Hurrah for amateur ingenuity ....

[Jethro_uk]

Brit balloon bod Leo Bodnar has pulled off a bit of a blinder by successfully flying an ultralight radio payload right round the planet. Launched on 12 July from near Silverstone, Northamptonshire, B-64 yesterday returned to Blighty, and was this morning still going strong over Sweden.

The path of the balloon yesterday as it returned to UK airspace

The epic journey of over 25,000km saw B-64 hit a maximum altitude of a tad over 13,000m as it passed over 16 countries (by our reckoning) during the circumnavigation.

The path of B-64 overlaid on a world map

Leo explained that the payload comprises a radio transmitter using both the 434.500MHz band and 2m amateur band, a couple of solar panels and a LiPo battery for nocturnal operation. The whole thing weighs in at just

11g:

The B-64 payload tips the scales at just 11g

The balloon is a roughly 90x150cm transparent film envelope, seen here during pressure testing:

The balloon during a pressure test

However, for long duration flights the trick is to underfill the balloon with helium so that it rises to a stable altitude before expanding to burst point, and becomes a "floater".

As long as the balloon and the electronics hold out, the sky, or in this case the world, is the limit.

[Andy Burns]

Looks like it went over Ukraine, will Putin blame it for the loss of flight MH17?

[The Other Mike]

He could be repeating the feat with B63 and B66 although both are out of tracking range at the moment and may not even be still flying

There has been some very serious weight, power and thermal management to pull this off.

Technically it's also the first transatlantic crossing from a UK launch site :)

IIRC he also sent the first UK mainland launch to go north of the Arctic Circle earlier this year.

[Jethro_uk]

As one commentator pointed out, it's probable that the balloon was undetectable to radar. Which raises the fascinating prospect of a spook interest in such tech.

[Nightjar]

Probably not very reliable. The Japanese sent around 9,000 balloon bombs against the USA during WW2, of which only 285 are known to have reached the USA and only one caused any casualties - a group who found one in the forest and were carrying it back to their camp when it exploded.

[Jethro_uk]

Ah yes, There was a "History Detectives" about that ...

[jake]

Wheras the real culprit was the Euopean Union's mock "Trade Deal Trigger". You must be watching too much BBC and Sky fantasie.

[Brian Gaff]

That is right, the Americans have been keeping balloons like this aloft in the Antarctic for ages, though obviously getting one to behave itself in the differing climates around the world is a bit more difficult. I'd imagine that the choice of altitude is critical for this, as was mentioned.

sounds awfully light. I'd expect the aerials to weigh more than that and batteries are not light either.

Brian

[Brian Gaff]

That is just silly, but don't you think its odd that the same airline should lose two planes in mysterious circumstances so close together? This is a whole new discussion more suited no doubt to a paranoia newsgroup. Suffice to say that one is forced to remember French missiles sinking our ships in the Falklands war. Once you decide to fr log weapons one should not be surprised if they end up in the hands of either idiots or radicals who are paranoid. Brian

[John Williamson]

One in mysterious circumstances, one shot down. The only mystery about the second one at the moment is *who* shot it down.

[Adam Aglionby]

Main mystery is how fast it was diagnosed as missile,no suggestion of bomb or mechanical failure before even getting close to crash site, still waiting for an answer on the Clutha crash....

[Nightjar]

Did you not see the transcript of a telephone call that was released by the Ukrainian authorities, in which the rebels stated they had just shot down an aircraft with a missile?

[tony sayer]

Where do you think all those odd holes came from on the fuselage and wing sections?.

Ever thought what made them and the direction it came from?...

No all accidents are that simple to decode..