You must be in the Southwest somewhere.
Random Pictures Thread
- Thread starter ripjack13
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Yes, this is in Canyonlands National Park. Day before was in Arches, tomorrow to Capital Reef.
You shoulda put a cigarette lighter next to it to verify size. 
................... Nubs
................... Nubs
Good point!You shoulda put a cigarette lighter next to it to verify size.
Looks like it would be a perfect choice for a bonsai tree
These 2 have done better in their cracks in the rock, or maybe they’ve just been around longer.
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Is that Bristlecone Pine?
Don’t really know.
He's closer today than yesterday. Probably launched over by the Fairgrounds, approx 5 miles away. Always really early in the morning - I suppose for calmer conditions. It's interesting the Fairgrounds are almost adjacent to the airport so I wonder what kind of permissions this guy has to get to avoid being run over by a 737.
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It's cooler in the mornings, so the hot air made by the hot air furnace stays hot longer. ............ Nubs
got to disagree with you nubs.
Density altitude is the reason early morning flights are preferred. When I’m taking off from a high altitude airport in the morning, the altitude the airplane performs at is closer to the actual altitude when the air is cool. In the afternoon, an airport at 6,000 feet may have a density altitude of 9,000. Performance decreases with increased altitude. For a balloon, the temperature differential comes into play. Hot air is less dense than cooler air and as you know, that’s why hot air create lift. Aircraft also perform better in denser air and the air is more dense in cooler air.
The air also has less turbulence when the sun hasn’t heated the ground and there are less thermals which gives a smoother ride.
Density altitude is the reason early morning flights are preferred. When I’m taking off from a high altitude airport in the morning, the altitude the airplane performs at is closer to the actual altitude when the air is cool. In the afternoon, an airport at 6,000 feet may have a density altitude of 9,000. Performance decreases with increased altitude. For a balloon, the temperature differential comes into play. Hot air is less dense than cooler air and as you know, that’s why hot air create lift. Aircraft also perform better in denser air and the air is more dense in cooler air.
The air also has less turbulence when the sun hasn’t heated the ground and there are less thermals which gives a smoother ride.
Ok , Webb, come to Tucson in August, and if you can find a Balloon pilot to give you a ride at that time of year, I'll pay for your trip out here. The sun beating down of a balloon surface is going to cancel some of the lift the heater creates, giving the balloon a whole lot less lift if it even gets off the ground.
The cooler Winters are why all those balloon festivals are scattered across the country.
I get what you're saying about planes and altitude plus air temps. Sometimes, planes that are that are supposed to land in Phoenix, at 1135 feet, in the summer months are diverted to Tucson, approximately 2500 feet, because our temps are about 5-10 degrees less than Phoenix. It doesn't happen often, but since living here, I recall it's happened at least 3 times. ............ Nubs
I don't know and it would be best to ask a balloon pilot but I suspect it's 90% based on calmer conditions to they can better plot and control their flight path. But also the temperature differential is probably a factor - the difference in temperature between the air in the balloon and the ambient air is greater when it's cooler, so the balloon has more lift. Don't they hold a giant balloon fest down hear Tuscon - or is somewhere else? I've seen photos of dozens of balloons in a desert environment somewhere.
I can with confidence say, that both you and nubs are wrong about one thing.
The temperature does not directly affect the lift. The density of the balloon relative to the atmosphere does. The inside of the balloon is heated to decrease the density of the balloon as a whole. When the outside temperature is higher, the difference in density decreases and lift goes with it. But it is completely possible to decrease the density by other means. Such as filling the balloon with a gas with low density. H2 or He are common choices for balloons. He is used when humans are involved due to its inert nature. H2 can explode.
Also @Nubsnstubs some balloons have a black surface that automatically heats the inside of the balloon in sunny conditions thereby circumventing some of the effects of warm sunny weather.
I am a pilot with a couple of thousand hours and multiple ratings. I have some balloon time but I am not a fan of it for a lot of reasons.
Nubs said......"come to Tucson in August, and if you can find a Balloon pilot to give you a ride at that time of year, I'll pay for your trip out here."
Be careful of bets like this. Pilots with a lighter than air certificates quite often have fixed wing certificates. I would be willing to bet that I can find a pilot to give me a ride in Tucson in August. Since balloon was not specified, a ride in any aircraft would meet the language specifications of your statement.......
