Posted on 01/06/2012 2:44:03 PM PST by Berlin_Freeper
ELEVEN people have died when a hot air balloon was engulfed in flames in New Zealand.
The balloon came down in flames at Clareville, near the Wairarapa township of Carterton, about 7.30am local time (5.30am AEDT) today.
Local resident David McKinlay said he was watering the garden of his home on the northern boundary of Carterton at 7.40am (5.40am AEDT) when he looked up toward the northeast.
"I just couldn't believe what I was seeing," he said..
"There were flames licking up the basket on one side, up towards the guy ropes of the balloon itself and probably just about reaching the fabric of the balloon," he told AAP.
The balloon came down at speed in a paddock on Somerset Road.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.com.au ...
Prayers up.
It’s a wonder we don’t hear about these kinds of accidents more often.
Very terrible. Prayers for the deceased.
Prayers for the families involved.
My last balloon ride about 25 years including crashing into the top of a large oak tree... Not good...
No kidding.
I don’t know how many times those balloons have been dragged across the east range.
How does one slow down lateral velocity of a balloon anyway?
You don’t.
Then how do you land if a breeze picks up? Do you stay in the air until the wind stops? By then you could be in the wrong country...or out to sea.
I think the idea is to fly when there are no breezes.
That would result in a ride straight up and straight down.
Yikes, my friend and her husband are in NZ right now!
Theoretically you could drop an anchor and hope that it catches onto something. However the dynamic forces could be strong enough to tear the gondola open. It's one of a million reasons why we don't use "lighter than air" aviation anymore. To stay in control you need power that is stronger than the forces of nature.
No way would I get into something that required an onbaord blast furnace to stay aloft.
I got on one in France and was off in 30 seconds!
No. You can catch air streams at higher altitudes.
Jet engines are onboard blast furnaces. Not handheld but they burn quite hot and have been known to fail under certain conditions. Final flight of the last Concorde comes to mind.
I took a two hour ride on one last fall here in Oregon. One of the coolest things I’ve done in a long time.
Two feet on Terra Firma and a head filled with common sense I be.
I gaze up at the folks feet floating by, their heads filled with balloon juice and navigating with champagne and sour Diesel.
They must be organ donors.
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