I mean no disrespect to the (very likely) recently deceased, but as a former seminarian, I feel entitled to laugh at your tag line. If there is a gene for holiness, my church has been selectively breeding it out of our species for centuries.
in time, the priest has a GPS, but do not know how to use the GPS. Ask the police officers by fone (in flight) instructions to use the GPS but was ineffective. A week ago, he has broke a Guiness Record for Highest Flying in party balloons. All this was broadcast in TV.
As quite a few readers will know, the 19-hour record stands because both "party" and "weather" balloons lose helium as soon as they're filled, and provide lift by expanding as they gain elevation. The lifespan of weather balloons is about 10-24 hours (usually because they expand too much). Regular balloons lose their helium through the latex in under a day, although more expensive aluminum/nylon ones will hold gas for up to a week, with a substantial reduction in lifting power. General info on lift : http://www.chem.hawaii.edu/uham/lift.html
There are a few links with good info on toy, party, or cluster ballooning, the best is http://www.clusterballoon.org
No mention of a 19 hour record anywhere. This appears to be a factoid, although it is mentioned in every single report of the story that I have seen. That in itself is an additional curiosity.
The duration record for gas balloons designed for flight is much longer than 19 hours.
---
As I noted, I looked for more info and found none. The way Associated Press (one of the sources for my story) put it was that the priest "was seeking to break the 19-hour record for the longest time in-flight with party balloons." In a different story, the AP said it was "19-hour record for the most hours flying with balloons", which is obviously incorrect, and sloppy, reporting. My other source (London Telegraph) apparently tried to research it and, when they didn't find any authoritative source for the claim, omitted the reference altogether. -rc
The reason every story I saw included 19 hours is because I included that in my Google search criteria. Apologies for that oversight. Gives new meaning to Q.E.D. Nevertheless, there are over ten thousand returns. In the first twenty or so, the majority reference the supposed record to be for helium (not party) balloons, compounding the error.
The story is already rich with levels of humor (celibacy/death/Darwin/removal from the gene pool). I originally wrote with the intent to add another level, the nature of the record to be broken. If it turns out to be undocumented (looking that way), all the more stranger than fiction.
Kudos to rc for acknowledging the unresearched record; it was not my intent to question his work. Same goes for my unintentional google sleight of hand.
---
I didn't feel questioned or second-guessed at all. I can only rely on my sources, and work to use "reliable" sources, dropping those that have less than stellar records. So I'm confident in my work (with the ever-present caveat noted on my sources page), and never mind people checking into things. -rc
Men and Balloons - Comments
...a guy who pledged celibacy.
I mean no disrespect to the (very likely) recently deceased, but as a former seminarian, I feel entitled to laugh at your tag line. If there is a gene for holiness, my church has been selectively breeding it out of our species for centuries.
Posted by: rewinn, Washington | April 29, 2008 9:27 AM
A great page for Larry Walters' flight, including a partial recording of the CB transmission during the flight, is at:
http://www.markbarry.com/lawnchairman.html
Posted by: Steve, Colorado | April 30, 2008 6:32 PM
Does anyone have the story of the guy who holds the 19 hour record?
---
I have looked around to try to find details on that, but have not been able to determine exactly what they are referring to. -rc
Posted by: Ed, Salem MA | May 1, 2008 4:26 PM
And there was Ken Couch in Oregon last year.
Posted by: Barry - Seattle | May 2, 2008 9:53 PM
in time, the priest has a GPS, but do not know how to use the GPS. Ask the police officers by fone (in flight) instructions to use the GPS but was ineffective. A week ago, he has broke a Guiness Record for Highest Flying in party balloons. All this was broadcast in TV.
Posted by: Farnei - Brazil | May 3, 2008 6:15 PM
As quite a few readers will know, the 19-hour record stands because both "party" and "weather" balloons lose helium as soon as they're filled, and provide lift by expanding as they gain elevation. The lifespan of weather balloons is about 10-24 hours (usually because they expand too much). Regular balloons lose their helium through the latex in under a day, although more expensive aluminum/nylon ones will hold gas for up to a week, with a substantial reduction in lifting power. General info on lift :
http://www.chem.hawaii.edu/uham/lift.html
Posted by: Don in Nawlins | May 4, 2008 9:45 AM
There are a few links with good info on toy, party, or cluster ballooning, the best is http://www.clusterballoon.org
No mention of a 19 hour record anywhere. This appears to be a factoid, although it is mentioned in every single report of the story that I have seen. That in itself is an additional curiosity.
The duration record for gas balloons designed for flight is much longer than 19 hours.
---
As I noted, I looked for more info and found none. The way Associated Press (one of the sources for my story) put it was that the priest "was seeking to break the 19-hour record for the longest time in-flight with party balloons." In a different story, the AP said it was "19-hour record for the most hours flying with balloons", which is obviously incorrect, and sloppy, reporting. My other source (London Telegraph) apparently tried to research it and, when they didn't find any authoritative source for the claim, omitted the reference altogether. -rc
Posted by: Ed, Salem MA | May 6, 2008 12:43 PM
The reason every story I saw included 19 hours is because I included that in my Google search criteria. Apologies for that oversight. Gives new meaning to Q.E.D. Nevertheless, there are over ten thousand returns. In the first twenty or so, the majority reference the supposed record to be for helium (not party) balloons, compounding the error.
The story is already rich with levels of humor (celibacy/death/Darwin/removal from the gene pool). I originally wrote with the intent to add another level, the nature of the record to be broken. If it turns out to be undocumented (looking that way), all the more stranger than fiction.
Kudos to rc for acknowledging the unresearched record; it was not my intent to question his work. Same goes for my unintentional google sleight of hand.
---
I didn't feel questioned or second-guessed at all. I can only rely on my sources, and work to use "reliable" sources, dropping those that have less than stellar records. So I'm confident in my work (with the ever-present caveat noted on my sources page), and never mind people checking into things. -rc
Posted by: Ed, Salem MA | May 6, 2008 9:35 PM
Read the article that everyone's commenting on, or post a comment about it.