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SCENIC FLIGHT TRAGEDY: 11 dead in hot air balloon crash in New Zealand
news.com.au ^
| Jan. 6, 2012
| AAP
Posted on 01/06/2012 2:44:03 PM PST by Berlin_Freeper
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To: Berlin_Freeper
Prayers up.
It’s a wonder we don’t hear about these kinds of accidents more often.
2
posted on
01/06/2012 2:48:11 PM PST
by
HiJinx
(I can (still) see Mexico from my back porch.)
To: HiJinx
Very terrible. Prayers for the deceased.
To: Berlin_Freeper
Prayers for the families involved.
4
posted on
01/06/2012 2:54:44 PM PST
by
Shery
(in APO Land)
To: Berlin_Freeper
My last balloon ride about 25 years including crashing into the top of a large oak tree... Not good...
5
posted on
01/06/2012 2:57:06 PM PST
by
DB
To: HiJinx
No kidding.
I don’t know how many times those balloons have been dragged across the east range.
6
posted on
01/06/2012 3:14:06 PM PST
by
mylife
(The Roar Of The Masses Could Be Farts)
To: mylife
How does one slow down lateral velocity of a balloon anyway?
To: mamelukesabre
8
posted on
01/06/2012 3:20:05 PM PST
by
mylife
(The Roar Of The Masses Could Be Farts)
To: mylife
Then how do you land if a breeze picks up? Do you stay in the air until the wind stops? By then you could be in the wrong country...or out to sea.
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10
posted on
01/06/2012 3:25:25 PM PST
by
DJ MacWoW
(America! The wolves are here! What will you do?)
To: mamelukesabre
I think the idea is to fly when there are no breezes.
11
posted on
01/06/2012 3:27:54 PM PST
by
mylife
(The Roar Of The Masses Could Be Farts)
To: mylife
That would result in a ride straight up and straight down.
To: Berlin_Freeper
Yikes, my friend and her husband are in NZ right now!
13
posted on
01/06/2012 3:37:43 PM PST
by
Ditter
To: mamelukesabre
Then how do you land if a breeze picks up? Do you stay in the air until the wind stops? By then you could be in the wrong country...or out to sea. Theoretically you could drop an anchor and hope that it catches onto something. However the dynamic forces could be strong enough to tear the gondola open. It's one of a million reasons why we don't use "lighter than air" aviation anymore. To stay in control you need power that is stronger than the forces of nature.
14
posted on
01/06/2012 3:48:46 PM PST
by
Greysard
To: Berlin_Freeper
Those hot air balloons used to come over my house in N San Diego all the time, sometimes quite low. The sound of that big blow torch suddenly blasting away after dead silence used to scare the bejeesus out of me. Watching that blaster was just as bad.
No way would I get into something that required an onbaord blast furnace to stay aloft.
To: doorgunner69
I got on one in France and was off in 30 seconds!
16
posted on
01/06/2012 4:04:32 PM PST
by
DooDahhhh
(ma)
To: mamelukesabre
No. You can catch air streams at higher altitudes.
17
posted on
01/06/2012 4:04:53 PM PST
by
mylife
(The Roar Of The Masses Could Be Farts)
To: doorgunner69
Jet engines are onboard blast furnaces. Not handheld but they burn quite hot and have been known to fail under certain conditions. Final flight of the last Concorde comes to mind.
18
posted on
01/06/2012 4:07:24 PM PST
by
Secret Agent Man
(I'd like to tell you, but then I'd have to kill you.)
To: Berlin_Freeper
I took a two hour ride on one last fall here in Oregon. One of the coolest things I’ve done in a long time.
19
posted on
01/06/2012 4:25:58 PM PST
by
Busywhiskers
("Once you have wrestled, everything else in life is easy" -Dan Gable)
To: Busywhiskers
Two feet on Terra Firma and a head filled with common sense I be.
I gaze up at the folks feet floating by, their heads filled with balloon juice and navigating with champagne and sour Diesel.
They must be organ donors.
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