What's your excuse for not going on a ride in a hydrogen gas balloon? They have a flawless safety record. It's pretty popular in Germany.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ol0s3w2ohLk
>>957888
Because it's not a rigid airship.
To go up, drop ballast (sand)
To go down, vent hydrogen (buoyant.)
There are known events where people in these balloons stay aloft for 2/3 days in the clouds. They carry all the supplies (food, water, sleeping bags etc) and then sleep high in the sky while going with the wind currents. They map out their route perfectly by using high technology to follow the wind flow they need. The gas balloons are less than half the size of most of the hot-air balloons and don't need burners or propane tanks.
>>957895
the balloons must carry
everything the pilots need for
their safety and comfort for a
flight that can last 60 hours or more. The ball
oon can’t exactly stop at the local 7-11 for snack
and bathroom breaks. Most balloons have a “rain
skirt” attached to the lo
ad ring that the pilots
can lower over the basket in the event of rain or
to help keep the air in
the basket warmer at
night. Pilots also carry food (though most say they don’t tend to eat much while aloft), water,
layered clothing including heavy jackets and parkas, a small stove, reading material for those
rare moments when they aren’t busy, maps and logbooks, and – you were waiting for this,
weren’t you? – a porta-pottie or some equivalent.
>>957896
Gas ballooning in a race like the Gordon Bennett or America’s Challenge is an endeavor for the skilled and adventurous – it is not for sissies. Sitting aloft in a balloon for two or three days is not for everyone and can be, as the saying goes, hours of relative boredom punctuated by moments of
sheer terror. That said, gas balloonists tell of wonderful days and evenings aloft, cruising in silence (no burner noise!) except for the sounds wafting upward from earth. They see America in a way few people can – from a slow-moving platform suspended over the landscape. It is a truly unique and special experience undertaken by
a unique and special breed of balloonist.
>>957897
gas balloons take advantage
of winds blowing in different directions and at different speeds at different altitudes to take them where they want to go. However, because gas flights often cover hundreds
or even thousands of miles, pilots have to be able to get detailed weather information in flight. Often, this is a matter of safety as well as navigation, as the pilots have to be
able to avoid dangerous storms. Pilots get weather data through aviation flight service stations, and many employ meteorologists familiar with gas balloons who provide advice about weather and race strategy.
>>957898
Gas Balloons can fly higher and much longer then hot air balloons. The envelope is made of much thicker and stronger material then that of a hot air balloon.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_1htR8-FHI
How do you land? What stops it from exploding at high altitudes? Isn't helium rare and expensive?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGFn23JD8-o
>>957901
They don't use helium, they use hydrogen, which can easily be created through electrolysis and has more buoyancy then helium.
They have a flawless safety record. Why should it explode? Two things are missing to make it explode, oxygen, and the the necessary spark or fire. They don't fly when there is stormy weather with lightning. They plan in advance.
The envelope is very strong. You can shoot bullets through it and the hydrogen gas will escape slowly, and so will then the balloon would drop in altitude slowly. German Zeppelins in world war 1 got shot at with hundreds of normal bullets and they didn't explode. Even with hundreds of tears in the gasbags, they still often managed to cross the channel back to Germany, since the pressure inside the gasbags is very low, the gas has to be ''pushed out'', which is a slow process. So slow that you will only lose altitude slowly.
You land by venting off hydrogen. By doing so you will become heavier then air and you will go down. When they come close to the ground, they throw out a long, heavy rope, which helps guide the vehicle towards that place. When nearing the ground, they throw as much ballast away as possible, for a smoother landing. The rest of the procedure is the same as with a hot air balloon. Once landed, they vent of the remaining hydrogen, pack up and go home. Trips often last 2/3 days and they cover hundreds of miles, sometimes thousands. Using wind currents at different altitudes they calculate where they will land, it's all very professional. One team from Germany managed to land in England, 20 minutes away from their desalinated target, simply by playing with the different wind currents at different altitudes. They have competitions like that. It's great fun.
>>957904
>desalinated target
I meant to say destined target, autocorrect failure.
Watch these 2 series
Part 1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1KdJCJeghk
Part 2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDQRdiMIzwU
>>957953
Holy fk this is amazing, just sleeping above the city, only thing I´d worry about is going to the toilet lol. 750 kilometers trip, awesome.
> In 1995 a Gas Balloon approached the airspace of Belarus. Though the country had been notified of the Gasballoon race months in advance, a military helicopter intercepted the balloon and fired tracer bullets, exploding its hydrogen and killing both pilots.
Belarus is fucking cunts
>tfw no qt3.14 grill to take on a cross country roadtrip in a hydrogen balloon
>>957888
How expensive is it to fill the balloons?
>>958325
Helium - 3000$ - 10000$ depending on supplier
Hydrogen - 500$
This is why they stopped using helium pretty much. They still use it in the US but in Germany helium is harder to get and hydrogen is much cheaper.
In 100 years of gas ballooning the Gordon benett race only about 5 balloons went down
Some pilots carry parachutes but most don't. It's very safe.
If the balloon where to explode (which never happend, only the one time it was shot with tracers) there is a weak spot / blow panel at the top/side of the balloon that can burst and make the explosion less, intrusive. Not that it was ever needed.
There's a special skirt the pilots can deploy in case of rain, but most of the time they simply drop some ballast to go above the rain clouds. It's a sport that is very much tied to good weather of course.
Sadly the sport is not very popular, in contrast to hot air ballooning. The largest reason is because of the lack of good and local hydrogen suppliers. It's not that easy to get. But there are many benefits to gas ballooning, you can stay in the air for days, the balloon is stronger then a hot air balloon and also much smaller, so easier to pack and travel with. You also don't have to worry about continously burning gas in order to stay up, and you don't have the loud noise of the burner all the time.
There are more astronauts then gas-balloonists in the world.
>hydrogen
Sounds like a great idea.
>>958443
If we went with the "if it blows up once we stop using it" model the fort pinto would have put automobiles out of business
>>958534
If we went with the "cager carnage is avoidable" model 3/4 of all motorists would be taking public transit due to inability to demonstrate basic competence and another 1/5 would be in jail for committing the kind of safety violations that put airline pilots on the front page of the new york times.
>>958546
>He had to turn it into a "der cagerz"
Okay
>>958659
The latter obviously, pasted from a PDF file.
>>958443
I agree it was stupid to use that much hydrogen in such a large ship, however, the gas-balloons are small, an explosion is highly unlikely, and if it were to happen, not very large or hot either. The amount of hydrogen in the balloon would burn away in a matter of seconds, and the rip panel would allow the gasses to escape. Then either the pilots have to jump out with a chute, or die while falling. But real life has proven that gas balloons are very safe.
We use dangerous substances everywhere, don't be a little bitch.
>>958739
>get shot at with tracer bullets
>unlikely
>>958765
bait
>>958765
>Living in America
wow op nice
How expensive are these balloons/how hard is it to get trained to fly them?
Neat. It seems like something I'd enjoy.
