Homebuilt hot-air air****ps

One of the desirable mission requirements I've wanted in an aircraft is the

ability to do serious sightseeing by allowing me to pause it in flight and

gaze at things. The problem with fixed-wing aircraft is that you can't
stop 
or sometimes even slow down enough to get a good long gander at things. 
Only helicopters, air****ps, and (to a lesser extent because you can't 
direct them much) balloons have the desired capability.

So about a year or so ago I began looking into designing and building a 
homebuilt hot-air air****p that required little or no ground crew to launch

and land. While doing research into air****ps, I came across the Skyacht 
Aircraft company:

http://www.personalblimp.com/

Late last year I had an e-mail exchange with the Dan Nachbar, the inventor

of this particular design, and at that time he wished to maintain a low 
profile. I see now he will be giving a presentation at Oshkosh, so I
assume 
he is no longer trying to keep such a low profile. Looks like he still has

some ways to go, but if my own (top secret! ;-) ) air****p idea never get 
off the ground I will definitely be looking into getting one of his 
creations once it becomes generally available. (Other existing hot-air 
air****ps seem to require too much ground sup****t and because they rely on 
pressurization, are a little too performance limited for my taste.)

So - has anyone reading these groups ever built or considered building a 
homebuilt gas or thermal air****p?