BiffJ
Pre-takeoff checklist
After watching the video of the totally wacked Swiss paragliding skiiers (very cool) I ran across the video of the father and son who launched a weather balloon with the I-phone and camera to 100,000 + feet and had a few comments and questions. Here is a link to the video for those who haven't seen it.
http://www.wimp.com/weatherballoon/
First I'd like to say that I think this is a fantastic way for parents and kids to learn real world useful info. It shows great initiative and excellent basic science that can launch a kid into the world of wonder electronics has become. I wish we had stuff like this when I was a kid....we had to use simple geometry to figure out how high our Estes rockets went. The whole crew seems to be pretty switched on and I'd like to applaud their effort.
It also brings up a few questions about regs broken and NORAD phone calls etc. Do you have to notify DoD or anyone when launching something like this? 60 kilofeet is the edge of the air defense zone isn't it? I know the FAA is already overwhelmed with fear from those nasty RC flyers so what would this do to the blood pressure of the average FAA regulator? Isn't there some reg covering this sort of thing?
I sincerely hope the guys who did the experiment don't have any jack booted thugs bringing them grief but whats going to happen when the copycats start doing free experimentation with similar "vehicles" and "spacecraft"? I can see elementary schools all over the US getting mobbed by swat teams and black helicopters.....where will it end?
Frank
http://www.wimp.com/weatherballoon/
First I'd like to say that I think this is a fantastic way for parents and kids to learn real world useful info. It shows great initiative and excellent basic science that can launch a kid into the world of wonder electronics has become. I wish we had stuff like this when I was a kid....we had to use simple geometry to figure out how high our Estes rockets went. The whole crew seems to be pretty switched on and I'd like to applaud their effort.
It also brings up a few questions about regs broken and NORAD phone calls etc. Do you have to notify DoD or anyone when launching something like this? 60 kilofeet is the edge of the air defense zone isn't it? I know the FAA is already overwhelmed with fear from those nasty RC flyers so what would this do to the blood pressure of the average FAA regulator? Isn't there some reg covering this sort of thing?
I sincerely hope the guys who did the experiment don't have any jack booted thugs bringing them grief but whats going to happen when the copycats start doing free experimentation with similar "vehicles" and "spacecraft"? I can see elementary schools all over the US getting mobbed by swat teams and black helicopters.....where will it end?
Frank
