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

[David in Durango]

Wow, that was a long time ago . . .and only a rumor!

Yes, hydrogen, made by some acid and some metal in a bottle, so they say 
. . . . .

and kids, don't try this at home!









On 6/5/2014 2:47 PM, Kirby Schrader wrote:
> 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 
> <mailto: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.
>
>     _______________________________________________
>
>     Detomaso Forum Managed by POCA
>
>     DeTomaso mailing list
>     DeTomaso at poca.com <mailto:DeTomaso at poca.com>
>     http://poca.com/mailman/listinfo/detomaso_poca.com
>
>

-------------- next part --------------
   Wow, that was a long time ago . . .and only a rumor!
   Yes, hydrogen, made by some acid and some metal in a bottle, so they
   say . . . . .
   and kids, don't try this at home!

   On 6/5/2014 2:47 PM, Kirby Schrader wrote:

   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 <[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.  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.
     _______________________________________________
     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