RadioBanter - View Single Post

November 20th 04, 08:36 PM

PAMNO (N2EY) wrote in message ...
In article ,
(Brian Kelly) writes:

(N2EY) wrote in message
...

Who on this newsgroup has even attempted to launch a radio-carrying ballon
to 100,000 feet? Or even to half that?

Me.

bwaahaahaa

Not to FL 100 but close enough RRAP purposes.

How close, just for grins?

Not very. The state was interested in sampling the air from ground
level to around 15,000 feet along the I-95 corridor. Other teams from
other small airports in the region were also doing launches. The
balloons were made from ployester fiber reinforced aluminized Mylar
which does not stretch which in turn automatically limited their
altitude. The FAA tracked 'em with radar in cooperation with the
state. The balloons topped out in the range of 25,000 feet then
cruised east off the New Jersey and Delaware shores and eventually
disappeared. There were some who suspected that F-16s looking for
gunnery practice were "involved" in those "disapperances". I dunno.

around the state listening to the
payload radio for backup purposes.

Good show!

No kudos claimed by me for this one. It was not my project, I
engineered nothing, I was just a launch site warm body. I didn't even
get another merit badge out of it. What we did get out of it however
was attaboys from the state and the feds which matters considering how
much clout they have when it comes to holding off the real estate
developers and local noise abatement bellyachers which threaten the
existence small airports. We scratch their backs, they scratch our
backs.

73 de Jim, N2EY

w3rv