Santa Claus better get a transponder

[John Frum]

:|

 

[42OhmsPA]

?

 

[42OhmsPA]

The birds got shot down too.

 

[Danke]

 

[Mattb4]

A montage of the various flying objects shot down would be fun.

The flying chaise lounge guy that rigged up a dozen weather balloons to his outdoor furniture and went off for a ride.
A bounce house caught in the wind.
One of Macy's Thanksgiving day balloon characters.
A hot air balloon.
The flying car from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
Superman.
A flock of geese.
The House from the movie "Up"

 

[Danke]

A montage of the various flying objects shot down would be fun.

The flying chaise lounge guy that rigged up a dozen weather balloons to his outdoor furniture and went off for a ride.
A bounce house caught in the wind.
One of Macy's Thanksgiving day balloon characters.
A hot air balloon.
The flying car from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
Superman.
A flock of geese.

 

[DPC]

Some of these object could be domestic
Here the rcmp has identified a ufo and safely followed it a long the ground until it could captured and the occupant served with a ticket


Too bad they cant do any real police officers work

 

[RCinFLA]

USAF is having a lot of fun playing with their expensive toys. $400k AIM-9x Sidewinder to shoot down a few dollar balloon.

A single 20 mm canon round from Gatling gun cost $30. Short burst still likely more than balloon cost. It would do the job, but not as much fun.

Not including jet fuel cost or $44,000 to $59,000 per flight hour of F22 maintenance cost.

Sounds like a good application for a ground based laser to pop the balloon.

You can bet Kim Jong-un has a new factory setup to build thousands of cheap 'weather' balloons to drive U.S. crazy.

 

[DPC]

clean required duplicate post

 

[DPC]

Sounds like a good application for a ground based laser to pop the balloon.

That’s why SDI and the whole Star Wars missile defence system never happened
Lazars reflect off shiny things lol

Considering the size of the North American air defence zone
A high speed jet the cheapest way to get to a threat after detection

So if it’s cheap then
The sopwith camel had an excellent reputation as a stable gun platform to shoot down German airships
Frugal on gas and easy to build repair and fly
We will need about 10000 new airbases in and a long the former pine tree line and new pine tree radars to make this effective
And millions of men to man it
Maybe better guns because a 303 incendiary round will be less effective again helium filled balloons ( that is extreme sarcasm )


So maybe we move to something fast with long legs
Tupelo fiddler Avto arrow seem to fit the bill
These are not general purpose fighters but simple interceptor’s like the 50s Cold War relics designed to shoot down balloons and slow subsonic bombers

https://planehistoria.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Tu128_01.jpg?ezimgfmt=rs:346x218/rscb1/ngcb1/notWebP

America must have built a bomber interceptor at one time that would be cheap to run and good at this kind of thing but i imagine they would have been worn out retired a long time ago

Our air defences probably need done rethink if these old threats are new again

 

[Delmar]

 

[Danke]

Lawrence Richard "Larry" Walters had often dreamed of flying, but was unable to become a pilot in the United States Air Force because of his poor eyesight. He first thought of using weather balloons to fly at age 13, after seeing them hanging from the ceiling of a military surplus store. He had a career as a truck driver.[2]

In 1982, he decided to try his flying idea. His intention was to float over the Mojave Desert and then use a pellet gun to burst some of the balloons in order to land.[3]
Preparation and flight

In mid-1982, Walters and his girlfriend at the time, Carol Van Deusen, purchased 45 eight-foot (2.4 m) weather balloons and obtained helium tanks from California Toy Time Balloons. They used a forged requisition from his employer, FilmFair Studios, saying the balloons were for a television commercial.

On July 2, 1982, Walters attached 43 of the balloons to his lawn chair, filled them with helium, put on a parachute, and strapped himself into the chair in the backyard of a home at 1633 West 7th Street in San Pedro. He took his pellet gun, a CB radio, sandwiches, beer, and a camera.[citation needed] When his friends cut the cord that tied his lawn chair to his Jeep, Walters's lawn chair rose rapidly to a height of about 16,000 feet (4,900 m) and was spotted from two commercial airliners.[3] He slowly drifted over Long Beach and crossed the primary approach corridor of Long Beach Airport.

He was in contact with REACT, a citizens band radio monitoring organization, who recorded their conversation:

REACT: What information do you wish me to tell [the airport] at this time as to your location and your difficulty?
Larry: Ah, the difficulty is, ah, this was an unauthorized balloon launch, and, uh, I know I'm in a federal airspace, and, uh, I'm sure my ground crew has alerted the proper authority. But, uh, just call them and tell them I'm okay.

After 45 minutes in the sky, Walters shot several balloons, taking care not to unbalance the load. He then accidentally dropped his pellet gun overboard. He descended slowly, until the balloons' dangling cables got caught in a power line at 423 E 44th Way in Long Beach. The power line broke, causing a 20-minute electricity blackout. He landed unharmed on the ground.[4]

Walters was immediately arrested by waiting members of the Long Beach Police Department. Regional safety inspector Neal Savoy was reported to have said, "We know he broke some part of the Federal Aviation Act, and as soon as we decide which part it is, some type of charge will be filed. If he had a pilot's license, we'd suspend that, but he doesn't."[5] Walters initially was fined $4,000 for violations under U.S. Federal Aviation Regulations, including operating an aircraft within an airport traffic area "without establishing and maintaining two-way communications with the control tower." Walters appealed, and the fine was reduced to $1,500.[6] A charge of operating a "civil aircraft for which there is not currently in effect an airworthiness certificate" was dropped, as it was not applicable to his class of aircraft.

Just after landing, Walters spoke to the press, saying:[7][8]

It was something I had to do. I had this dream for twenty years, and if I hadn't done it, I think I would have ended up in the funny farm.

Lawnchair Larry flight - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[DPC]

Ever notice this always happens out west?

I think it’s because the eccentric types want one out in the desserts and plains where no one will bother them lol

Can’t say I blame them

 

[wiseacre]