Free balloons and VFR flying

I recently met some high altitude balloonists during a launch. These
are similar to weather balloons, roughly 6'-10' in size at launch
elevation. When released, they climb in excess of 1000 fpm. They seem
to be mostly colored white, so they would be hard to spot from an
airplane. I have been mostly unaware of these balloons during all my
flying. So my concern is how to avoid these balloons during VFR
flights. A collision with them could be catastrophic - the chords can
be tangled in the prop or other control surfaces, or the balloon can
simply obscure the cockpit window. They did call the local FSS just
before launch, but I am assuming this is only for IFR separation. I
just flew in in my airplane to the launch site, so I know there was no
NOTAMs about this. Even if there were a NOTAM it would have to cover a
huge geographic area, spanning several states. I have never seen such
NOTAMs. It would seem that making the balloons in bright pink or neon
color might be a better choice instead of white.

"Andrew Sarangan" wrote in message
...

I recently met some high altitude balloonists during a launch. These
are similar to weather balloons, roughly 6'-10' in size at launch
elevation. When released, they climb in excess of 1000 fpm. They seem
to be mostly colored white, so they would be hard to spot from an
airplane. I have been mostly unaware of these balloons during all my
flying. So my concern is how to avoid these balloons during VFR
flights. A collision with them could be catastrophic - the chords can
be tangled in the prop or other control surfaces, or the balloon can
simply obscure the cockpit window. They did call the local FSS just
before launch, but I am assuming this is only for IFR separation. I
just flew in in my airplane to the launch site, so I know there was no
NOTAMs about this. Even if there were a NOTAM it would have to cover a
huge geographic area, spanning several states. I have never seen such
NOTAMs. It would seem that making the balloons in bright pink or neon
color might be a better choice instead of white.


Wouldn't this be a good reason to use flight following?

"Maxwell" luv^2^fly^99@^cox.^net wrote in message
...

"Andrew Sarangan" wrote in message
...

I recently met some high altitude balloonists during a launch. These
are similar to weather balloons, roughly 6'-10' in size at launch
elevation. When released, they climb in excess of 1000 fpm. They seem
to be mostly colored white, so they would be hard to spot from an
airplane. I have been mostly unaware of these balloons during all my
flying. So my concern is how to avoid these balloons during VFR
flights. A collision with them could be catastrophic - the chords can
be tangled in the prop or other control surfaces, or the balloon can
simply obscure the cockpit window. They did call the local FSS just
before launch, but I am assuming this is only for IFR separation. I
just flew in in my airplane to the launch site, so I know there was no
NOTAMs about this. Even if there were a NOTAM it would have to cover a
huge geographic area, spanning several states. I have never seen such
NOTAMs. It would seem that making the balloons in bright pink or neon
color might be a better choice instead of white.


Wouldn't this be a good reason to use flight following?

Do balloons have a transponder? I kinda doubt it, since thesy are
disposable items.

"Kyle Boatright" wrote in message
. ..

"Maxwell" luv^2^fly^99@^cox.^net wrote in message
...

"Andrew Sarangan" wrote in message
...

I recently met some high altitude balloonists during a launch. These
are similar to weather balloons, roughly 6'-10' in size at launch
elevation. When released, they climb in excess of 1000 fpm. They seem
to be mostly colored white, so they would be hard to spot from an
airplane. I have been mostly unaware of these balloons during all my
flying. So my concern is how to avoid these balloons during VFR
flights. A collision with them could be catastrophic - the chords can
be tangled in the prop or other control surfaces, or the balloon can
simply obscure the cockpit window. They did call the local FSS just
before launch, but I am assuming this is only for IFR separation. I
just flew in in my airplane to the launch site, so I know there was no
NOTAMs about this. Even if there were a NOTAM it would have to cover a
huge geographic area, spanning several states. I have never seen such
NOTAMs. It would seem that making the balloons in bright pink or neon
color might be a better choice instead of white.


Wouldn't this be a good reason to use flight following?

Do balloons have a transponder? I kinda doubt it, since thesy are
disposable items.

Why would they need a transponder? ATC wouldn't be giving traffic advisories
to an unmanned balloon.

On Mon, 3 Mar 2008 10:10:36 -0600, "Maxwell" luv^2^fly^99@^cox.^net
wrote in :

Why would they need a transponder?

It's doubtful ATC radar would paint much of a primary target of such a
nonmetallic object.

"Andrew Sarangan" wrote:

It would seem that making the balloons in bright pink or neon
color might be a better choice instead of white.


White is the highest visibility color for a broad range of lighting
conditions. There are colors that are slightly better in bright light, some
slightly better in dim light, but across the range no other color maintains
reflectivity as well as white.

--
Dan
T-182T at 4R4

On Mar 3, 1:42*pm, "Dan Luke" wrote:
"Andrew Sarangan" wrote:
*It would seem that making the balloons in bright pink or neon
color might be a better choice instead of white.

White is the highest visibility color for a broad range of lighting
conditions. *There are colors that are slightly better in bright light, some
slightly better in dim light, but across the range no other color maintains
reflectivity as well as white.

--
Dan
T-182T at 4R4

That means we have no broad range of lighting conditions over here.
Our mil. trainers are painted black.
-Kees

"Dan Luke" wrote in message
...

"Andrew Sarangan" wrote:

It would seem that making the balloons in bright pink or neon
color might be a better choice instead of white.


White is the highest visibility color for a broad range of lighting
conditions. There are colors that are slightly better in bright light,
some slightly better in dim light, but across the range no other color
maintains reflectivity as well as white.

--

It could also just be the cheapest. White colored materials are often just
the absence of color pigments.

Maxwell wrote:
"Dan Luke" wrote in message
...
"Andrew Sarangan" wrote:

It would seem that making the balloons in bright pink or neon
color might be a better choice instead of white.

White is the highest visibility color for a broad range of lighting
conditions. There are colors that are slightly better in bright light,
some slightly better in dim light, but across the range no other color
maintains reflectivity as well as white.

--

It could also just be the cheapest. White colored materials are often just
the absence of color pigments.

And the least amount of solar warming.