It's all good fun. Since I'm retired, woodworking is a hobby. Aviation is a passion. I've built 2 aircraft (RV7A, and RV8) and on Monday of last week sold my Bonanza so I'm down to just the RV8. Heck, If I come to Tucson, I'll give you a ride.
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"The temperature does not directly affect the lift. The density of the balloon relative to the atmosphere does. "
Cutting fine hairs here but temperature does effect density - courtesy of Robert Boyle. That's why pelicans and other pelagic birds like to fly just above the wave tops - because the air is cooler and therefore denser, which makes it easier for them to glide without flapping their wings as often.
So if the air inside the balloon has been heated to approximately the same temperature every time they launch (since it's essentially exhaust from the propane burner), if the air is denser outside the balloon, the differential is greater and therefore the lift potential is higher.
Cutting fine hairs here but temperature does effect density - courtesy of Robert Boyle. That's why pelicans and other pelagic birds like to fly just above the wave tops - because the air is cooler and therefore denser, which makes it easier for them to glide without flapping their wings as often.
So if the air inside the balloon has been heated to approximately the same temperature every time they launch (since it's essentially exhaust from the propane burner), if the air is denser outside the balloon, the differential is greater and therefore the lift potential is higher.
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juniper or cedar of some sort
Yep, it's held here in the coldest part of the year. I've been to a couple of them just to break up the monotony of nothing to do on a Sunday morning. The home of balloon festival is Albuquerque I believe and is the largest in the country, Tucson second.
I even went on a balloon ride about a week after the festival. Got to the site just before sunrise. The temp was above freezing but not over 40 yet as it was cold. We all helped with getting the balloon laid out, and watched it inflate until it was ready for flight just after daylight. I felt like a plant in a hanging pot as almost 20 of us were stuffed into that small basket. We flew about 10 miles, about 1+ hour, along the south face of the Catalina Mountains westward to the flat lands near Maranna.
It was still a lot of open desert then and you could see a lot of Cholla there. We were done with our ride about then, and instead of the pilot setting down in freshly cleared ground for housing, he instead kept us airborne until we got over that open desert with all the Cholla.
What was funny about the landing is the little wind you get will cause the basket to roll onto a side as you are landing. I was on the bottom of about 4 people, and the way I was hunched, my chest was about 1" from testing the sharpness of hundreds of thorns. I was wearing my field jacket with a liner so it wouldn't have been as bad as another of the unlucky plants.
It was a guy from England, and he would be on a flight from Tucson back to England at about 11 am. He had to have had over 500 thorns from the Teddy Bear Cholla. One of the passengers was a nurse, and another was helping her pluck the thorns because the nurse always had tweezers, and another just happened to some also. It took over 30 minutes for them to remove what they could see. Also, when you get stuck, the thorn has a skin that most times will break off from the thorn and stay in you. Sometimes they will irritate for days. I'm pretty sure the thorn recipient had a great flight home.
The pilot disappeared as soon as the ground crew showed up to disassemble and pack up the balloon. One of them indicated the pilot was in hearings and would probably lose his license.
Dogs don't like balloons flying over their house. ................. Nubs
i believe they are also riding the up draft created by the physical lift and curvature of the wave
from google
1. Wave-Slope Soaring
As ocean swells travel and break, they push air molecules upward and forward, creating invisible updrafts (much like wind hitting the face of a coastal cliff). [1, 2]
- The Cycle: A pelican flies extremely close to the water's surface to tap into this rising air. The bird gains kinetic energy and altitude by surfing the upward slope of the air created by the wave. [1, 2]
- The Glide: Once they reach the crest of the wave or build enough speed, they can bank away and convert that altitude into a long, flat glide out to the next approaching swell. [1]
- The Math: Researchers at Scripps Institution of Oceanography developed mathematical models proving that this process completely offsets the metabolic energy these large birds expend in flight. [1, 2]
2. The Ground Effect
When a bird (or airplane) flies incredibly close to a fixed surface, it experiences a phenomenon known as the ground effect.
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Ok Daniboy, why don't you organize a balloon festival here in Tucson in late July/August. I guarantee you it will be a complete failure as you won't find any balloon pilots that would want to participate. Not because it would be uncomfortable for them but because Hot Air balloons would not be safe. .............. Nubs