Balloons

[G. Sylvester]

I had another close encounter with a (party / decoration-type) balloon.
I was flying back to SQL with 3 passengers in an Archer at 2500
AGL/MSL when out of the corner of my eye this black thing flew (no pun
intended) by. I asked a passenger what it was and they said it was a
balloon. I think this is the 3rd or 4th time out of ~250 hours that
I've been very close (less than 100 feet) to a balloon. One of the
times it was at 10,500 feet over Los Angeles. Any else see balloons all
the time? I'm guessing they can't do too much damage unless they go
into the engine air inlets or hit the ADF antenna. Now that would be
bad luck.

At least birds stay out of the way....unfortunately not all of the time.

Gerald

[Judah]

"G. Sylvester" > wrote in news:ksCxh.52308
:

> I had another close encounter with a (party / decoration-type) balloon.
> I was flying back to SQL with 3 passengers in an Archer at 2500
> AGL/MSL when out of the corner of my eye this black thing flew (no pun
> intended) by. I asked a passenger what it was and they said it was a
> balloon. I think this is the 3rd or 4th time out of ~250 hours that
> I've been very close (less than 100 feet) to a balloon. One of the
> times it was at 10,500 feet over Los Angeles. Any else see balloons all
> the time? I'm guessing they can't do too much damage unless they go
> into the engine air inlets or hit the ADF antenna. Now that would be
> bad luck.
>
> At least birds stay out of the way....unfortunately not all of the time.

In 500 or so hours, I've seen at least 4 or 5 Mylar Baloons at altitude
(although I don't think at 10,000'). So you are about right. :)

[Jay Honeck]

> In 500 or so hours, I've seen at least 4 or 5 Mylar Baloons at altitude
> (although I don't think at 10,000'). So you are about right. :)

Must be a Left Coast thing. I can't say that I've seen more than one
or two party balloons in the 1600 or so hours Mary and I have been
airborne...

I've seen quite a few R/C planes, but only when we flew over their
local airfield.

And we saw a humongous rocket, once. (It was NOTAM'd, and ATC warned
us about them...)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

[Jim[_11_]]

I remember seeing balloons on two separate occasions and hearing a balloon
report to Center on one other occasion. The last was a report from
commercial traffic inbound to ORD reporting the balloons up around 12,000ft.
Center nonchalantly acknowledged and the pilot clarified: "No, I don't mean
these are just some little party balloons, these are BIG, like from a mall
grand opening or a car lot!" This brought an immediate broadcast advisory
from Center about the location and altitude.

Jim
(slayer of 2 birds, 0 balloons)


"G. Sylvester" > wrote in message
. net...
> I had another close encounter with a (party / decoration-type) balloon.
> I was flying back to SQL with 3 passengers in an Archer at 2500
> AGL/MSL when out of the corner of my eye this black thing flew (no pun
> intended) by. I asked a passenger what it was and they said it was a
> balloon. I think this is the 3rd or 4th time out of ~250 hours that
> I've been very close (less than 100 feet) to a balloon. One of the
> times it was at 10,500 feet over Los Angeles. Any else see balloons all
> the time? I'm guessing they can't do too much damage unless they go
> into the engine air inlets or hit the ADF antenna. Now that would be
> bad luck.
>
> At least birds stay out of the way....unfortunately not all of the time.
>
> Gerald

[G. Sylvester]

Jay Honeck wrote:
> Must be a Left Coast thing. I can't say that I've seen more than one
> or two party balloons in the 1600 or so hours Mary and I have been
> airborne...

no reference the Larry the Lawnchair Man? There was a radio call from a
now defunkt airline (Eastern?) that checked in with SoCal Center
"Airline XXX, one four thousand, at my 3 o'clock and 5 mile there
appears to be a man in a chair attached to a bunch of weather balloons."
IIRC, Larry got fined $200 for no transponder. These days the guy
would get shot down and then nailed for about 20 offenses including jail
time. then again, his lawnchair weighed as much as a 152. ;-)

> And we saw a humongous rocket, once. (It was NOTAM'd, and ATC warned
> us about them...)

I really wish I flew down by Edwards to see SpaceShipOne go off. Their
next flight, I am definitely flying.

Gerald

[Brad[_1_]]

On Feb 5, 4:06 am, "G. Sylvester" > wrote:
> I had another close encounter with a (party / decoration-type) balloon.
> I was flying back to SQL with 3 passengers in an Archer at 2500
> AGL/MSL when out of the corner of my eye this black thing flew (no pun
> intended) by. I asked a passenger what it was and they said it was a
> balloon. I think this is the 3rd or 4th time out of ~250 hours that
> I've been very close (less than 100 feet) to a balloon. One of the
> times it was at 10,500 feet over Los Angeles. Any else see balloons all
> the time? I'm guessing they can't do too much damage unless they go
> into the engine air inlets or hit the ADF antenna. Now that would be
> bad luck.
>
> At least birds stay out of the way....unfortunately not all of the time.
>
> Gerald

Flying low level traffic reporting, I've seen probably 6 or 7 party
balloon in a thousand hours. When solo, it was an opportunity to
dogfight...and surprisingly difficult to intercept.

