading across her face as she watched the 'balloon-like' figure.
|
|
|
Post by Linx Exotic on Mar 11, 2008 16:35:32 GMT -5
"OK, this should be going up soon... I made a little balloon here, out of canvas, and it... It has a flame underneath, this should be pretty cool." Linx watched as the balloon began to slowly pick up off the ground, steadily... And lift. It was slowly moving up off the earth. "Whoa, look! The balloon!" It works.
|
|
|
Post by Cressida & Cerdic Lindinshield on Mar 11, 2008 16:36:58 GMT -5
"Wow!" Cressida said with excitement on her face. "I've never seen anything like it!" She said with a smile.
|
|
|
Post by Linx Exotic on Mar 11, 2008 16:39:00 GMT -5
"It's a new invention, so... Yeah." Linx watched as it slowly rose more and more, accelerating almost imperceptibly, until the tether was drawn taut and the mouse was left holding the balloon directly above his head. "I wanted to do a small model first... Before the real one gets constructed. I needed to make sure that it works."
|
|
|
Post by Cressida & Cerdic Lindinshield on Mar 11, 2008 16:40:42 GMT -5
"Oh, well it looks like it works pretty good. You need some help with holding it?" Cressida asked, with a look of surprise remaining on her face from before.
|
|
|
Post by Linx Exotic on Mar 11, 2008 16:44:03 GMT -5
"No, not really... I think it can only get so hot, before heat begins escaping back out the aperture." Linx tugged down a bit to bring the balloon a bit closer to him. It was still well over 20 feet above his head. "In any case... I guess this means I can start work on the big one now."
|
|
|
Post by Cressida & Cerdic Lindinshield on Mar 11, 2008 16:45:42 GMT -5
"Yeah. You are really good at inventing things, the best I've ever met." Cressida said with a smile.
|
|
|
Post by Linx Exotic on Mar 11, 2008 16:52:18 GMT -5
"Thanks..." Linx reeled the balloon back down to within arm's reach, then turned the knob which controlled the wick length all the way to the left. His new invention eventually started to fall back to the ground. "Just wait until I do the main one, yeah... Big enough to hold a beast, I mean. Won't it be fun?" And a gargantuan military asset...
|
|
|
Post by Cressida & Cerdic Lindinshield on Mar 11, 2008 16:54:21 GMT -5
"Yeah, and think of what kinds of things we could use it for once it's more advanced! We could travel with groups of beasts, without having to worry about face-to-face battles!" Cressida said with excitement in her voice.
|
|
|
Post by Linx Exotic on Mar 11, 2008 16:58:11 GMT -5
Linx was imagining tossing a bucket of steel darts over the edge of a cylindrical wicker basket large enough to stand in. It would certainly give a new firing platform during battles, one that would likely work only one way. "I'm just imagining one right now... Imagine having a bucket full of metal darts and tipping it over the edge on the massed enemy troops... The sight of the balloon in the air would be enough to scare them off!"
|
|
|
Post by Cressida & Cerdic Lindinshield on Mar 11, 2008 16:59:34 GMT -5
"Yeah! This could be the ultimate fighting machine! With a group of archers placed in it they could take down the enemies from the skies!" Cressida said with a grin on her face.
|
|
|
Post by Linx Exotic on Mar 11, 2008 17:05:19 GMT -5
Linx gave Cressida a funny look. "Archers? Group of? Let me give you an inside view. As the inventor... I don't think we'd be working at an altitude where you could bother with that kind of accuracy, and... I don't think it'll have room for that many beasts. Like I said, one beast with a bucket of darts will work fine for the kind of stuff we need. Or a fire thrower!" His enthusiasm about this last one had obvious roots. After all, this last one was his own invention.
|
|