Man accidentally floats 190 miles in a balloon
Over in northeast China, Hu Yongxu was riding in a hydrogen balloon to harvest pine cones when the balloon came untethered and ended up floating 190 miles with him in it before he could be rescued. (More info: Daily Mail)
This reminds me of the 1937 case of the photographer who accidentally floated 13 miles suspended from weather balloons. And, of course, there's also the case of Lawnchair Larry, though he deliberately set off on his aerial adventure.
I hadn't known that hydrogen balloons were used to harvest pine nuts. Some footage below:
This reminds me of the 1937 case of the photographer who accidentally floated 13 miles suspended from weather balloons. And, of course, there's also the case of Lawnchair Larry, though he deliberately set off on his aerial adventure.
I hadn't known that hydrogen balloons were used to harvest pine nuts. Some footage below:
Comments
Well, it's safe until there's a random spark. Then Mr. Sun and his buddies may look like our sun -- the one already in the sky. Does the Hindenburg experience sound familiar??
Helium would be way more expensive, I would think.
Helium would be way more expensive, I would think.
Posted by Virtual in Carnate on 09/12/22 at 08:52 AM
Hydrogen balloons are surprisingly safe during flight. During early WWI, it was very, very rare for a bullet hole in a gas bag of a Zeppelin to catch fire, and when it did, the escaping hydrogen would push the flame away from the hole (pure hydrogen doesn't burn -- it has to mix with air/oxygen). The phosphor bullets eventually developed to bring them down fragmented upon impact, creating a tear, releasing a lot of gas over a wide area.
The greatest danger for hydrogen airships was during landing, when hydrogen was vented to reduce lift, creating an explosive atmosphere within the outer shell.
(Caveat: I know of this only because of a recent rabbit hole caused by a mention on "QI" that each Zeppelin used the intestines of a quarter million cattle. More info: https://www.warhistoryonline.com/war-articles/zeppelins-made-out-of-cow-intestines.html )
The greatest danger for hydrogen airships was during landing, when hydrogen was vented to reduce lift, creating an explosive atmosphere within the outer shell.
(Caveat: I know of this only because of a recent rabbit hole caused by a mention on "QI" that each Zeppelin used the intestines of a quarter million cattle. More info: https://www.warhistoryonline.com/war-articles/zeppelins-made-out-of-cow-intestines.html )
Posted by Phideaux on 09/12/22 at 12:36 PM
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Category: Air Travel and Airlines