If it’s not a thunderstorm, it’s wind. This morning the team attempted to launch its high altitude balloon with Felix but the wind was just too strong. As with any balloon flight, the weather conditions must be ideal; and in this case that means winds less than 5 mph. The 5.3 million cubic foot balloon that will be used for the 2nd manned flight stands 342 ft tall. Although strong, the balloon can be damaged by shearing winds. For safety’s sake, the team could not take any chances. Another attempt will be made when conditions look promising.
Don Day explains the forecast
The storm wins every time. Today’s test jump attempt to 90,000’ was scratched as thunderstorms started overtaking Roswell, NM. The team planned to launch Felix for its second manned test flight this morning, but weather conditions were not cooperating for a high altitude balloon launch. Instability in the atmosphere, clouds, and lightning all contributed. Learn more about the elements that must be considered for launch. The top picture shows the team carefully holding the specialized balloon as the decision was made to stop action due to thunderstorms.
Day Two @ Roswell, NM
Day 2 on the road with FlightLine Films. What does it take to get two enormous optical tracking systems and cameras to the Red Bull Stratos mission in Roswell, NM? Three trucks, one tough Humvee, and 2 full days of driving.
Day One @ Roswell, NM
Destination: Roswell, NM. Getting there might be half the challenge. Join me on the road with FlightLine Films for a nearly 800 mile trip. You won’t believe what it takes to get the caravan of crew, huge optical tracking equipment and cameras to the Red Bull Stratos mission…and we’re just getting started.
Test Jump 1 of 3 – Analysis
Go deeper into the equations, Wired.com’s Rhett Allain crunches the numbers from our biggest test jump yet….at 71,615 feet (21,828 meters).
45-foot paper airplane glides over Arizona desert
Cheers to the Pima Air & Space Museum for flying what might be the largest paper airplane ever constructed over the Arizona desert earlier this week.
The plane, dubbed Arturo’s Desert Eagle, was 45 feet long with a 24-foot wingspan and weighed in at a whopping 800 pounds.
It was built as part of the museum’s Giant Paper Airplane Project, designed to get kids psyched about aviation and engineering.
After a few false starts, the plane was towed into the sky above the Sonoran desert on Wednesday afternoon by a Sikorsky S58T helicopter.
The design team was hoping to get the monster paper airplane up to 4,000 or 5,000 feet before letting it loose, but due to wind conditions, the helicopter pilot decided to set it free at 2,703 feet.
It was still able to glide at speeds of close to 100 mph for 7 to 10 seconds before stress on the tail caused it to hurdle to the ground.
“It didn’t fare too well as an end game,” Tim Vimmerstedt, a spokesperson for the Pima Air & Space Museum told The Times. “It really is a crumbled mess.”
The plane was constructed of layers of falcon board, which Vimmerstedt described as a type of corrugated cardboard, similar to a pizza box.
The plane was designed and built in Lancaster by Art Thompson, who helped design the B-2 stealth bomber, but the design was based on a paper airplane folded by 12-year-old Tucson resident Arturo Valdenegro—winner of a paper airplane fly-off sponsored by the Pima Air & Space Museum in January.
In a video interview with the museum on the day of the launch, Valdenegro said before the Great Paper Airplane Project he thought that he might puruse a career in engineering, but after meeting Thompson and seeing his plane realized in giant size, he now knows he’s going to be an engineer when he grows up.
For the musuem, that’s the real mission accomplished.
Read Article on Los Angeles Times