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Balloon in the sky with diamonds ?

I live in a town that has no less than five different Indian Bands around here, and as such, Indian Affairs, or whatever they call themselves now, has apparently footed a large part of the bill to ensure a steady supply of doctors in our area.
Other than turnover, interrupting an otherwise decent working relationship once in a while, it is surprisingly easy to get to see or at least talk to, a Doctor when needed, here. A small blessing.
 
Susquatch said:
So this is just thinking. No math, no relevant knowledge, nothing.

Could it be that helium simply isn't flammable at that altitude? Not enough oxygen maybe? Too rich, too lean,...... Etc.

Maybe a bullet at that altitude doesn't get hot enough to ignite anything?

Lots of potential explanations.
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Helium, as stated elsewhere, isn't flammable. Were it hydrogen, I suspect at 35K-60K ft altitude, there would be enough of a lack of Oxygen, to prevent the flammable gas (weather balloon story above) from being able to burn anyways. The normal load for aircraft guns is tracer ammo every fifth or so round, with various other fillers ranging from solid metal target practice rounds, on up to armor piercing incendiary, shells, and a bunch of options in between, so there would have been lots of fire to ignite the stuff if it was able to burn.

We had a balloon that was loitering over my home town, last season, which flight tracking websites said belonged to an outfit called Raven Aerostar, who were testing relay capabilities for regions that had lost comms and internet infrastructure, or so their site said at the time. Of note, is that they use both low pressure (the big bag with a bubble at the top) as well as high pressure balloons as well as airship style units. The Chinese balloon did appear to me to be a high pressure type of balloon, based on the pictures I see, with a very round and smooth outer surface.
 
I think Ward Carrol on YouTube did an explanation on the shooting down. The missile usually thought as a heat seeking, but could b use light refraction or visible aiming. " See that, get it." I didn't really pay too much attention.
 
Canadium said:
Helium is an inert gas and is not flammable. Did you mean Hydrogen? In any case I'm guessing whatever lighter than air gas they use is going to collect at the top of the balloon. Unless you puncture the very top of the balloon some of the gas will remain and keep the balloon afloat.
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Ya, brain fart. Had a rough day today. Had an angiogram and sent that message from the waiting room. Obviously not thinking straight. I meant hydrogen.

Chicken lights said:
Something would have to “spark”, though, to ignite any gas, whatever the altitude

Just like you can throw matches at a pail of diesel all day long, with no other catalyst present it won’t light
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Given the above, I'm not sure it's wise to say anything. But with some trepidation.....

Not really. Diesel ignites simply due to compression. No spark required. Most flammable chemicals have an ignition temperature at which they will ignite without a spark. But you are right, a spark is a more reliable method.
 
Susquatch said:
Ya, brain fart. Had a rough day today. Had an angiogram and sent that message from the waiting room. Obviously not thinking straight. I meant hydrogen.



Given the above, I'm not sure it's wise to say anything. But with some trepidation.....

Not really. Diesel ignites simply due to compression. No spark required. Most flammable chemicals have an ignition temperature at which they will ignite without a spark. But you are right, a spark is a more reliable method.
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Heat by compression of the air! And it requires a very fine vapour, (thus the Injector nozzles), even then, for it to ignite reliably.
 
Susquatch said:
Ya, brain fart. Had a rough day today. Had an angiogram and sent that message from the waiting room.
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....ok, we'll cut you a little slack this time, but, try not to make it habit forming. :p
Hopefully nothing serious, I'm afraid we'd miss you around here, that, and I am too far away to attend the estate sale anyway. :rolleyes:

......... I believe this is where you wish we had that bird flippin emoji......;)
 
trevj said:
Heat by compression of the air! And it requires a very fine vapour, (thus the Injector nozzles), even then, for it to ignite reliably.
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A few years ago, my son got me this African firestarter. It's a close fitting wooden piston in a hole in a block of wood. You put a small amount of tinder or punk wood in it and then slam it on the ground. The high pressure ignites the tinder. No mist required. The temp increase associated with the sudden high pressure is all that's required.

