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High Altitude Balloon Keeps Going
Hackaday.com ^ | 19OCT2014 | Brian Benchoff

Posted on 10/23/2014 5:54:34 AM PDT by Jack Hydrazine

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To: Moonman62

If you look at pics of the envelope you’ll see it is simply about a one or possibly two mil polyethylene bag.


21 posted on 10/23/2014 8:37:01 AM PDT by Jack Hydrazine (Pubbies = national collectivists; Dems = international collectivists; We need a second party!)
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To: Moonman62

They word, “foil” as they use it in the UK probably means “sheet” or “sheeting” in American English.


22 posted on 10/23/2014 8:40:25 AM PDT by Jack Hydrazine (Pubbies = national collectivists; Dems = international collectivists; We need a second party!)
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To: Jack Hydrazine

Have any tests been done to see what would happen if it collided with an airliner?


23 posted on 10/23/2014 8:41:15 AM PDT by Moonman62 (The US has become a government with a country, rather than a country with a government.)
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To: Moonman62

Not that I know of but an 11 gram mass is not going to do much to a jet traveling at 600+ mph.

But then again the odds of it happening are extremely, extremely rare. An aircraft hasn’t hit a balloon yet, AFAIK.

A few years ago I did read of an incident in which an amateur balloon did hit a car after the balloon burst and it descended down on its parachute. The payload landed on either a state highway or an interstate while the cars were traveling at highway speeds. IIRC, it did crack the windshield but did not go through it. The payload was about two or three pounds and the payload container was made out of Styrofoam.

The payload was recovered and the owner of the payload paid for the owner to have the glass replaced.


24 posted on 10/23/2014 9:14:06 AM PDT by Jack Hydrazine (Pubbies = national collectivists; Dems = international collectivists; We need a second party!)
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To: Jack Hydrazine

One reason a collision hasn’t happened is the launches are coordinated with local air traffic control. Here’s an article on the subject.

http://weatherjackwilliams.com/answers-weather-balloons-and-airplanes/


25 posted on 10/23/2014 10:05:28 AM PDT by Moonman62 (The US has become a government with a country, rather than a country with a government.)
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To: Moonman62

Those are National Weather Service balloons. They are launch every day at 0000Z and 1200Z GMT.

The FAA regs under FAR 101 (14 CFR Part 101; covers moored balloons, kites, unmanned rockets, and unmanned balloons) state that you do not need a waiver from the FAA to fly a balloon as long as abides by these weight rules:

(4) Except as provided for in 101.7, any unmanned free balloon
that-

(i) Carries a payload package that weighs more than four pounds and
has a weight/size ratio of more than three ounces per square inch
on any surface of the package, determined by dividing the total
weight in ounces of the payload package by the area in square
inches of its smallest surface;

(ii) Carries a payload package that weighs more than six pounds;

(iii) Carries a payload, of two or more packages, that weighs more
than 12 pounds; or

The payload is only 11 grams or 0.0242508 lbs.


26 posted on 10/23/2014 10:21:57 AM PDT by Jack Hydrazine (Pubbies = national collectivists; Dems = international collectivists; We need a second party!)
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To: Jack Hydrazine

Pretty interesting, the guy sure seems to have a
good approach and method.


27 posted on 10/23/2014 10:35:55 AM PDT by tet68 ( " We would not die in that man's company, that fears his fellowship to die with us...." Henry V.)
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To: tet68

The key to keeping the balloon flying for as long as it has is to have just the right amount of helium in it to keep the envelope from popping.


28 posted on 10/23/2014 10:40:06 AM PDT by Jack Hydrazine (Pubbies = national collectivists; Dems = international collectivists; We need a second party!)
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To: Jack Hydrazine

The NWS balloons are lightweight and are not regulated, yet they still coordinate with ATC voluntarily, and that’s why there hasn’t been a collision, most likely.

What happens if a balloon blocks or damages a pitot tube? An Air France jet crashed in the Atlantic a few years ago from an iced up pitot tube.


29 posted on 10/23/2014 10:52:15 AM PDT by Moonman62 (The US has become a government with a country, rather than a country with a government.)
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To: Moonman62

Airliners have two pitot tubes.


30 posted on 10/23/2014 12:38:49 PM PDT by B4Ranch (Name your illness, do a Google & YouTube search with "hydrogen peroxide". Do it and be surprised.)
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To: B4Ranch

Are they far enough apart on all aircraft models that they wouldn’t both be blocked?


31 posted on 10/23/2014 12:59:42 PM PDT by Moonman62 (The US has become a government with a country, rather than a country with a government.)
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To: Moonman62

I would think the Captains two would be covered easily by a balloon but the turbulence caused by the balloon flapping would rip the plastic and free them. The FO’s probe is on the opposite side of the cockpit and the same conditions would apply.


32 posted on 10/23/2014 1:12:20 PM PDT by B4Ranch (Name your illness, do a Google & YouTube search with "hydrogen peroxide". Do it and be surprised.)
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