I’m hoping to send a flight across the Irish Sea to land in Northern Ireland. Launch time approx 10am this coming Thursday.
The wind conditions are unusual with the lower winds southerly and the upper winds easterly. I will be aiming the balloon over towards Northern Ireland where Philip Heron will be waiting to chase it. The flight profile is tricky with about 1.2m/s ascent rate. It may or may not achieve a float before the balloon is cut away at a longitude of -6.5.
Here’s the current prediction:
Flight Details
| Title | N.I. DROP |
| Description | Slow ascent / float Ross to Northern Ireland |
| Location | Ross On Wye |
| Target Launch Time | 10am, 6th June 2019 |
| Launch Window | 9am -noon, 6th/7th June |
| Payload | AVR tracker, AA, with Talon cutdown from PP3 |
| Flight Profile | 1.3ms/s ascent, 40km float, -6.5 longitude cutdown, 5m/s landing |
| Flight Path | North through England then west across Irish Sea |
| Notes | Cutdown status: 0=OFF, 1=Enabled, 3=Triggered |
| Payload Weight | 120g |
| Parachute | 18” spherachute, 24g |
| Balloon | 1600g Hwoyee |
| Neck Lift | Total weight + 50g |
Tracker Details
| Payload ID | Frequency | Settings |
| DROP | 434.450MHz | LoRa Mode 1 |
| 433.60MHz | LoRa Calling Mode | |
| DROP | 434.400MHz | RTTY 300 baud 8 N 2 488Hz |