We have a camera on board a hydrogen-filled gas balloon as its crew breaks the world women's record for flight duration. Dr Janet Folkes, one of the pilots, talks us through the extraordinary footage.
My congratulations to this feat! I think the gas balloon gave us humans a way of travelling which is incomparable to anything else. Even in a hot-air balloon, you got the burner heat and noise and the limitation to the dusk and dawn hours to fly. In the gas balloon you have utter silence and, as you can see, several days of flight time. Well done! It is nice that you made the 6th place and broke the record!
Warm air requires some source of energy to keep it warm, and in the case of hot air balloons, that source of energy would come from burning fuel; which is a limited resource. But when you have something that is naturally buoyant to the surrounding atmosphere, it would be and is, a better choice, especially for prolonged flights. And as you can see, the balloon is made out of a certain material that prevents the hydrogen from escaping; giving this balloon enormous amounts of air time. :)
I'd like to go in a quiet gas balloon, order pizza (assuming I can use a mobile phone in a hydrogen balloon). I'd ask the chef to stand outside, close his/her eyes and raise the pizza aloft. I'd silently swoop in and grab the tasty morcel. Aside from all that nonsense, this was a great video, very well done.
There is a great quote from the Hindenberg (last flight was 77 hours and 8 minutes in a bit more comfort than these ladies had.): "Oh the Humanity!" That's what i think about many RU-vid comments. Nice video!
you and me both buddy. But I actually think that they either had a box that they would use, or either some sort of compartment on the balloon's carriage that would allow one to defecate.
I've only been in a tethered hot air balloon and hope to go for a real balloon ride... Here I am talking about hydrogen being dangerous and I was right next to several propane tanks in that tethered balloon.
@Soulrider2012 also wind resistance and air resistance are two different things, a balloon travels with the wind so whilst airborne there is no air resistance except when moving between different directions and/or speeds at different altitudes thus having wind hitting the top of the balloon differently to at the bottom as it climbs or descends between the different winds.
Because of the sheer basic physical differences between Male and Female endurances. Just like having a male/female 100m race would be disadvantageous to the ladies, the baloon records are also a similar case.
Might have another explanation because helium is used widely no-a-days in airships like the Goodyear and the Canon Blimp. I think probably it is the price or the easiness of obtaining one over the other that plays a part in the chousing of the flammable hydrogen. I would expect that safety would play a role in the option. But thats why my question since I really dont know.
what scares me is the going down, imagine wanting to go down and the ballon keeps going up, i know they can bring it down, i only fly in something with an engine in it.
Landing at night? Seems like if you decide to keep going through the night, you'd be sure you can do it. Maybe they had night vision goggles to make it safer. I guess the gas cooled down and there was not enough ballast left to continue flying? Sure looks fun!
@jacegil A balloon tends to be larger than most 20lb objects, thus the air resistance is more, for example when you take 2 sheets of paper and crunch one up, the crunched up one lands first despite being the same weight.
She actually took a dump in her hand and threw it over the side? WTF?! I guess it doesn't matter over the ocean... glad they blurred it out though, lol.
@Soulrider2012 If there was lift the balloon would not descend, the weight of the balloon has to be negative for it to descend, my initial answer is correct, due to the Hydrogen and the size of the balloon the density of the weight when it is say 20lbs more than the lift of the balloon is far less than a 20lbs lead weight and far more air has to be displaced. Same with a skydiver; the weight is the same before and after the parachute opens but the open parachute creates more resistance.
Hydrogen filled gas balloon is always a wonderful sight to watch it was one of my fantasy to fly one, thought flight in a hellium filled balloon but it was tethered one flew to height 200 m. i congratualte these two women record breakeers on their epic journey..i wish them all the success in future..
You probably mean ''sorry that was a really stupid question my knowledge about the world is pre-medieval, I have still a lot to learn thank you for answering my question''
Seeing as 'TrashPoet' has removed his comment out of embarrassment; I have taken the liberty to repeat exactly what he said; and what I replied to. ~Frosty "TrashPoet (1 hour ago) They are filled with Helium, which does not explode. Go get yourself an education."
Well, warm air may work during the day, but for longer journeys that will take Days and Nights, Nights obviously being much colder in the air at night, "Hot Air" simply isn't enough. Whereas a lighter-than-air Gas, such as Helium or Hydrogen is safer than you think and much more effective.
ah ok, Thanks for the answer.. Hindenburg made people scared of hydrogen but maybe they have better skills now in working with material that doesn't produce static electricity.
That might be a peaceful trip; ´hot air balloon` and ´gas balloon` are world apart when it comes to comfort. I remember when flying a hot air balloon in Lake Perris (Southern California) how hot it would get when the blower was fired. Even with helmet my head would get hot and the noise was loud and annoying, swaaasshhhhhhhh, swaaassshhhh, besides when the gas was gone you were down anywhere. Gas balloon seems to float forever,...I just did not understand why hydrogen instead helium?
A good GPS would be enough to give all those informations. A GPS gives you traveling speed, distance, positioning, altitude! Needs more? It just doesnt give you balls, thats all :)
