theesir Posted June 13, 2011 Share Posted June 13, 2011 Oh the Humanity!!! http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2002935/Pilot-killed-Goodyear-blimp-plunges-ground-flames-Germany.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zow2 Posted June 13, 2011 Share Posted June 13, 2011 Those passengers are darn lucky the pilot got low enough for them to jump out in time. Poor pilot was burned to a crisp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrDawkinstein Posted June 13, 2011 Share Posted June 13, 2011 sad story, heroic pilot for sure. I was lucky enough to get a ride in the blimp down in Ft Lauderdale when I was a kid (9-10). It is not a smooth, relaxing ride at all. The wind does whatever it wants to you, and the engines are loud and cranked the entire time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DDD Posted June 13, 2011 Share Posted June 13, 2011 sad story, heroic pilot for sure. I was lucky enough to get a ride in the blimp down in Ft Lauderdale when I was a kid (9-10). It is not a smooth, relaxing ride at all. The wind does whatever it wants to you, and the engines are loud and cranked the entire time. I don't see that blimp nearly as much as I used to in the 1980's. I think it docks in Pompano. . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrDawkinstein Posted June 13, 2011 Share Posted June 13, 2011 (edited) I don't see that blimp nearly as much as I used to in the 1980's. I think it docks in Pompano. . Yep, it used to be out all day, everyday back in the 80s. That is kinda how my sister and I got to ride in it. My lil sister, who was 4 or 5 at the time, spent the spring in Hillsboro with my grandparents. Everyday, she would go out to the beach and wave at the blimp. It became her thing. My grandmother wrote Goodyear a letter telling them how my sister looked forward to the blimp everyday. They responded with an invite for her and I (kids only, basically) to take a ride. When my parents and I came down for Easter, my sis and I went up. Pretty cool of Goodyear. I had no idea back then how unique of an opportunity it was, but I still remember that whole ride up the coast and back. Edited June 13, 2011 by DrDareustein Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UConn James Posted June 13, 2011 Share Posted June 13, 2011 I'm not quite understanding why he took the blimp back up in the air when it was on fire.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JinVA Posted June 13, 2011 Share Posted June 13, 2011 I'm not quite understanding why he took the blimp back up in the air when it was on fire.... "He knew very well that as soon as the journalists he was carrying jumped off that the loss of ballast would make him rise" This is in the comment section at the bottom of the article FWIW. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2002935/Pilot-killed-Goodyear-blimp-plunges-ground-flames-Germany.html#ixzz1PBViFVSx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shrader Posted June 13, 2011 Share Posted June 13, 2011 I'm not quite understanding why he took the blimp back up in the air when it was on fire.... Maybe to move it away from the people who had just jumped? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wacka Posted June 13, 2011 Share Posted June 13, 2011 It didn't explode. Helium doesn't explode. The motor caught on fire and that spread to the fabric of the blimp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UConn James Posted June 13, 2011 Share Posted June 13, 2011 Maybe to move it away from the people who had just jumped? But if there were time to climb it back into the air, there was surely time for everyone to run away far enough. The ballast theory seems to make sense. Losing the motor likely loses control vis-a-vis altitude.... I just wonder if there could've been an "All jump on 3!" option. And, do understand that I'm not trying to take anything away from the pilot by this. This was Hero-Plus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC Tom Posted June 13, 2011 Share Posted June 13, 2011 "He knew very well that as soon as the journalists he was carrying jumped off that the loss of ballast would make him rise" This is in the comment section at the bottom of the article FWIW. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2002935/Pilot-killed-Goodyear-blimp-plunges-ground-flames-Germany.html#ixzz1PBViFVSx Plus there's the whole "envelope of gas becoming hotter and more bouyant" thing. Though I'm not sure how much of an effect that could have had before the envelope ruptured... Helium doesn't explode. Usually doesn't explode. Usually. