Recap of EOSS-74 Scrub

LAUNCH DATE: SCRUBBED (balloon Failure)
LAUNCH TIME:
LAUNCH SITE: Cheyenne, WY


EOSS Frequencies:


Flight Systems:

Balloon Manufacturer Kaymont
Balloon Type latex
Balloon Size 1200 gram
Payload 6 Lbs.
Free Lift % calculated at fill
Ascent Rate 1200 fpm estimated
Descent Rate  910 fpm estimated
Parachute 7 ft. diameter
Peak Altitude burst prior to launch
Launch Conditions gusty

EOSS Grid:

Location Grid X Grid Y
Grid Ref (Intersection of Highway 14 & 71 (west)) 70 45
Ft. Lupton 10 9.5
Nine Mile Corner 75 13
Launch Point 10 82.5
Predicted Touchdown (Tuesday Night) 86.5 34.8

Due to high winds at the launch site, the balloon burst during the fill procedure. Here are a few pictures by Mark Caviezel [KC�JHQ] and a recap of the event by Benjie Campbell [W�CBH].


Tracker's Recap

by Benjie Campbell, W�CBH

Well, what a trip. Larry Noble, (N�NDM), Chris Krengle (KB�YRZ), Mike Manes (W5VSI) and I (W�CBH) drove up to Cheyenne on Tuesday evening. We had a great time in Cheyenne for this flight, meeting a very nice group of hams and making some new friends.

A great turkey dinner was hosted by Paul Crips who is the science teacher, a ham and has a ham class and station at Carey Middle School in Cheyenne. I was able to work the net from Cheyenne using his station at the middle school.

After a good nights rest at the Plains Hotel in downtown Cheyenne, we had breakfast at 5:00 am and proceeded to the Laramie County Community College where we were able to finish assembling our chase vehicle equipment.


Fill in progress under the watchful eyes of all those folks - photo by Mark Caviezel


The launch team had enough help so Chris, Larry and I headed east to Kimball, NE where we turned south on Highway 71 for Brush, CO. We were not able to hear the 449.450 MHz RMRL repeater enough along that drive to learn of the troubles the launch team were having in launching the balloon.


Milliseconds after the balloon burst, note the balloon hasn't even hit the ground, the controlling sheets are still in place AND as Mark pointed out in his email, you can actually "see" the helium by noting the weird diffractions along the roof edges above the school bus. Photo by Mark Caviezel.

When we reached a point on H-71 where we were able to hear the repeater we found out the flight had been scrubbed. Darn! We then drove home and arrived around 12:30 pm.

Several lessons learned need to be mentioned. I forgot I would be out of communications while driving east from Cheyenne. I knew from previous flights that the 449.45 machine was not useable while driving on I-80 east of Cheyenne. Larry and I should have driven down Highway 85, to Greeley and then gone east to Brush. This way I would have been able to talk to the launch team and the tracking team on the 449.450 repeater all the way.

Marty Griffin [WA�GEH] was able to talk with the tracking team, thanks to his responsible attitude towards the trackers. The team was briefed the night before and made their way to pre-assigned and agreed to locations, that helped.

I think if we fly again in Wyoming we will need to learn the repeaters there and use them. We might also use a portable repeater placed at a location that can be heard from the Colorado side as well as the lower I-80 side thru Wyoming and Nebraska. Several more ideas have surfaced in my feeble mind, and I will talk to Marty at one of the upcoming Saturday morning breakfasts about them.

Thanks to all of you that supported this flight. It was a nice day for a drive in the country.