Its in a tree. The same fate as so many of my kites and RC airplanes...
Blimp eating tree?
Blimps over DC
- Thread starter dell30rb
- Start date
Blimp eating tree?
StinkBug
Cleared for Takeoff
They probably didn't have one, which means now our government will be spending millions buying up a fleet of 152s for "blimp interdiction"
thank you .....Ron...for clearing that confusion up.
Only know that because I worked for BRL for five years (actually Levy worked in the same building I did but we were there at different times).
Checkout_my_Six
Touchdown! Greaser!
OK....now that explains why there is just one ground..
Stingray Don
En-Route
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Stingray Don
Well played!
Bonchie
Pattern Altitude
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Bonchie
Its in a tree. The same fate as so many of my kites and RC airplanes...
Just when I thought the government couldn't think of any stupider of a way to waste $2.7 billion...they do this and totally redeem themselves.
Checkout_my_Six
Touchdown! Greaser!
no worries.....it was only $30M....not $2.7B 
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Snorting his way across the USA
Can't they like, have Bruce Willis rappel up the tether and manually fly it to the ground?
TUPilot
Pre-takeoff checklist
no worries.....it was only $30M....not $2.7B
Latest I've heard is $175 million for the aerostat and associated equipment (not sure if that includes ground support equipment or just what was in the air).
Don't worry though, the whole program is 2.7 billion and every indication I've seen still supports Bonchie's conclusion, even if the entire 2.7 billion isn't snagged in a tree at the moment.
Like any contractor run government program, it is a zombie that cannot be killed.
iflyvfr
Pattern Altitude
So the contract to supply the contractors was probably out to bid, and a competing firm snuck out there to loosen the mooring on the dirigiblimpystat, thereby discrediting the current firm's raft of contractors and ensuring the competitor's (lower) bid would win out. This has the net effect of replacing all the established knowledge of the incumbent contractors causing years of delays and untold hundreds of millions in additional labor costs.
But the program is safe.
NoHeat
Final Approach
It's been done before. Barrage balloons. England had tons of them near high-value targets in WWII, to force German divebombers above 5000'.
Instead of your net, they used special mooring cables that deployed parachutes when an aircraft hit it.
denverpilot
Tied Down
Just don't lead 'em so much.
SkyDog58
Ejection Handle Pulled
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Canis Non Grata
Well at least the federal helium reserve is being put to good use.
Clark1961
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Well at least the federal helium reserve is being put to good use.
Don't worry, we'll produce more.
Jimmy cooper
En-Route
Follow the money.
StinkBug
Cleared for Takeoff
Looks like AZ is trying to follow suit in their own special way.
http://mentalfloss.com/article/7056...oes-rogue-and-barrels-through-arizona-streets
http://mentalfloss.com/article/7056...oes-rogue-and-barrels-through-arizona-streets
They had a barrage balloon corp on the East Coast of the US at the start of WW2. They even had little Piper Cubs carry ONE bomb and try and bomb the German subs when they surfaced to recharge the batteries at night.