Launching Cumbria's next balloon to the stratosphere
Here is another practical about desoldering (removing a previously soldered connection)
Please try to do this immediately after practical 1 – as you still have the equipment necessary.
Balloon X Cumbia 2 – click this link to download the PDF for the second practical
Useful Links:
Here is a piece of the old payload made out of old DVDs, leaving Liam Neeson to repel airliners. The payload was deliberately made in the colours of LGBT because A: it was called Alan Turing – the father of the computer and the man who cracked the German enigma code(who was also gay), and B: it was easy to spot if it fell into a field.
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) is responsible for the regulation of aviation safety in the UK. (UK government)
Air traffic control aims to move aircraft safely and efficiently through the airspace system. (CAA)
We will need to notify the CAA via a NOTAM requesting permission to launch a balloon on a certain date, and after we have assessed all risks.
NOTAM- a written notification issued to pilots before a flight, advising them of circumstances relating to the state of flying. (oxford dictionary)
NOTAM request:
NOTAM map:
How to make a NOTAM submission – guidance
NOTAM guidance
Aeronautical Information Service
Risks:
Pre-flight, we will need to check:
[Download the Drone Assist App which has all interactive map of airspace used by commercial air traffic so that you can see areas to avoid, as well as ground hazards that may pose safety, security or privacy risks when you’re out flying your drone.]
A few days before and on the Day, we will need to check weather conditions by using a site such as www.metoffice.co.uk for:
References:
Civilian aircrafts usually fly between 9,000 metres and 13,000 metres above sea level (30,000 feet to 42,000 feet- the aircraft industry still use feet and inches). This height is known as a ‘sweet spot’. As you increase in height, the air resistance gets lower but so does the abundance of oxygen. Between this range, there is a relatively low air resistance, yet still enough oxygen to fuel the engines. Of course, the exact height of planes changes depending on weight, fuel or cost. When planes are ascending or descending they follow special flight paths cleared by air traffic control.
Fun fact: the highest ever commercial airliner actually flew at 60,000 feet. Anyone know the name of the aircraft? (no cheating)
Military aircrafts can fly at many different heights with a minimum of 200 metres (500 feet) to the highest military engine flying at 27,000 metres (90,000 feet). However, generally military jets fly at around 15,000 metres above sea level (50,000 feet).
Also, I wanted to mention the SR71 Blackbird which flew at 26000 metres (85,000 feet) and had a clever variable cone on the front used to slow the speed of the air entering from supersonic speed to subsonic speed before entering the engine. The air passes through a conical shock wave that forms on the apex of the cone then passes through a strong normal shock wave and exits at subsonic speed.
References:
Download the template here.
Agenda for meeting 1 : 1 June 2020
I’ve just been a tester for this practical. See the pictures below and the practical attached.
The idea is that we ‘daisychain’ support, so I would help Poppy with any problems, as she is doing the practical next, and so on. In this PDF you will find the instructions to the practical – please contact us if anything doesn’t make sense.
Useful Video Links:
Images from my practical:
The physics behind the hot air balloon is based on Archimedes Principle:
a law stating that a body totally or partially immersed in a fluid is subject to an upward force equal in magnitude to the weight of the fluid it displaces
(Oxford dictionary).
So, therefore, the hot air balloon which is immersed in the fluid of the earth’s atmospheric gases will experience a force in an upward direction to counteract the weight of the balloon. In helium balloons, the helium inside is less dense than the air surrounding it. Helium is lighter per volume so gravity will have less of an effect on it so will rise.
The pressure above the balloon is less than the pressure of the air below, the difference in pressure means an unbalanced force upwards called buoyancy. Buoyancy is experienced on every object although usually so small so doesn’t have an effect. The pressure difference is very small, although, sufficient to yield Archimedes Law. A balloon doesn’t require very strong forces so the change in pressure can cause an unbalanced force upwards.
1 cubic metre of helium will lift 0.9888116 kilograms. So, to work out how much helium you need, divide the payload and weight of balloon by 0.9888116 to get the total number of cubic metres of helium required. However, this will be at equilibrium so in order for the balloon to rise you’ll need slightly more helium. The excess helium added is called positive lift, the more positive lift the faster the balloon will go.
References:
With a high-altitude balloon project, we have a choice between a microcomputer such as a Raspberry Pi, or a microcontroller such as an Arduino.
A microcomputer is a small computer which has capacity to attach a keyboard, a monitor, a network and even limited graphics processing.
A microcontroller is a much more limited device which has no keyboard, monitor, network etc capabilities.
A microcomputer is useful when we want to use its advanced interfaces, but a microcontroller is useful when we want a low-power highly configurable (you must code everything it does) device.
We have decided to use a microcontroller (Arduino Mega) because it can interface with multiple serial inputs/outputs. This is important because we have multiple data collecting components.
Arduino mega (microcontroller) and Raspberry Pi (microcomputer) left to right respectively:
