Two get very high, and other hot air balloon related foolery

Saturday, January 29, 2005

High flight in 1875

Found this.........

In the spring of 1875, and with the co-operation of Frenchscientific societies, it was determined to make two experimental voyages in a balloon called the "Zenith," one ofthese to be of long duration, the other of great height. Thefirst of these had been successfully accomplished in a flightof twenty-four hours' duration from Paris to Bordeaux. It was now April the 15th, and the lofty flight was embarked upon byM. Gaston Tissandier, accompanied by MM. Croce-Spinelli and Sivel. Under competent advice, provision for respiration onemergency was provided in three small balloons, filled with amixture of air and oxygen, and fitted with indiarubber hosepipes, which would allow the mixture, when inhaled, to passfirst through a wash bottle containing aromatic fluid. Theexperiments determined on included an analysis of theproportion of carbonic acid gas at different heights by meansof special apparatus; spectroscopic observations, and thereadings registered by certain barometers and thermometers. Anovel and valuable experiment, also arranged, was that oftesting the internal temperature of the balloon as comparedwith that of the external air.Ascending at 11.30 a.m. under a warm sun, the balloon had by 1p.m. reached an altitude of 16,000 feet, when the external airwas at freezing point, the gas high in the balloon being 72degrees, and at the centre 66 degrees. Ere this height hadbeen fully reached, however, the voyagers had begun to breatheoxygen. At 11.57, an hour previously, Spinelli had written inhis notebook, "Slight pain in the ears--somewhat oppressed--itis the gas." At 23,000 feet Sivel wrote in his notebook, "I aminhaling oxygen--the effect is excellent," after which heproceeded to urge the balloon higher by a discharge of ballast. The rest of the terrible narrative has now to be taken from thenotes of M. Tissandier, and as these constitute one of the mostthrilling narratives in aeronautical records we transcribe themnearly in full, as given by Mr. Glaisher:--"At 23,000 feet we were standing up in the car. Sivel, who hadgiven up for a moment, is re-invigorated. Croce-Spinelli ismotionless in front of me.... I felt stupefied and frozen. Iwished to put on my fur gloves, but, without being conscious ofit, the action of taking them from my pocket necessitated aneffort that I could no longer make.... I copy, verbatim, thefollowing lines which were written by me, although I have novery distinct remembrance of doing so. They are traced in ahardly legible manner by a hand trembling with cold: 'My handsare frozen. I am all right. We are all all right. Fog in thehorizon, with little rounded cirrus. We are ascending. Crocepants; he inhales oxygen. Sivel closes his eyes. Croce alsocloses his eyes.... Sivel throws out ballast'--these last wordsare hardly readable. Sivel seized his knife and cutsuccessively three cords, and the three bags emptied themselvesand we ascended rapidly. The last remembrance of this ascentwhich remains clear to me relates to a moment earlier. Croce-Spinelli was seated, holding in one hand a wash bottle ofoxygen gas. His head was slightly inclined and he seemedoppressed. I had still strength to tap the aneroid barometerto facilitate the movement of the needle. Sivel had justraised his hand towards the sky. As for myself, I remainedperfectly still, without suspecting that I had, perhaps,already lost the power of moving. About the height of 25,000feet the condition of stupefaction which ensues isextraordinary. The mind and body weaken by degrees, andimperceptibly, without consciousness of it. No suffering isthen experienced; on the contrary, an inner joy is felt like anirradiation from the surrounding flood of light. One becomesindifferent. One thinks no more of the perilous position or ofdanger. One ascends, and is happy to ascend. The vertigo ofthe upper regions is not an idle word; but, so far as I canjudge from my personal impression, vertigo appears at the lastmoment; it immediately precedes annihilation, sudden,unexpected, and irresistible."When Sivel cut away the bags of ballast at the height of about24,000 feet, I seemed to remember that he was sitting at thebottom of the car, and nearly in the same position asCroce-Spinelli. For my part, I was in the angle of the car,thanks to which support I was able to hold up; but I soon felttoo weak even to turn my head to look at my companions. Soon Iwished to take hold of the tube of oxygen, but it wasimpossible to raise my arm. My mind, nevertheless, was quiteclear. I wished to explain, 'We are 8,000 metres high'; but mytongue was, as it were, paralysed. All at once I closed myeyes, and, sinking down inert, became insensible. This wasabout 1.30 p.m. At 2.8 p.m. I awoke for a moment, and foundthe balloon rapidly descending. I was able to cut away a bagof ballast to check the speed and write in my notebook thefollowing lines, which I copy:" 'We are descending. Temperature, 3 degrees. I throw outballast. Barometer, 12.4 inches. We are descending. Siveland Croce still in a fainting state at the bottom of the car. Descending very rapidly.'"Hardly had I written these lines when a kind of tremblingseized me, and I fell back weakened again. There was a violentwind from below, upwards, denoting a very rapid descent. Aftersome minutes I felt myself shaken by the arm, and I recognisedCroce, who had revived. 'Throw out ballast,' he said to me,'we are descending '; but I could hardly open my eyes, and didnot see whether Sivel was awake. I called to mind that Croceunfastened the aspirator, which he then threw overboard, andthen he threw out ballast, rugs, etc."All this is an extremely confused remembrance, quicklyextinguished, for again I fell back inert more completely thanbefore, and it seemed to me that I was dying. What happened?It is certain that the balloon, relieved of a great weight ofballast, at once ascended to the higher regions."At 3.30 p.m. I opened my eyes again. I felt dreadfully giddyand oppressed, but gradually came to myself. The balloon wasdescending with frightful speed and making great oscillations. I crept along on my knees, and I pulled Sivel and Croce by thearm. 'Sivel! Croce!' I exclaimed, 'Wake up!' My twocompanions were huddled up motionless in the car, covered bytheir cloaks. I collected all my strength, and endeavoured toraise them up. Sivel's face was black, his eyes dull, and hismouth was open and full of blood. Croce's eyes were halfclosed and his mouth was bloody."To relate what happened afterwards is quite impossible. Ifelt a frightful wind; we were still 9,700 feet high. Thereremained in the car two bags of ballast, which I threw out. Iwas drawing near the earth. I looked for my knife to cut thesmall rope which held the anchor, but could not find it. I waslike a madman, and continued to call 'Sivel! Sivel!' By goodfortune I was able to put my hand upon my knife and detach theanchor at the right moment. The shock on coming to the groundwas dreadful. The balloon seemed as if it were being flattened. I thought it was going to remain where it had fallen, but thewind was high, and it was dragged across fields, the anchor notcatching. The bodies of my unfortunate friends were shakenabout in the car, and I thought every moment they would bejerked out. At length, however, I seized the valve line, andthe gas soon escaped from the balloon, which lodged against atree. It was then four o'clock. On stepping out, I was seizedwith a feverish attack, and sank down and thought for a momentthat I was going to join my friends in the next world; but Icame to. I found the bodies of my friends cold and stiff. Ihad them put under shelter in an adjacent barn. The descent ofthe 'Zenith' took place in the plains 155 miles from Paris asthe crow flies. The greatest height attained in this ascent isestimated at 28,000 feet."

