
An Art of Air and Fire: Brazil’s Renegade Balloonists (2014) - morsch
http://theappendix.net/issues/2014/10/an-art-of-air-and-fire-brazils-renegade-balloonists
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morsch
Here's a video of air traffic control dealing with the release of a number of
balloons:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWrYfQTKn9c](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWrYfQTKn9c)

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paradoxparalax
Ah, the memories of childhood. Once I went to a winter June's Party. Saint
John's popular parties all over Brazil. This was a huge "clandestine" Big Deal
ballonists, many were cops, my primary school mate's father was a cop, and he
took us there, crossing the 13 kilometers Rio de Janeiro-Niteroi bridge at
night, that huge 3 meters or so tall ballon came down in flames from the sky,
my friends father stopped the car in the same middle of the bridge and went
out the car to recover the balloons mortal remainings. The "Bucha" , what
means the "sponge", a square of Parafine Wax mixed with Cloth fibers and
Kerosene, that was the combustion torch of the aircraft was still half
unburnt. Half the "silk" paper of the fuselage was still good too, ;D He
smashed everything in the trunk of the car we we went on our way to fishing
and explode firecrackers by Rio State coast. At That winter party we went that
time, I have myself "hand-launched" a 1.5 meters ballon with the other kids.
The adults lauched ballons 10, 15, 20 meters tall, full of firecrackers and
fireworks that have time-control devices so they ignite and launch the
fireworks when they were at a nice attitude on the sky. It was a really a
piece artisan craft tech. Sometimes caused fires in Oil Refineries and
Collateral Civilian Facilities Damage. This guy would bring to our primary
school an Album similar to an Baseball Card Album, but instead it was an
Balloon Cards Album, so I think they even sell cards of those things for kids.
I remember the most famous/heaviest at time was called "The King of the Kings"
and it was more than 20 meters if I recall and was never recovered, they say
it went to Space : D This Ocult Art still exists, but is much more clandestine
now, When a young "Boss" of a Tactical Standing Point of the Rio de Janeiro's
Cartel army dies, the guys in the Favela will launch huge balloons full of
fireworks, and shoot bursts of tracing bullets like those from the first Iraq
War trough the sky. Sometimes an inloved Boss would launch a big Baloon for
his girfriend. But it's not allowed to play like before. It's like the
Brazilian Art of WarKites, that uses a mix of fine-ground Glass with wood-glue
spread along the line of the kite to cut everything on it's way, preferably
other people's kites, but sometimes other people's necks. People still die
from it. But is still goes on. Cannot fight with wild people, must civilize
step by step ; D

