Cluster ballooning
Cluster ballooning is an uncommon form of ballooning in which a single balloonist is attached by a harness to a cluster of relatively small helium-inflated rubber balloons.
Unlike traditional hot-air balloons, which possess vents for easy altitude control, cluster balloons rise uncontrollably, expanding as they go. Cluster balloonists must periodically cut balloons loose to maintain altitude and descend. Bottled water is a common ballast, and can be partially emptied to slow descent.
Famous balloonists
One of the most notable cluster balloonists is Larry Walters, who in 1982, without any prior ballooning experience, attached 42 weather balloons to a piece of patio furniture and lifted off. Having intended to rise just a few hundred feet, he quickly rose nearly three miles into the air. Though cluster ballooning predates Walters, his feat captured the public imagination and helped to raise the sport's public profile. Today, one of the most prominent cluster balloonists is John Ninomiya, whose flights have been featured on The Science Channel, The History Channel, TechTV, TLC, and MTV.
The Guinness Book of World Records recognizes the highest altitude attained cluster ballooning to be that achieved by Ian Ashpole, who on October 28, 2001, over Chatteris, Cambridgeshire, UK used 600 toy balloons to reach a height of just over 11,000 feet (3,350 meters). Larry Walters is estimated to have reached 16,000 feet (almost 4900 m) in 1982. His record is not recognized because he did not carry a proper altimeter. [1]
Walters' flight achieved the status of urban legend. To prove the feat was possible, it was tested in an episode of MythBusters, where one of the show's hosts was successfully lifted to a height of about 100 feet in tethered flight; he gradually reduced his altitude by shooting out balloons with a pellet gun, proving the plausibility of the story.
A similar incident happened in Brazil in April 2008 when Roman Catholic priest Adelir Antonio de Carli suspended himself via 1000 balloons, but was eventually lost track of when he floated above the ocean and is missing. Ironically, the first balloon was invented by a Brazilian priest, Bartolomeu de Gusmão. [1]
Other applications
Smaller balloon clusters consisting of several toy balloons are sometimes used for creating flying light effects by using them as carrier for lightsticks or other small light sources. They can be also used for other amateur scientific experiments, such as making aerial photographs or atmospheric measurements.
The advantage of small cluster balloons versus bigger balloons is that toy balloons, with or without helium filling, are more readily available than bigger balloons.
In fiction
The fantasy short film The Red Balloon, directed by Albert Lamorisse and filmed in Paris, France in 1956, ends with a simulated cluster balloon ride as a young boy, having lost his magical sentient red balloon to a gang of bullies, finds all the other balloons in Paris coming to him.
In the 1963 film A Ticklish Affair starring Shirley Jones, a young boy floats in the air using surplus weather balloons, over San Diego.[2]
The Australian movie Danny Deckchair features a character ("Danny") who ties a bunch of helium filled balloons to his deckchair during a party. His friends hold down the chair but inadvertently let go and set Danny on a ride across Australia which causes him to become a national hero.
See also
References
- ^ http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSN2228192120080422?sp=true
- ^ A Ticlish Affair TIME review Quote: When Uncle Red Buttons brings over a lot of surplus weather balloons and rigs up a harness so the boys can try gravity-free "moon-walking," little Grover (Peter Robbins) breaks tether and is soon soaring over San Diego and out to sea.