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Old 5th Jan 2010, 01:16
  #15 (permalink)  
Two's in
Below the Glidepath - not correcting
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: U.S.A.
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Sounds like a great idea but;

1. Takes a whole bunch of groundcrew to get it on/off the mooring mast or ground handle it in any way.

2. It doesn't often travel faster than the prevailing weather.

3. When moored it needs a constant pressure watch and ballonet balancing to stop it becoming erect or flaccid as ambient pressure changes.

4. Max wind speed limits are limiting, especially when Point 2 applies.

5. Loading/Unloading payloads requires water ballast or helium gas transfer, so FBO infrastructure is not trivial or small.

Maybe nothing there insurmountable, but not easy over the 'stan or anywhere else remote and sandy.

PS. Think the UK Army learned all this in the early nineties, and yes they did stick theirs onto the mast at Boscombe during the trial.
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