looks like the window frame took the brunt of the hit.
wonder if things would have been different if it hit the center of the window
UA 1093
31–40 of 117 posts
Re: UA 1093
#32Earlier quoted context omitted.
Isn't this pure statistics? The big sky isn't as big since planes always follow certain patterns and so do weather balloons (because wind also has patterns). Now someone needs to do some black magic with that model and calculate the arrival time distribution of accidents and you get to see if this is an outlier or not.
The birthday paradox seems relevant here as well: With 23 people, your chance of having a "collision" in birthdays is over 50%. With more objects in the sky, the chance of collision is likely greater than one would assume given the space they have to occupy.
Though the birthday paradox is concerned with self-collisions, I think since these are explicitly collisions with other objects it feels less paradoxical to compute
Re: UA 1093
#33What changes does one make to a balloon to minimize time spent between specific altitudes?
Re: UA 1093
#34> The system is designed to not pose a risk to human life in the worst case event of a collision. This is what the FAA 101 and ICAO weight limits are for. And indeed, there were no serious injuries and no depressurization event to my knowledge as a result of the collision. This seems close to a worst case scenario for this failure mode, and everyone is still OK. I consider that good engineering.
isn't the worst case it goes into the engine and it explodes/burns?
No, because the plane is designed to safely fly without an engine. They test the engines by shooting turkeys from the grocery store into them while they run.
Re: UA 1093
#35What changes does one make to a balloon to minimize time spent between specific altitudes?
The balloon has a sand ballast that it can release sand from to descend.
Re: UA 1093
#36> We have been coordinating with the FAA for the entire history of the company and file NOTAMs (aviation alerts) for every balloon we launch.
At this point, I'm pretty confident that NOTAMs exist as a way relegate all liability to pilots. Really it's 14 CFR 91.103, which opens with "Each pilot in command shall, before beginning a flight, become familiar with all available information concerning that flight", that allows NOTAMS to transfer liability.
Theoretically CFRs are limited to powers specifically authorized by congress, but in practice, they are full of overreach that is only limited when it becomes case law, but the FAA is so powerful that it can effectively shut down any organization trying to dispute them in federal courts, so there isn't really any case law limiting the scope of their CFRs.
Re: UA 1093
#37Earlier quoted context omitted.
isn't the worst case it goes into the engine and it explodes/burns?
No, because the plane is designed to safely fly without an engine. They test the engines by shooting turkeys from the grocery store into them while they run.
without working one working engine - sure. with serious structural damage - perhaps not so much
Re: UA 1093
#38Earlier quoted context omitted.
Anyone arguing against government regulation as a whole is completely delusional. Companies can't be trusted to regulate themselves.
The problem is we don't have a garbage collection method to get rid of counterproductive or even insane regulations, so they build up into a choking plaque over time.
https://ballotpedia.org/Federal_agency_rules_repealed_under_...
You can argue that is not effective enough perhaps, but the mechanism itself exists.
Re: UA 1093
#39Earlier quoted context omitted.
No, because the plane is designed to safely fly without an engine. They test the engines by shooting turkeys from the grocery store into them while they run.
without working one working engine - sure. with serious structural damage - perhaps not so much
Yes, with serious structural damage. It's part of certification process for the engine: https://youtu.be/iBqWS1hil18
Re: UA 1093
#40What changes does one make to a balloon to minimize time spent between specific altitudes?
The balloon has a sand ballast that it can release sand from to descend.
Releasing sand will cause it to ascend, not descend. Balloons descend by reducing lift, which means releasing gas or allowing the balloon to burst and releasing a parachute (for a controlled descent, if you don't care about control, just let the balloon burst).