[DeTomaso] Air Force Thunderbirds, radar chaff and a scramble - LPC

Kirby Schrader kirby.schrader at gmail.com
Thu Jun 5 16:47:12 EDT 2014


OK,.... I have a silly question...

Helium is a noble gas... doesn't burn.

Do you mean hydrogen?




On Thu, Jun 5, 2014 at 3:20 PM, David in Durango <adin at frontier.net> wrote:

> The rumor was, one could make a helium balloon and release it into the
> night sky with a fuse.  BIG FLASH!
>
> Now, we lived about three miles from the end of a runway at Hamilton AFB
> (where, one night, I watched an Air Force Thunderbird flame out at about
> 100ft).  At any rate, during rumored experiments it was determined that
> some ballast was needed - too much and the balloon might explode in the
> front yard (this will irritate someone?), too little ballast and the
> balloon might explode before the fuse ignited the gas.  The rumor is, when
> one hangs strips of foil from the balloon for ballast,  it might cause the
> Air Force to scramble a few jets to find the UFO.
>
> Google "radar chaff" - I didn't learn about this until i was doing duty as
> a radar operator a few years later.
>
> Be careful what you fly around gov't installations!
>
> PS, Rumor was those boys had a great time doing experiments in that shed .
> . . . later, one of them bought a Pantera.
>
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>
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-------------- next part --------------
   OK,.... I have a silly question...
   Helium is a noble gas... doesn't burn.A
   Do you mean hydrogen?

   On Thu, Jun 5, 2014 at 3:20 PM, David in Durango <[1]adin at frontier.net>
   wrote:

     The rumor was, one could make a helium balloon and release it into
     the night sky with a fuse. A BIG FLASH!
     Now, we lived about three miles from the end of a runway at Hamilton
     AFB (where, one night, I watched an Air Force Thunderbird flame out
     at about 100ft). A At any rate, during rumored experiments it was
     determined that some ballast was needed - too much and the balloon
     might explode in the front yard (this will irritate someone?), too
     little ballast and the balloon might explode before the fuse ignited
     the gas. A The rumor is, when one hangs strips of foil from the
     balloon for ballast, A it might cause the Air Force to scramble a
     few jets to find the UFO.
     Google "radar chaff" - I didn't learn about this until i was doing
     duty as a radar operator a few years later.
     Be careful what you fly around gov't installations!
     PS, Rumor was those boys had a great time doing experiments in that
     shed . . . . later, one of them bought a Pantera.
     _______________________________________________
     Detomaso Forum Managed by POCA
     DeTomaso mailing list
     [2]DeTomaso at poca.com
     [3]http://poca.com/mailman/listinfo/detomaso_poca.com

References

   1. mailto:adin at frontier.net
   2. mailto:DeTomaso at poca.com
   3. http://poca.com/mailman/listinfo/detomaso_poca.com


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