Solar Hot Air Balloon Launch

[gino07770]

what is that annoying sound. I bet it was the bad neighbor trying to spoil the show with lawn mower.

[kmcaviezel]

@gino07770 generator

[josephdupont]

what was the payload?

It seemed to pick up speed.as it rose.. perhaps pushing the air out of the way.

[ariskk88]

@josephdupont Maybe the air was cooler the farther from the ground.

[windandsun68]

way cool

[RCplanes102]

im in edmonton, and my ballon was found outside canada in iowa, 670 miles by air.

[PetoriaDude]

What is that thing on the bottom?

[WickedxEvolution]

@PetoriaDude, Probably either GPS stuff and sand for weight?

[barbelotta]

LoL, man thats crazy, u need Military Support and Acces to send that shit...

[777strongcoffee]

Imagine getting that thing stuck on the windshield of your 747.

[kmcaviezel]

Or: imagine that the balloon is rammed by the operator of an airplane who fails to practice 'see and avoid' operations, even while clear of IMC while conducting IFR flight..

[ovniforos]

It is more dangerous to hit a bird.

[MrOmgoodness]

....and now time to try and lift a human being by the power of binbags! :D

[kmcaviezel]

There are a few Frenchmen who have already done exactly that!

[catman529]

Very nice balloon, congrats on the successful flight! I have built many solar balloons but have yet to release one with electronic tracking equipment.

[pateli2008]

I checked on Google Earth the locations of your balloon, they are aprox 500 km apart, that's probable the typical distance covered in one day. If so, my balloons crossed the Andes mountains and landed in Argentina hehe.

[kmcaviezel]

Nope, that flight was more like 600+ km. Distance will vary of course with wind speed, and that varies throughout the year, fastest probably in Jan-Mar, at least in the northern hemisphere. Note also we launched shortly after dawn very near the summer solstice to get the maximum time aloft. A flight conducted near the equinoxes may cover much less distance.

[pateli2008]

Very nice. Any tips on tracking devices for these balloons?. I've released a couple, no idea how far they got or for how long they flew. Would love to be able to track the path.

[kmcaviezel]

Path of Solar Balloon Flight path was tracked using Ham Radio APRS. The ID is NGOX-11. You can also use the FindMe SPOT tracker from Globalstar which works great, but doesn't give altitude and course and speed.

[pateli2008]

Thanks for your reply. Well, I'm in Chile, sorry I have no idea what a Ham Radio APRS is, nor Globalstar. I was thinking along the lines of a small chip (and inexpensive hehe) to attach to the ballon to track via GPS. I know such devices exist, they are used to track runners on marathons for example, I'll have to dig up more on that I guess.

[catman529]

I always post a note on the balloon with contact and flight information. It doesn't guarantee a reply but some of my balloons have been found over 500 miles away.

[josephdupont]

how much weight did it carry and how far did it go?

[kmcaviezel]

The world's slowest solar hot air balloon departure. This balloon carried 5.5 pounds to over 50,000 feet. Time of flight was about 14 hours and the balloon traveled from Norman Oklahoma to 30 miles south of Shreveport, Louisiana.

[DDNH]

Part of Solar Balloon Flight path was tracked using Ham Radio APRS. The ID is NGOX-11.

...KB1FBJ