[Rhodes22-list] Brad: New Air Traffic

[Wally Buck]

Ed & Brad,

Many years ago I ran a restaurant/bar in Fayetville NC. For special events 
we filled baloons with helium and passed out to kids or used as decorations. 
After hours we were blowing off some steam enjoying some adult beverages 
when a couple of my bartenders came up with the idea to fill 50 gallon trash 
can liners with helium. We filled one up and let it go but it was so dark we 
quickly lost sight. We then decided it would be easier to see if we used 
more trash bags and added lights. So we filled up about 10 of these bags and 
tied them all together with about 50 regular balloons. I made a gondalo out 
of a small metal screen strainer tied to the balloon with butcher twine. On 
top of the gondola we lit sterno cans and then released.

It was awesoome. The "balloon" was about as big as a min-van and the sterno 
was providing plenty of light. Well the balloon was a couple of hundred feet 
high when the string caught fire causing the gondola to release 5 cans of 
burning sterno. Luckily it was about 4 in the morning and there was no 
traffic because the flaming sterno landed out in the road and splattered 
fire all over. We lost sight of the balloon and called it a night.

A couple of days later there was a small mention in the local news about our 
balloon. It seems the people out at near by Pope Airforce Base were looking 
for the owners of a large balloon that drifted over their air field. I 
freely admit that this was a stupid thing to do. At the time it seemd like a 
good idea.....

Wally

>From: brad haslett <flybrad at yahoo.com>
>Reply-To: The Rhodes 22 mail list <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
>To: The Rhodes 22 mail list <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
>Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] Brad:  New Air Traffic
>Date: Mon, 1 Nov 2004 19:35:01 -0800 (PST)
>
>Ed,
>
>That's too funny!  I'm getting ready to leave LA for
>Indy.  You may remember, about twenty years ago there
>was a guy in the LA area that got the bright idea to
>strap helium filled party balloons on a lawn chair.
>His "lift" control was a BB gun that he used to shoot
>out the balloons.  His flight path took him right
>through LAX airspace.  An airliner called approach
>control and said "you won't believe this, but we just
>had a guy go past us in a lawn chair".  What a way to
>earn your fifteen minutes of fame.
>
>Brad
>
>
>--- ed kroposki <ekroposki at charter.net> wrote:
>
> > Brad:
> >
> > There is new air traffic out there:
> >
> >
>www.hugi.is/hahradi/bigboxes.php?box_id=51208&f_id=1159
> >
> > Ed K
> >
> >
> >
> > __________________________________________________
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>
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