Weather Balloons
steve boyer
passed within 100 feet of 2 small weather balloons.
I have recently seen companies advertising balloons that will soar to 100000
feet ASL! Doesn't the FAA regulate this? If so, who can I report these
companies to?
I fly small planes occassionally and see this as a serious hazard for
private pilots and commercial flights.
Jim Withrow
steve boyer wrote in message ...
>I was just on a commercial flight to O'hare and at about 7000 feet our
plane
>passed within 100 feet of 2 small weather balloons.
What do you considered a small weather balloon?
>I have recently seen companies advertising balloons that will soar to
100000
>feet ASL! Doesn't the FAA regulate this?
Regulating a helium balloon would be impossible. Just think of all those
kids who
will be charged with a crime for letting go of their balloon.
>If so, who can I report these companies to?
>
>I fly small planes occassionally and see this as a serious hazard for
>private pilots and commercial flights.
As a pilot, you MIGHT want to have the weather balloons released. Without
such,
weather prediction including winds aloft might get very difficult.
Jim
Neema Jalali
for a single-engine plane to hit a weather balloon?
steve boyer wrote:
> I was just on a commercial flight to O'hare and at about 7000 feet our plane
> passed within 100 feet of 2 small weather balloons.
> I have recently seen companies advertising balloons that will soar to 100000
> feet ASL! Doesn't the FAA regulate this? If so, who can I report these
James Bieker
opportunity to dodge the balloon.
WX balloons weigh very little, the radiosonde has little metal outside of
the battery.
steve boyer
engine.
In a single engine prop plane I imagine it could get tangled in the
propeller shaft
either way, it seems to me that the general public shouldn't be sending
anything more than a couple of hundred feet up.
James Bieker wrote in message <7noh2v$ckn$1...@ins22.netins.net>...
Dave Mould
James Bieker <jebieke...@netins.net> wrote in message
news:7noh2v$ckn$1...@ins22.netins.net...
> Not nearly as bad as a bird strike, I would bet. You have a small
> opportunity to dodge the balloon.
>
> WX balloons weigh very little, the radiosonde has little metal outside of
> the battery.
Depends on the type of Wx balloon. I've seen some that are quite large,
carrying a substantial amount of kit. I would not like to hit one in
flight. Birds are soft compared to a pound or two of metal.
Small balloons can often be seen several thousand feet above a fairground or
fete. Unless they got stuck in an air intake or on an oil cooler, I doubt
that they pose a serious risk. Be prepared for these symptoms though, and
know how to handle them.
Dave Mould
Peregrine
steve boyer <in...@skyboy.com> wrote in message
news:rpvo1n$0$37nspbi$n...@corp.supernews.com...
> either way, it seems to me that the general public shouldn't be sending
> anything more than a couple of hundred feet up.
>
This strikes me as rather ironic given the consistent message in this
newsgroup that flying is already over-regulated...
George R. Patterson III
>
> either way, it seems to me that the general public shouldn't be sending
> anything more than a couple of hundred feet up.
The general public can make a much better argument that little planes
shouldn't be flying over where they choose to release balloons.
George Patterson, N3162Q.
Steven P. McNicoll
Neema Jalali <nja...@us.oracle.com> wrote in message
news:379FAAEB...@us.oracle.com...
>
> I remember almost nailing one on my very first solo X-C.
> How bad would it be for a single-engine plane to hit a
> weather balloon?
>
The balloon itself? Probably not too bad. I think a greater threat would
be the instrument package and parachute hanging beneath it.
Steven P. McNicoll
Mike Sugimoto <phl...@fumbling.com> wrote in message
news:7np53f$qv6$1...@news.islandnet.com...
>
> According to the AIM, if the balloon is operated in Class B,
> C, D, or E airspace, it must be approved by an ATC facility.
>
What weather balloon would NOT penetrate Class B, C, D, or E airspace?
>
> Only if you run into it or the instrument package. Like guy
> wires on antennae, the package and the trailing cable tend
> to be invisible until you're Real Close<tm>, which is why
> flight below balloons is to be avoided. The AIM encourages
> pilots to report the location of these balloons to ATC so they
> can be tracked (they're required to have radar reflectors
> as part of their payload).