....and before someone says it...no, the string is not going to wrap
around prop hub and seize the engine.

[Gary[_2_]]

On Feb 5, 8:00 am, "Jay Honeck" > wrote:
> And we saw a humongous rocket, once. (It was NOTAM'd, and ATC warned
> us about them...)
> --
> Jay Honeck

I've not seen a high-power model rocket from the air, but I do belong
to a club that actively flies them. We generally get an FAA waiver
for rocket flight to 12,000 feet one weekend a month (and the NOTAMS
do issue, I've had to fly around the launches several times myself).

The NOTAMS seem to have the unfortunate effect of bringing in curious
pilots. We spend a lot of time waiting for over-curious light planes
circling the launch to leave, so we can fly. It is sometimes a sore
spot, as the larger rocket projects generally have electronics with
finite battery life on board (altimeters, minimally, but often GPS,
still or video cameras, etc), the launch window is of limited
duration, and we have other fliers waiting for their turn at the
pads.

I add this here as a plea for pilots to not circle the NOTAM'd launch
area waiting to see something go up. If a plane is nearby, the
rockets don't fly. A 'typical' high-power model rocket might be 3 to
8 feet long, weigh 3 to 20 lbs, and hit a top speed of 300-400 mph on
it's way to apogee at 2000-3000' agl... Serious enough, but the
heaviest projects can weigh several hundred pounds, the fastest
rockets can top mach 2 (getting past mach 1 is a rite of passage for
many rocketeers, so someone is sure to have a supersonic project at
any launch), and the high fliers will hit at least a mile AGL, and
often two or three miles. The high-power model rocket altitude
record is about 37,000 feet, and a couple of years ago an experimental
amateur rocket (they operate under different regulations than the
model rocket crowd) finally crossed the 50 NM threshold which
typically defines 'space'. To minimize drift, the rockets usually
recover with only a very small drogue chute deployed (hard to see)
until they are perhaps 500-1000'AGL, when the main chute deploys.

These launches are a lot of fun to watch from the ground. Check out:
http://www.nar.org/ or http://www.tripoli.org/ for more information.
If you're in the Northeast, my club is: http://
www.metrarocketclub.org/

Gary

[Judah]

Maybe... They sell A LOT of Mylar balloons here in NY. They even sell them
at the local Pharmacy!

I don't think we're called Yuppies anymore, but the modern-day equivalent
of Yuppies don't like to bring anything home to the kids that doesn't last
a few days... I doubt there will be much Mylar out there today in this half
of the country. It's on the too-cold side of the icing curve out there!
Besides, who has parties anymore?

I saw an RC planes from the air only once that I can recall. It was big
enough, high enough, and close enough to the field that I thought it was in
the pattern.

Can't say I've seen any rockets from the air. I see 'em on TV sometimes,
but they are usually in Florida or Houston or something.



"Jay Honeck" > wrote in news:1170680414.893628.128670
@q2g2000cwa.googlegroups.com:

>> In 500 or so hours, I've seen at least 4 or 5 Mylar Baloons at altitude
>> (although I don't think at 10,000'). So you are about right. :)
>
> Must be a Left Coast thing. I can't say that I've seen more than one
> or two party balloons in the 1600 or so hours Mary and I have been
> airborne...
>
> I've seen quite a few R/C planes, but only when we flew over their
> local airfield.
>
> And we saw a humongous rocket, once. (It was NOTAM'd, and ATC warned
> us about them...)
> --
> Jay Honeck
> Iowa City, IA
> Pathfinder N56993
> www.AlexisParkInn.com
> "Your Aviation Destination"
>

[Stubby]

G. Sylvester wrote:
> I had another close encounter with a (party / decoration-type) balloon.
> I was flying back to SQL with 3 passengers in an Archer at 2500 AGL/MSL
> when out of the corner of my eye this black thing flew (no pun intended)
> by. I asked a passenger what it was and they said it was a balloon. I
> think this is the 3rd or 4th time out of ~250 hours that I've been very
> close (less than 100 feet) to a balloon. One of the times it was at
> 10,500 feet over Los Angeles. Any else see balloons all the time? I'm
> guessing they can't do too much damage unless they go into the engine
> air inlets or hit the ADF antenna. Now that would be bad luck.

Balloons are aircraft, just the same as airplanes. They should be
talking to local ATC towers etc, and getting winds aloft from FSS.
Typically, flights are just above tree tops for a good view, seeing the
deer, finding calm areas for landing, etc. But LTA craft need to be
exceedingly careful about power lines.

