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Fred Kemmerer 11 months, 2 weeks ago.
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Good Morning Everyone,
We got together last evening to determine if we can launch our High Altitude Balloon (HAB) this weekend. We considered the HAB’s predicted flight path, current weather forecasts and FAA safety guidelines related to High Altitude Balloons. The FAA safety guidelines require that visual flight rules and the following specific criteria must be met for a safe launch of a HAB such as ours:
- Horizontal visibility of at least 5 miles below 60,000 ft
- Conditions must allow for no more than 5/10ths cloud coverage
We confirmed that these safety rules are important and relevant with an active pilot. The following is the current weather forecast for Winchester, NH (our alternative launch site) for this coming Saturday:
We are all very anxious to launch our HAB. This said, its important that we follow the safety guidelines for a safe launch and it seems very unlikely that we will have the needed 5/10ths or better cloud cover and minimum visibility for a safe launch this Saturday. We are also concerned about the potential for heavy rainfall during the recovery period as we may need to climb trees to recover the HAB after landing.
As a result, we have decided to delay the launch to our backup dates which are Saturday, May 27th or Sunday, May 28th. We will continue to keep everyone informed on the flight path projections, weather and final launch site information as we approach these dates.
We are all very sorry that the weather conditions did not work out to support a safe launch on our first choice date. We hope that everyone can understand the choice that we have made. Please let us know if your have any questions or concerns as we move forward.
- Fred (AB1OC)
President, Nashua Area Radio Societyab1oc@arrl.net
Visit us on the web at - https://www.n1fd.org
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