Ballooning!

I had the joy of logging my first 0.2 hours in a hot
air balloon last weekend over the Jean dry lake (near
Las Vegas). It's interesting how much fun you can have
with just one control -- a little lever which switches on
the burner. Strangely, it wasn't that difficult to control
the vertical velocity - well, when you consider that that
lever actually controls the first derivative with a 3-second
time delay that is.

Here are some things that surprised me.

1) Hot air balloons use about 15 gals of propane/hour,
which isn't vastly different from my 182 burn.

2) Wind shear, in this case at about 500 AGL and again
at 1500AGL was extraordinarily strong even on a calm
day. A full 10 knot blast as we ascended, when the canopy
caught the wind before us humans transitioned into the
zone too.

3) Wake turbulence from ground traffic (a truck in this
case) is noticeable even if you are 100 ft up.


All in all, a fun day. Give it a try if you have a chance!

--
Dr. Tony Cox
Citrus Controls Inc.
e-mail:
http://CitrusControls.com/

Yes! And, although you might invent reasons to fly airplanes (commute,
work, etc), none of these stand up to analysis. There is only one reason
to fly balloons -- it's just plain fun. But expensive, much more than
airplanes.


"Tony Cox" wrote in message
hlink.net...
I had the joy of logging my first 0.2 hours in a hot
air balloon last weekend over the Jean dry lake (near
Las Vegas). It's interesting how much fun you can have
with just one control -- a little lever which switches on
the burner. Strangely, it wasn't that difficult to control
the vertical velocity - well, when you consider that that
lever actually controls the first derivative with a 3-second
time delay that is.

Here are some things that surprised me.

1) Hot air balloons use about 15 gals of propane/hour,
which isn't vastly different from my 182 burn.

2) Wind shear, in this case at about 500 AGL and again
at 1500AGL was extraordinarily strong even on a calm
day. A full 10 knot blast as we ascended, when the canopy
caught the wind before us humans transitioned into the
zone too.

3) Wake turbulence from ground traffic (a truck in this
case) is noticeable even if you are 100 ft up.


All in all, a fun day. Give it a try if you have a chance!

--
Dr. Tony Cox
Citrus Controls Inc.
e-mail:
http://CitrusControls.com/

My reason to fly aeroplanes...it's just plain fun.

Paul

"William W. Plummer" wrote in message
news:WFB8c.5641$gA5.90576@attbi_s03...
Yes! And, although you might invent reasons to fly airplanes (commute,
work, etc), none of these stand up to analysis. There is only one reason
to fly balloons -- it's just plain fun. But expensive, much more than
airplanes.

Balloons are a great trip. Love 'em.
--
Gene Seibel
http://www.pad39a.com/gene/balloons.html
Because I fly, I envy no one.



"Tony Cox" wrote in message thlink.net...
I had the joy of logging my first 0.2 hours in a hot
air balloon last weekend over the Jean dry lake (near
Las Vegas). It's interesting how much fun you can have
with just one control -- a little lever which switches on
the burner. Strangely, it wasn't that difficult to control
the vertical velocity - well, when you consider that that
lever actually controls the first derivative with a 3-second
time delay that is.

Here are some things that surprised me.

1) Hot air balloons use about 15 gals of propane/hour,
which isn't vastly different from my 182 burn.

2) Wind shear, in this case at about 500 AGL and again
at 1500AGL was extraordinarily strong even on a calm
day. A full 10 knot blast as we ascended, when the canopy
caught the wind before us humans transitioned into the
zone too.

3) Wake turbulence from ground traffic (a truck in this
case) is noticeable even if you are 100 ft up.


All in all, a fun day. Give it a try if you have a chance!

Tony Cox wrote:
1) Hot air balloons use about 15 gals of propane/hour,
which isn't vastly different from my 182 burn.

Yes, but isn't that 15 gals of a gas volume (ie less density).
In terms of lbs/hr of fuel burned it should work out at a lot less. I
would imagine that baloons are a hell of a lot more efficient than
aircraft in terms of endurance but when you start counting in range
efficiency...

William W. Plummer wrote:
Yes! And, although you might invent reasons to fly airplanes (commute,
work, etc), none of these stand up to analysis. There is only one reason
to fly balloons -- it's just plain fun. But expensive, much more than
airplanes.

And there's always the pesky problem of filing flight plans.
Destination....Downwind.

Plus I had the opportunity to witness one of those things landing near
my house once. They got pulled through two sets of trees, plonked on
the ground and fell over, after which the basket got dragged for a
further 30 or 40 ft. All part of the magic I guess.

"gerrcoin" wrote in message
...
Tony Cox wrote:
1) Hot air balloons use about 15 gals of propane/hour,
which isn't vastly different from my 182 burn.

Yes, but isn't that 15 gals of a gas volume (ie less density).

No, it is 15 gals of LPG. Which, energy wise, is about the
equivalent of 8 gals of avgas I believe. LPG weighs 4lbs/gal

In terms of lbs/hr of fuel burned it should work out at a lot less. I
would imagine that baloons are a hell of a lot more efficient than
aircraft in terms of endurance but when you start counting in range
efficiency...

Well it isn't, and they aren't. That surprised me too.

We figure 5 lb per gal for no-lead.

"Tony Cox" wrote in message
.net...
"gerrcoin" wrote in message
...
Tony Cox wrote:
1) Hot air balloons use about 15 gals of propane/hour,
which isn't vastly different from my 182 burn.

Yes, but isn't that 15 gals of a gas volume (ie less density).

No, it is 15 gals of LPG. Which, energy wise, is about the
equivalent of 8 gals of avgas I believe. LPG weighs 4lbs/gal

In terms of lbs/hr of fuel burned it should work out at a lot less. I
would imagine that baloons are a hell of a lot more efficient than
aircraft in terms of endurance but when you start counting in range
efficiency...

Well it isn't, and they aren't. That surprised me too.

Good post! Are you taking lessons in ballooning? Keep us tuned in,
this was a very informative post and I'd like to learn more.

-lance smith


"Tony Cox" wrote in message thlink.net...
I had the joy of logging my first 0.2 hours in a hot
air balloon last weekend over the Jean dry lake (near
Las Vegas). It's interesting how much fun you can have
with just one control -- a little lever which switches on
the burner. Strangely, it wasn't that difficult to control
the vertical velocity - well, when you consider that that
lever actually controls the first derivative with a 3-second
time delay that is.

Here are some things that surprised me.

1) Hot air balloons use about 15 gals of propane/hour,
which isn't vastly different from my 182 burn.

2) Wind shear, in this case at about 500 AGL and again
at 1500AGL was extraordinarily strong even on a calm
day. A full 10 knot blast as we ascended, when the canopy
caught the wind before us humans transitioned into the
zone too.

3) Wake turbulence from ground traffic (a truck in this
case) is noticeable even if you are 100 ft up.


All in all, a fun day. Give it a try if you have a chance!

"lance smith" wrote in message
om...

Good post! Are you taking lessons in ballooning? Keep us tuned in,
this was a very informative post and I'd like to learn more.

I'm probably not going to get rated. It's hard enough to
find the time and money to enjoy my 182! Perhaps when
I retire.

The ballooning crowd are quite a sociable bunch. It's not
surprising really -- you need to have a ground crew unless
you are real hard-core. That's how I got my ride - I crewed
a couple of times after helping when one landed behind the
house. I'm exchanging plane rides now - both folks can
learn a lot from each other. Did you know that a balloon
can easily outclimb most GA planes? Nor did I, and they
get to have the official right-of-way! Sheesh. And I swear
none of them have ever seen a sectional. Scary.