Can I weather balloon up above A

[MDeitch1976]

If I get a tow from a weather balloon above FL600, if I had a capable plane(hypothetical) can I now fly VFR? Coming back down, do I just tell them I got trapped above the "A". Or if in a hypothetical hig altitude piston LSA with a chute, just float back down through?

 

[Jim Logajan]

If I get a tow from a weather balloon above FL600, if I had a capable plane(hypothetical) can I now fly VFR? Coming back down, do I just tell them I got trapped above the "A". Or if in a hypothetical hig altitude piston LSA with a chute, just float back down through?

The weather balloon becomes a manned balloon as soon as you attach your manned aircraft to it, and then it would need ATC clearance before ascending into Class A. So your hypothetical doesn't work quite the way you want.

 

[flyingmoose]

You wouldn't have much of a choice, if they tell you no, then what are you going to do?

I suppose you question relates to the regs, and they say that you must be on an instrument flight plane and be rated for such to be in class A. Not too sure on the rules for floating thru it with a balloon, but I would guess that someone would need to know. Ask Felix if he needed one.

 

[MDeitch1976]

The weather balloon becomes a manned balloon as soon as you attach your manned aircraft to it, and then it would need ATC clearance before ascending into Class A. So your hypothetical doesn't work quite the way you want.

So in reality the Class E is for Spy Planes, so they don't have to talk to anyone?

 

[Jim Logajan]

If you want to get an aircraft above Class A without having to pass through it, just fly more than 3 NM beyond the U.S. coast and ascend to 60K+ feet, then fly back over the coast.

 

[poadeleted20]

Given that in your unpressurized plane you'd be dead before the balloon let you go, I doubt the answer would matter to you. But the technical answer is that above FL600, you're out of ATC's concerns -- you can do whatever you want. They would only care when wanted to descend back below FL600. And, obviously, on the way up, you'd need an ATC clearance all the way from the base of Class A at 18,000 MSL through the top of Class A at FL600. But once up there, you're entirely on your own.

 

[MDeitch1976]

Given that in your unpressurized plane you'd be dead before the balloon let you go, I doubt the answer would matter to you. But the technical answer is that above FL600, you're out of ATC's concerns -- you can do whatever you want. They would only care when wanted to descend back below FL600. And, obviously, on the way up, you'd need an ATC clearance all the way from the base of Class A at 18,000 MSL through the top of Class A at FL600. But once up there, you're entirely on your own.

"Center 610PS Emergency trapped on top A, Oxygen tank low, and my clothing is not as warm as I thought"

 

[Jim Logajan]

If you want to get an aircraft above Class A without having to pass through it, just fly more than 3 NM beyond the U.S. coast and ascend to 60K+ feet, then fly back over the coast.

Found an oddity in the regs:

I got the 3 nm number from section 91.1. That is how far out it says Part 91 is applicable.

But in 71.33(a) it says Class A extends 12 nm from the coast.

One place I can see where that extra 9 nm difference might come into play is Part 103 operations. I'm too lazy to check the regs for unmanned balloons and such.

 

[Bobcat1]

You get a waiver for a window on the way up and on the way down. Glider pilots do it all the time for wave windows in the Sierras. If you had the life support system to do it, an arrangement can be made with ATC.