Diesel will also ignite without any mist provided that the mixture is within the flammability range for that pressure/temp. In fact, vapour is preferred over small droplets. Of course, a mist is better than a pool of fuel for that. There are many ways to accomplish reliable ignition in a compression ignition engine.

It's a subject I dearly love because I spent a chunk of my career designing engines in the auto industry.

In this case, I was only trying to help others see why a bullet might not ignite a balloon of gas. My examples might not have been the best choices.
 
Susquatch said:
A few years ago, my son got me this African firestarter. It's a close fitting wooden piston in a hole in a block of wood. You put a small amount of tinder or punk wood in it and then slam it on the ground. The high pressure ignites the tinder. No mist required. The temp increase associated with the sudden high pressure is all that's required.

Diesel will also ignite without any mist provided that the mixture is within the flammability range for that pressure/temp. In fact, vapour is preferred over small droplets. Of course, a mist is better than a pool of fuel for that. There are many ways to accomplish reliable ignition in a compression ignition engine.

It's a subject I dearly love because I spent a chunk of my career designing engines in the auto industry.

In this case, I was only trying to help others see why a bullet might not ignite a balloon of gas. My examples might not have been the best choices.
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Called a fire piston. Yep, same deal. Heat by compression. Needs to have some fuel in there to light, though.

In a diesel engine, the injection of fine droplets, in to the hot environs, IS the means to making it work, yeah?

All part of the Fire Diamond! (Heat, fuel, O2, OT!) :)
 
140mower said:
..... About the time you figure it can't get any worse..... Try and remember, poor @trevj is only a couple miles up the hill from me......:eek:
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Meh. Met an old deaf watch repair guy out in Regina SK. His wife was pretty straight up about our making deals. Said we should make what deals we wanted, because after he kicked it, the first guy to the front door with a truck and a $20 bill, gets it all!
Pretty sure she was more than half serious, too!
 
trevj said:
Meh. Met an old deaf watch repair guy out in Regina SK. His wife was pretty straight up about our making deals. Said we should make what deals we wanted, because after he kicked it, the first guy to the front door with a truck and a $20 bill, gets it all!
Pretty sure she was more than half serious, too!
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My bride has a similar outlook.

We are opposites that love each other. I am a piler, she is a filer. I am huge, she is tiny. I am ugly, she is gorgeous.

She HATES my tools and my shop except on those occasions when I fix or make something for her.

Except for a few things that I have designated for my kids, I've told her to call a farm auctioneer when I leave. I doubt she will actually do that. She is too afraid the auctioneer will leave her my "junk" to deal with, and in her own words, it's all junk. She will give the kids anything they want and then just like your friend, she will give the rest to the first person who shows up with some cash to take all the rest away. About her only rule will likely be: It's All or Nothing. She wants nothing to do with it except to ensure that the shop looks like an empty warehouse that she can turn into a giant she shed for showers and family reunions. That's been her goal ever since we moved here and I'm not even under the ground yet. For her, the whole event of my passing will be just like one of those home renovation shows on TV (that she loves to watch). Her view is to pay someone to gut the place so she can build something totally different.
 
I find it great how no-one makes much of an effort to stay on topic. It makes posts more like a real conversation…

I’m thinking I need to have an envelope in my workshop with the names of people who will help my wife move my tools out of the basement and dispose of them. Perhaps there is a type of balloon that can make them lighter?
 
StevSmar said:
I find it great how no-one makes much of an effort to stay on topic. It makes posts more like a real conversation…
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Agreed 100%. I think there is also a direct correlation between age and tendency to get off topic. Some might say that is just cognitive decline.

But I think that the older we get the more we realize we only have one life to live and therefore the more we try to enjoy what we have left.

That's not to say that the older members don't get serious, just that we like to smell the oil along the ways...... It's not about the destination that is getting closer, it's about the journey that is getting shorter.

I'll be really disappointed when the day comes that I don't get one good laugh out of what I read!

Keep the laughter going!
 
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