>
Radar reflectors? I'm an air traffic controller, I work at an airport with
Airport Surveillance Radar and National Weather Service on the field. The
radar is about two miles from the balloon launch point. I've seen many
balloons launched from the tower, I never saw a balloon on radar.
Steven P. McNicoll
>
> I don't know. I *do* know there are some people (researchers)
> that operate unmanned balloons out in places that could
> conceivably be Class G airspace and therefore not require
> prior ATC authorization. There are several facilities that do this
> up in the arctic, IIRC, and they're far enough away from the rest
> of the world and chunks of controlled airspace that they can do
> this more or less at will.
>
There is Class E airspace even in the Arctic regions of Alaska.
You wrote; "According to the AIM, if the balloon is operated in Class B, C,
D, or E airspace, it must be approved by an ATC facility." That's not
correct, ATC authorization is required to operate an unmanned free balloon
below 2,000 feet above the surface within the lateral boundaries of the
SURFACE AREAS of Class B, Class C, Class D, or Class E airspace.
>
> While I don't dispute your experience (and I don't doubt that you're
> correct), the FARs are quite explicit on this subject:
>
> Sec. 101.35 Equipment and marking requirements.
> (a) No person may operate an unmanned free balloon unless--
> [...]
> (3) The balloon envelope is equipped with a radar reflective
> device(s) or material that will present an echo to surface
> radar operating in the 200 MHz to 2700 MHz frequency range.
>
The FARs are also quite explicit on which unmanned free balloons are
governed by Part 101 and which are not. Some years ago now my
brother-in-law showed me an instrument package from a weather balloon he
found on the family farm. It was made primarily of plastic and light
cardboard, with just a few small metal parts. As I recall, it was
surprisingly light.
Sec. 101.1 Applicability.
(a) This part prescribes rules governing the operation in the United
States, of the following:
[skip]
(4) Except as provided for in Sec. 101.7, any unmanned free balloon
that--
(i) Carries a payload package that weighs more than four pounds and
has a weight/size ratio of more than three ounces per square inch on any
surface of the package, determined by dividing the total weight in ounces of
the payload package by the area in square inches of its smallest surface;
(ii) Carries a payload package that weighs more than six pounds;
(iii) Carries a payload, of two or more packages, that weighs more
than 12 pounds; or
(iv) Uses a rope or other device for suspension of the payload that
requires an impact force of more than 50 pounds to separate the suspended
payload from the balloon.
[skip]
>
> I have no idea how this works in practice. ASR is secondary
> radar, feeding off transponders, yes? Reflectors just enhance
> the primary echo return, so if you're not looking for it (ie, looking
> for transponders only), you won't see it.
>
No, ASR is Airport Surveillance Radar, it has both primary and secondary
radar. Our primary radar works quite well. If NWS was launching balloons
with radar reflectors just two miles away from the radar antenna, we would
definitely see them.
>
> (Reading the section a bit more closely, I think the key words in
> 101.35(a)(3) are "surface radar." Surface radar, so far as I know,
> has always been primary radar, so this might have been my bad
> for not reading the regulation closely enough when posting this
> last night. This being the case, strike what I said about ATC
> tracking and insert something else.)
>
Some Air Route Surveillance Radars are secondary radar only.
Steven P. McNicoll
>
> I was just on a commercial flight to O'hare and at about 7000
> feet our plane passed within 100 feet of 2 small weather
> balloons. I have recently seen companies advertising
> balloons that will soar to 100000 feet ASL! Doesn't the FAA
> regulate this?
>
Yes, unmanned free balloons are covered in Part 101 of the Federal Aviation
Regulations.
>
> If so, who can I report these companies to?
>
Report them for what? If you're not familiar with the regulations, how do
you know they're in violation of them?
>
> I fly small planes occassionally and see this as a serious hazard for
> private pilots and commercial flights.
>
What is the hazard?
John W
much damage however at 135 knots going through the prop... I would prefer it
didn't.
Steven P. McNicoll wrote in message ...