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrDawkinstein Posted June 13, 2011 Share Posted June 13, 2011 But if there were time to climb it back into the air, there was surely time for everyone to run away far enough. The ballast theory seems to make sense. Losing the motor likely loses control vis-a-vis altitude.... I just wonder if there could've been an "All jump on 3!" option. And, do understand that I'm not trying to take anything away from the pilot by this. This was Hero-Plus. I think it was his fear that if he jumped as well, there would be a huge, out of control fireball lurching over this German town. With the potential to come down on any house, building, school, etc. Seems like he did what we all hear the Captain is supposed to do and went down with the ship to ensure the safety of everyone else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boyst Posted June 14, 2011 Share Posted June 14, 2011 I think it was his fear that if he jumped as well, there would be a huge, out of control fireball lurching over this German town. With the potential to come down on any house, building, school, etc. then again, irony would allow us the fact that germans were burned to a crisp??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC Tom Posted June 14, 2011 Share Posted June 14, 2011 then again, irony would allow us the fact that germans were burned to a crisp??? No, irony would be if they were gassed and cremated by a blimp flying out of Tel Aviv. Still...you got closer to the definition of "irony" than most people do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JÂy RÛßeÒ Posted June 14, 2011 Share Posted June 14, 2011 Still...you got closer to the definition of "irony" than most people do. I heard it's like rain on your wedding day... a free ride though you've already paid... It's the good advice that you just didn't take. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
\GoBillsInDallas/ Posted June 14, 2011 Share Posted June 14, 2011 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lN4Bh8j6ZMA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PromoTheRobot Posted June 14, 2011 Share Posted June 14, 2011 (edited) Usually doesn't explode. Usually. No, helium NEVER explodes, unless you count fusion reactions inside dying stars. In this case the engine exploded due to a fuel leak and the gondola and skin of the blimp burned. About 16 years ago I was running a top 40 radio station in NH and one of the Goodyear blimps was in town for a NASCAR race in Louden. We were offered a chance to ride in the blimp so we decided it would be cool to have the morning team go up and do some of their show from up there. Bad idea. Do you have any idea how loud blimp engines are from inside the cockpit? So loud that you can't hear two morning DJs say a word. So our morning blimp remote turned into about 20 seconds of motor noise. Oh well, at least the DJs got the thrill of seeing NH by blimp. Then a week later that same blimp made the news by springing a leak and crash landing in a residential neighborhood on Long Island. (No injuries, thankfully, but have you ever tried to move a deflated blimp off of someones house?) PTR Edited June 14, 2011 by PromoTheRobot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC Tom Posted June 14, 2011 Share Posted June 14, 2011 No, helium NEVER explodes, unless you count fusion reactions inside dying stars. No, it never chemically reacts, bonehead. But under certain conditions it can explode - not counting "dying stars" (which is not completely correct, either). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PromoTheRobot Posted June 14, 2011 Share Posted June 14, 2011 No, it never chemically reacts, bonehead. But under certain conditions it can explode - not counting "dying stars" (which is not completely correct, either). Sorry that I don't have a PhD in Chemistry, but is Helium not considered an inert gas? Helium is the least reactive noble gas after neon and thus the second least reactive of all elements;[37] it is inert and monatomic in all standard conditions. So you'll have to explain, using small words, under what circumstances Helium is "explosive." And I know that helium doesn't explode in dying stars. Stars that use up their hydrogen fuel supply start fusing helium, a precursor to when they go into their "red giant" phase. I just included that in case someone tried to cite that as an example. PTR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC Tom Posted June 14, 2011 Share Posted June 14, 2011 Sorry that I don't have a PhD in Chemistry, but is Helium not considered an inert gas? Helium is the least reactive noble gas after neon and thus the second least reactive of all elements;[37] it is inert and monatomic in all standard conditions. Like I said, it never chemically reacts. So you'll have to explain, using small words, under what circumstances Helium is "explosive." Not all explosions are chemical. Seal the safety release valve on a dewar of liquid helium. Trust me, it'll explode. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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