Seems easy then

Tuesday, January 18, 2005

I think this underlines the risk

Should the oxygen fail how long have we got??

Figure 8 - Times of Useful Consciousness(Effective performance time)

Altitude Conscious time
20,000 5 – 12 minutes
25,000 2 – 3 minutes
30,000 45 – 75 seconds
35,000 30 – 60 seconds
40,000 10 – 30 seconds
45,000 12 – 15 seconds
50,000+ 12 or less seconds

Concentrates the mind

G

Friday, January 14, 2005


It must be time to start training, sensibly keeping it at bay until after Christmas and new year is over. After all who would be able to keep to a diet at Christmas.

No more pies (well a reduced amount from Fred and Sues fab pie shop) see the inserted image to see just how much of a treasured customer I am. They don't actually put any lard in because I'm a vegetarian, I understand they even make pies for people that eat meat! I may be a vegetarian but at least I don't have a fork wrapped around my wrist! You will have had to have seen this seasons first celeb weakest link here in South Africa to understand that!

Even worse no more proper beer from The Nottingham Road Brewery, http://www.brewery.co.za, well actually somewhat less. A little of what you like does you good, thats the tag line isn't it??

No if I can reduce my total weight to 80KG i.e. a whole 10 less than I currently am then its 10 more KG of fuel or gadgets that we can take to altitude. The only time you have too much fuel is when your on fire. My younger brother has been on the Atkins diet for more than a year now and is considerably lighter than previously.

I'm a bit afraid of that diet I'm not sure its sensible and perhaps if I drop the odd chocolate bar that I buy, reduce the amount of beer and only have every other pie from Fred and Sue then it should be ok.

So with no small amount of beer, no sorry fear, I pledge to reduce my weight to 80KG by the first week of May 2005, in order to go on standby for the high flight from the 9th of May, gulp.

Gary

http://www.airborneadventuresafrica.com Posted by Hello

Tuesday, January 11, 2005


The real star of the attempt, the Lindstrand 180A that Lev stood on top of at ABSA stadium last March whilst Darren Scott broadcast from below. Posted by Hello


So much wisdom in one so young

Ladys and gentle men the star of the show!!! Lev demonstrates his sunglasses balancing trick!

Posted by Hello

Monday, January 10, 2005

Start Spreading the News

Heres the plan, hopefully Lev and I will keep this updated with the latest news........

Two get very high Lev David and Gary Mortimer Broadcast from 9km up and make a TV show

How does the story look?

Having followed Lev and Gary through a training process they don protective clothing and oxygen equipment to ride in an open wicker basket to an altitude just higher than Everest. The balloon lifts at the beginning of the East Coast Bokomo breakfast show. One or two of Levs workmates circle in a private jet sipping champagne and eating a luxurious breakfast whilst circling the climbing balloon. Following on the ground, the final breakfast show host. The entire event filmed by cameras attached to points around the basket and suspended from the envelope.

Do what??

There is currently no official South African height record for Hot Air Balloons.Anybody that has been to height has not carried the required equipment to ratify their attempts with the FAI (Fédération Aéronautique Internationale) the people that oversee aviation record attempts.
Why 9km?
Its just higher than Everest
The safety equipment required is not too onerous.
It can be done within 3 hours
On a clear day most of the province should see us.

Where
The attempt would probably have to take place East of the N3 and North of PMB.
Controlled airspace, the airways system and Drakensberg get in the way to the West and Durban’s too close to the sea. Where we land? Who knows.

Training will have to include the following.
Fitness
Altitude
Parachute
Lev balloon piloting