NORAD BLIMP dash to freedom...

The problem with shooting this thing down is the final projectile impact ?? I would have probably advised shooting it with flares if indeed they can penetrate the fabric or use some type of projectile fitted with a proximity fuse (from a Helo). The smart engineers should have thought of incorporating a remote control deflation/inflation system along with perhaps a small engine to allow some limited control.... But hey they probably sold the thing saying this can never happen....
The thing is down, The trailing cable I guess made out of steel caused major outages by shorting High Voltage power lines.
http://wtkr.com/2015/10/28/norad-blimp-comes-loose-from-tether-floats-over-pennsylvania/
 
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I figured it was just a matter of time that this thing went rogue. I might have hoped it would have drifted over and impaled itself on the Washington Monument though...
 
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Aerostat balloons have come untethered in high winds and weather (they're normally reeled in during those times) a good few times in the past few decades. Nothing new, it's happened before.
 
Derg said:
Too bad they can't loiter a couple A-10s around it instead of F-16s for six minute spans. :)
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not saying this was the configuration of whatever alert jets launched, and I know you are just kidding anyway, but to be honest, a slick F-16 can fly for a really really long time……i.e. no tanks, minimal pylons, wingtip missiles. I've logged in excess of 2 hours in such a configuration, which is comparable to pretty much any other fighter. That having been said, I've also logged 15 minute flights in it with the throttle full forward left :)
 
MikeD said:
Aerostat balloons have come untethered in high winds and weather (they're normally reeled in during those times) a good few times in the past few decades. Nothing new, it's happened before.
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Agreed

They are also designed to deflate enough to lose lift and come down but they function doesn't always work depending on how the tether breaks.

I've chased a couple just because we didn't want to lose the millions of dollars in cameras on it. The balloon is cheep.


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First, this incident had the FUNNIEST headlines EVER! "Unmanned Radar blimp LOOSE in PA!" LOLOL Like it was on an AI mission from hell, purposefully wreaking havoc on the world. Maybe it was just funny sitting in a lounge in Barbados... :)

Second, the coverage was TERRIBLE! No coverage of any of the LOLs of the cable hitting things, particularly, powerlines. haha
 
Lawman said:
Agreed

They are also designed to deflate enough to lose lift and come down but they function doesn't always work depending on how the tether breaks.

I've chased a couple just because we didn't want to lose the millions of dollars in cameras on it. The balloon is cheep.
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Yeah, just about a year ago, the one just down of me in Sierra Vista near Ft Huachuca came down in high winds, with the cable (about 10,000+ feet worth) laying down across numerous neighborhoods doing property damage, but luckily no injuries. And a couple of decades ago or so, an Aerostat in Texas came free of it's moorings and flew for many miles before finally coming down.
 
UAL747400 said:
First, this incident had the FUNNIEST headlines EVER! "Unmanned Radar blimp LOOSE in PA!" LOLOL Like it was on an AI mission from hell, purposefully wreaking havoc on the world. Maybe it was just funny sitting in a lounge in Barbados... :)

Second, the coverage was TERRIBLE! No coverage of any of the LOLs of the cable hitting things, particularly, powerlines. haha
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I spit up my beer a couple mins ago looking at some FB memes of this. Hilarious, agreed :)
 
Luigi said:
I enjoyed the memes more than the story...

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Lionel Richie was involved in an aircraft accident here in TUS in 1983 when the landing gear on the Vickers Viscount his band was riding on collapsed on landing rollout. A USAF crash truck was first on scene in nearly seconds, having beein parked at the "hot spot" next to the runway to provide fire protection for fighter jet operations. First arriving crew found Mr Richie and some female companions in a compromising position in the back of the plane, shall we say. :) Initially reports of the incident suggested that Richie had been fatally injured.
 
The Goodyear blimp swung by to do a, well, a "boyoyoying and go" at the semi-rural field where I keep the Bo.

It was quite the spectacle. Lots of noise and fury....not so much speed. Just to head back to their base down the road looked like an all afternoon affair.

Richman
 
It did wreak a little havoc as it crossed the LGA and EWR arrival flows at 15,000ft with a 5,000ft tether hanging off it and 2 F16's circling around didn't help.
 
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