In Eastern MA and Southern NH it is not unusual to see a half dozen
balloons in the air just after sunrise. Landing in the afternoon is
possible but there is diminishing light making power lines hard to see,
landing spots are harder to pick, winds can be difficult and of course,
fuel will be low. Then, having landed you can have a hard time locating
all your equipment such as gloves, shrouds, etc in the dark.

The ballooning community is very active here. I suspect everywhere, in
fact. Take a look at some of the ballooning web sites and you will
locate where the local groups launch. Start hanging around with them.
Pitch in and maybe you will earn a free flight (take awhile!).

[John Clear]

In article >,
G. Sylvester > wrote:
>I had another close encounter with a (party / decoration-type) balloon.

I've passed bunches of ~10 balloons several times over San Jose at
3500ft or so. From the size of the clusters, I'd blame the car
dealerships for them, since they seem to be the ones that use
balloons in their advertising the most.

It is a real "whoa, what was that?" moment when the balloons streak
past you at 120kts.

John
--
John Clear - http://www.clear-prop.org/

[Montblack]

("Jim" wrote)
> I remember seeing balloons on two separate occasions and hearing a balloon
> report to Center on one other occasion. The last was a report from
> commercial traffic inbound to ORD reporting the balloons up around
> 12,000ft. Center nonchalantly acknowledged and the pilot clarified: "No, I
> don't mean these are just some little party balloons, these are BIG, like
> from a mall grand opening or a car lot!" This brought an immediate
> broadcast advisory from Center about the location and altitude.


http://www.clusterballoon.org/
Fun site


Montblack

[Montblack]

("G. Sylvester" wrote)
> no reference the Larry the Lawnchair Man? There was a radio call from a
> now defunkt airline (Eastern?) that checked in with SoCal Center
> "Airline XXX, one four thousand, at my 3 o'clock and 5 mile there appears
> to be a man in a chair attached to a bunch of weather balloons."


http://www.clusterballoon.org/utah/utah_3.html
Good pics


Montblack
"You're gonna need a bigger boat."

[Peter R.]

On 2/5/2007 11:51:47 AM, Stubby wrote:

> Balloons are aircraft, just the same as airplanes. They should be
> talking to local ATC towers etc, and getting winds aloft from FSS.
> Typically, flights are just above tree tops for a good view, seeing the
> deer, finding calm areas for landing, etc. But LTA craft need to be
> exceedingly careful about power lines.

I believe the OP was referring to party balloons, not hot-air balloons. ;)

In my case, I also once passed a party balloon at about 8,000 feet.

--
Peter

[Montblack]

("Jay Honeck" wrote)
> Must be a Left Coast thing. I can't say that I've seen more than one or
> two party balloons in the 1600 or so hours Mary and I have been
> airborne...


<http://www.clusterballoon.org/minnesota/minnesota_1.html>
Minnesota

<http://www.clusterballoon.org/iowa/iowa.html>
Iowa: This way you could go for an (in-flight) lunch outing.

<http://www.clusterballoon.org/states/states.html>
Other states

"We're going for a picnic this afternoon."

"Where?"

"Up."


Montblack
After school, Joe, don't forget to pick up your parents over in Illinois.

[Montblack]

("John Clear" wrote)
> It is a real "whoa, what was that?" moment when the balloons streak past
> you at 120kts.


Those are fast balloons. <g>


Montblack

[Mxsmanic]

John Clear writes:

> It is a real "whoa, what was that?" moment when the balloons streak
> past you at 120kts.

Brian Shul tells a story about passing a weather ballon in an SR-71 at
70,000+ feet while flying at several times the speed of sound. He saw
something flash by and didn't even realize what it was until he had
passed it. He had a bit of a chill thinking about what might have
happened if he had actually hit the balloon. There was absolutely no
time to react. It particularly made him aware of just how fast he was
actually going. (Normally the aircraft flies so high when supersonic
that it's difficult to get a clear idea of how fast it moves from
aloft.)

--
Transpose mxsmanic and gmail to reach me by e-mail.

[Peter Dohm]

>
> Can't say I've seen any rockets from the air. I see 'em on TV sometimes,
> but they are usually in Florida or Houston or something.
>
Yeah. We sometimes have really cool ones from Florida.

Peter ;-)
(Sorry. Couldn't resist.)

[Peter Dohm]

>
> I believe the OP was referring to party balloons, not hot-air balloons.
;)
>
I believe the same.

Threads sometimes drift in their own hot air. ;-)

Peter
(That's all, I promise...I really turned on the computer to do some work.)

[Dallas]

On Mon, 5 Feb 2007 11:33:41 -0600, Montblack wrote:

> http://www.clusterballoon.org/utah/utah_3.html
> Good pics

The original Lawnchair Larry took along a pellet gun to shoot out the
balloons to descend. I wonder how this guy planned to do it.

