What I just heard on FNC was that a balloon he uses to land can’t take winds more than 2 MPH! What? he relies on a flimsy balloon?
From everything I know Red, it is the balloon itself that is very thin. The analogy is thinner than a plastic sandwich bag. That doesn’t mean it is weak, but there is so much of it that wind is an issue. The pilot lands with a chute.
Back in the day when the National Geographic balloon was attempting to get off the ground in the 30’s IIRC they were launching from a deep canyon protected from the wind. By the time they hit level ground they would have built up a head of steam so to speak.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stratobowl
The high altitude balloons used are very thin poly plastic of some type. Like a huge bag made from painter’s dropcloth material. The balloon is constructed that way for light weight and expansive ability.
They tried to launch in the early morning when ground wind is lightest but got delayed for some reason. When the thermals started building in late morning, they caused too much wind to allow safe inflation to continue.
Same rules as in the 50’s when Kittinger was making his flights at White Sands Missile Range or the Navy flights in Michigan.