@3Djesus: This is not cool and actually very offensive. Please do yourself a favor and do some reading on Anne Frank and the Holocaust if you do not understand why this is offensive. #henne
Wasn't there enough proof when CNN asked the boy why he didn't come out of hiding when he heard his name being called, to which he replied "you guys said... we did this for the show," and all the parents could muster was "...no?" and "man... and... you didn't come out?"
@Adam Moss: You DO realize that the weigh of the envelope(aka the balloons) counts in the lift formula. One large weather balloon weighs less than the same amount of volume in tinier balloons. This thing, being mylar, was even lighter. There's a reason blimps have bladders inside them, and not thousands of tinier balloons. #henne
@Adam Moss: Also, there were people who didn't believe that a 18 month old baby could fit in a pipe as wide as a hand from fingertip to the base of the palm. That is until they stuck their head over the pipe and heard baby Jessica McClure crying. #henne
"At sea level, air weighs about 0.078 pounds per cubic foot, so the upward buoyant force on a cubic foot of helium is about 0.078 pounds."
Now at sea level air weighs more than at Denver's elevation, so at 5,000 ft above sea level that balloon could carry less weight.
Even if it were double that size (600 cubic feet),At sea level that 600 cubic foot balloon could lift 600 (X)times .078 pounds, or 46.8 pounds (including the mylar skin)
My conclusion is that the balloon in question (in a balloon that was more like 300 cubic feet) would not get off the ground with a 50lb child on board. #henne
I might have given him a show if he stuck Ty Pennington in the balloon, and released it off. That would have solved two problems. #1, getting rid of Ty, and #2, stop having to hear about him. But once again #DoucheDad fails. #henne
My 'give-a-dam' just broke. Sorry if my flood on not caring causes you any inconvenience. This family does NOT need any more press! Clearly it is what they were hoping for. #henne
@CyberRanger: people keep saying this, but at the time, CNN was reporting that the sherrif's office had checked it out with the professors at the state university, and they had determined that the payload of a balloon that size would be up to 80 pounds, which is more than the kid weighs. So, the math was apparently done. Now, maybe those professors were wrong, but it seemed reasonable at the time to believe them. #henne
@CyberRanger: Wow! You are the FIRST person to say that. Quick, call the rescue people and tell them that. Any chance you know where he actually is? You know, to speed the search up.
Also, you are wrong. If a gust of wind grabbed that balloon, it would have lifted BalloonBoi off the ground. Hell, a kite managed to pull my ~170lb body out of the water ten feet and 15 forward face first into a wave. #henne
@GitEmSteveDave_#GitEmSteveDaveRocks: More to the point, if you tell the police there is a child stuck in a runaway aircraft and his life is in danger, they are going to respond in fashion. If you were the sheriff responding to a report of a 6-year-old facing death, are you going to ask his father to submit proof-of-concept first? #henne
@jetRink: Yep, saw that number in my calculations. I live at altitude (7230'/2203m) 35 mi NNW of Fort Collins. I adjusted for altitude & noted the balloon was filled just enough helium to balance outside air pressure & no more. I figured it would have had to been twice as big to lift a boy that size at this altitude.
It was also quoted that the balloon lifted off at 200'-300'/min. That was what sent me to my HP 50G to start figuring. I was around weather balloons in the Army relating to airborne operations & realized the balloon size in relation to the payload had to be much larger than it was. #henne
@Hiphopopotamus: I'm also a dad. If I thought my kid floated away in a homemade balloon, I'm not gonna say "Can't happen, my calculations say..." I'm gonna try to find my kid first & worry about calculations later.
What I'm saying is, there should have been as much emphasis on the ground search as the air search. They might have found him sooner & avoided a lot of balloon track ground search.
No one was really looking on the ground at the launch point much after the first little while. Like I heard so many times yesterday, little boys do things like that & then hide to avoid the punishment. I was a curious little boy once. #henne
I'm pretty sure the police would like to get in touch with the seller, as it is an active investigation still. (Despite the fact that the only thing they can charge him with is the misdemeanor of making a false report - though if they do charge him with that, they can legally stick him with the bill of all the expenses incurred as a result.) #henne
@Hiphopopotamus: Now can they claim the other kid made the report, and since he is a minor, they'd be off the hook, or that the PD should have searched better? I only say this because I am guessing #DoucheDad 's browser history will include research on these laws, and the fine line you can tiptoe on. #henne
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Enquiring Minds Want to Know! #henne
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this is the amount of helium you would need #henne
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"At sea level, air weighs about 0.078 pounds per cubic foot, so the upward buoyant force on a cubic foot of helium is about 0.078 pounds."
Now at sea level air weighs more than at Denver's elevation, so at 5,000 ft above sea level that balloon could carry less weight.
Even if it were double that size (600 cubic feet),At sea level that 600 cubic foot balloon could lift 600 (X)times .078 pounds, or 46.8 pounds (including the mylar skin)
My conclusion is that the balloon in question (in a balloon that was more like 300 cubic feet) would not get off the ground with a 50lb child on board. #henne
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@Adam Moss: Thanks! #henne
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Also, you are wrong. If a gust of wind grabbed that balloon, it would have lifted BalloonBoi off the ground. Hell, a kite managed to pull my ~170lb body out of the water ten feet and 15 forward face first into a wave. #henne
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It was also quoted that the balloon lifted off at 200'-300'/min. That was what sent me to my HP 50G to start figuring. I was around weather balloons in the Army relating to airborne operations & realized the balloon size in relation to the payload had to be much larger than it was. #henne
10/16/09
What I'm saying is, there should have been as much emphasis on the ground search as the air search. They might have found him sooner & avoided a lot of balloon track ground search.
No one was really looking on the ground at the launch point much after the first little while. Like I heard so many times yesterday, little boys do things like that & then hide to avoid the punishment. I was a curious little boy once. #henne
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You didn't see shit.