--
Dallas

[Robert M. Gary]

On Feb 5, 9:33 am, "Montblack" <Y4_NOT!...
> wrote:
> ("G. Sylvester" wrote)
>
> > no reference the Larry the Lawnchair Man? There was a radio call from a
> > now defunkt airline (Eastern?) that checked in with SoCal Center
> > "Airline XXX, one four thousand, at my 3 o'clock and 5 mile there appears
> > to be a man in a chair attached to a bunch of weather balloons."
>
> http://www.clusterballoon.org/utah/utah_3.html
> Good pics

My favorite is http://www.clusterballoon.org/utah/utah_79_L.jpg
The guy seems pretty happy, but notice where the helmet is. It works
best if you put it on your head.

-Robert

[Dave[_5_]]

Many times - including on my last flight, just over a week ago. Never
anything larger than a party balloon. They do startle you.

David Johnson

[Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe]

"Robert M. Gary" > wrote in message
ups.com...
> On Feb 5, 9:33 am, "Montblack" <Y4_NOT!...
> > wrote:
>> ("G. Sylvester" wrote)
>>
>> > no reference the Larry the Lawnchair Man? There was a radio call from
>> > a
>> > now defunkt airline (Eastern?) that checked in with SoCal Center
>> > "Airline XXX, one four thousand, at my 3 o'clock and 5 mile there
>> > appears
>> > to be a man in a chair attached to a bunch of weather balloons."
>>
>> http://www.clusterballoon.org/utah/utah_3.html
>> Good pics
>
> My favorite is http://www.clusterballoon.org/utah/utah_79_L.jpg
> The guy seems pretty happy, but notice where the helmet is. It works
> best if you put it on your head.
>


Far out, man.

Like, maybe he did some rolling when he was on the runway and needed a place
for his stash. I bet he didn't call and tell ATC...

Oh, and, like, that Larry guy? He's dead. Bummer.

--
Geoff
The Sea Hawk at Wow Way d0t Com
remove spaces and make the obvious substitutions to reply by mail
When immigration is outlawed, only outlaws will immigrate.

[G. Sylvester]

Robert M. Gary wrote:
> My favorite is http://www.clusterballoon.org/utah/utah_79_L.jpg
> The guy seems pretty happy, but notice where the helmet is. It works
> best if you put it on your head.

and what is the helmet use for when you fall from FL180? The good news
is he's /G. :)

Gerald

[John Galban]

On Feb 5, 2:06 am, "G. Sylvester" > wrote:
> I had another close encounter with a (party / decoration-type) balloon.

Out here in the desert, the usual culprit is the plastic grocery
bag. With the strong thermal activity in the summer, it's not unusual
to pass one of these at altitudes up to 10,000 ft.

About 5 yrs. ago, a pilot called into the tower declaring an
emergency for engine trouble. I heard him on my handheld and strolled
over to the runway to watch him come in. As he was flaring, it was
clear that there was a plastic grocery bag stuck to his intake. As he
slowed and turned off the runway, the bag fell off. I went over to
transient parking and asked if he'd solved the problem with carb
heat. He was very interested in knowing how I had figured that
out. :-)))

John Galban=====>N4BQ (PA28-180)

[Bob Fry]

You see balloons? Hope you don't see these:
http://www.clusterballoon.org/
--
Almost every man wastes part of his life in attempts to display
qualities which he does not possess.

- Samuel Johnson

[Jay Beckman]

"Bob Fry" > wrote in message
...
> You see balloons? Hope you don't see these:
> http://www.clusterballoon.org/
> --
> Almost every man wastes part of his life in attempts to display
> qualities which he does not possess.
>
> - Samuel Johnson

"I'm not giving up my ice cream parlor that I built with my own two
hands...!"

- Howard Johnson

[Mxsmanic]

Jay Beckman writes:

> "I'm not giving up my ice cream parlor that I built with my own two
> hands...!"
>
> - Howard Johnson

"Howard Johnson is right!"

- Olsen Johnson

--
Transpose mxsmanic and gmail to reach me by e-mail.

[G. Sylvester]

Peter R. wrote:
> I believe the OP was referring to party balloons, not hot-air balloons. ;)

correct. And for clarification I'm also not referring to that big
silver thing that says "Good Yeer!" <sic> :)

Gerald

[Ron Wanttaja]

On Tue, 06 Feb 2007 04:18:30 +0100, Mxsmanic > wrote:

>Jay Beckman writes:
>
>> "I'm not giving up my ice cream parlor that I built with my own two
>> hands...!"
>>
>> - Howard Johnson
>
>"Howard Johnson is right!"

MX is just pawn in chess game of life.....

Ron Wanttaja