We have received the exemption required for the flight. We have been going over the conditions attached to this exemption to ensure that we meet them.

Two conditions are:-

1. We must have a NOATM published. CASA are able to publish the NOATM, so that is terrific.

2. We need to ensure that the balloon does not land within 20km of a populous area. The only “populous” area that the balloon is getting close to is Dimbulah. So we are putting measures in place to ensure we comply with this condition.

 

Five days till the launch.

We have :-

• Collected the two Helium Gas Cylinders, and
• We have the majority of the launch components packed away boxes, all clearly labelled, etc.
• We are still putting the finishing touches on the documentation.
• Started investigating the strategy for the day. The current flight predictions show a distance of 30.5km from the launch site…which isn’t too far.

We are still waiting for the Exemption from CASA, though it is apparently in the process of being done up. Just a matter of getting it completed and sent through.

We are very content with how we are proceeding from a Technical and organisational point of view. All that is left is to check the predicted path and to receive the exemption from CASA.

We are still waiting for “official” approval from CASA. Though we are fairly confident it will be approved. We are proceeding with the final stage of the project, leading up to the launch. We have:-

• Confirmed availability of Helium gas and what the latest date is that we can order/purchase it
• Sorted out where we will stay on the Friday night (day before the launch). We are fortunate in that it is the ‘quiet’ season and so we can book this accommodation ~ 2 weeks out.
• We have found a place that can hire out the Satellite phones at a reasonable price are happy to make the satellite phone booking “tentative”. We will up later to confirm that we require it.
• Organised a “pre-flight” meeting.
• Confirmed availability of all the crew who will help make the launch possible!!

I have decided to do up a small “simplified” picture of all the communication links. It neglects the fact that there is a separate Spot satellite and there are obviously servers where information is stored, but it should be helpful.

 

It was decided that a “Trial” launch should be performed to:-

• Test and refine deployment procedures
• Test cut-down mechanism
• Confirm all the components work altogether
• Familarise the team with procedures

In terms of outcomes, the documented procedures were not too far off what was followed on the day. It does appear that some of the preparation tasks, like inserting the cut-down mechanism will be done on the day of the launch, rather then trying to install the previous night to save time.

It would be beneficial to have an additional team member to assist in the launch, particularly ensuring we follow all documentation and assisting in cleaning up quickly just before we let go of the balloon.

The cut-down mechanism unfortunately did not work as hoped. The first time it fired off, it was unable to burn/melt through the thick throat of the balloon. We moved the cut-down mechanism approximately 10mm further up. We then fired off the cut-down mechanism and a small slit was produced, from which Helium escaped. It did not create the rupture we were hoping for. We eventually popped the balloon manually. What we do know is that if the balloon expands more, then the likelihood of a successful cut-down increases, but it is quite conceivable that a cut-down at a lower altitude may be required, and the balloon may not have expanded much by then. So we will need to put some thought into the cut-down mechanism.

All other components seemed to work:-

• Spot Messenger produced 5 way-points, 3 to 5minutes between them. This is quite satisfactory.
• HackHD camera worked
• Communication worked – good signal strength (210)
• LinkSprite camera worked okay (was downloading a picture)
• GPS worked well – 7 satellites “seen” very early on.
• Temperature/pressure sensors worked
• Health indicators worked

Below are are some photos of the day:-

 

 

I believe we worked very well effectively as a team. This was helped by an initial brief with the team before the “pretend” launch. I believe it was a very rewarding experience for all involved.