Moored Balloons
Definition
The Official Definition of a Moored Balloon (also known as a Tethered Balloon) is "a balloon that is secured by a rope or cable ot the surface of the Earth or an object thereon." (Federal Aviation Agency Part 48 Civil Air Restrictions, Operation Rules For Moored Balloons and Kites, June 4, 1962).
Restrictions
No Balloon that is Moored to the Surface of the Earth of an object thereon may
Have a diameter of more than 6 feet or a gas capacity of more than 115 cubic feet.
Operate less than 500 feet from the base of any cloud.
Operate more than 500 feet above the surface of the Earth.
Operate from an area where the ground visibility is less than three miles or within five miles of the boundary of any airport.
Operate between sunset and sunrise unless the balloon and its mooring lines are lighted so as to give visual warning equal to that required for obstructions to air navigation in the FAA publication "Obstruction Marking and Lighting."
Additionally, colored pennants or streamers attached at not more than 50 foot intervals beginning at 150 feet above the surface of the Earth and are visibile for at least one mile is required.
Operate unless it has a device that will automatically and rapidly deflate the balloon if it escapes from its moorings. If the device doesn't function properly, the operator must immediately notify the nearest ATC facility of the location and time of the escape and the estimated flight path of the balloon.
Every Moored Balloon that exceeds 150 feet above the surface of the Earth must notify the FAA of the following at least 24 hours before beginning the operation.
The names and addresses of the owners and operators.
The size of the balloon.
The location of the operation.
The height above the surface of the Earth at which the balloon is to be operated.
The date, time, and duration of the operation.
Launching an Unmanned Moored Balloon
At the start of every operation of launching an Unmanned Moored Balloon, after everyone has arrived, a safety meeting must be conducted. The safety meeting should consist of the operation's plans, personnel assignments, action items if something goes wrong, and a list of safety equipment.
Once the team has arrived at the launch site, please ensure that there are a maximum of 4 people around the balloon to avoid overcrowding it, and everyone working with the balloon should be wearing gloves, hair nets, and safety glasses. Below is a list of steps to follow on how to fill and tie off the balloon, and a document with pictures. While this is ongoing, there should be another team preparing the payload for flight.
Lay a blanket, towel, or tarp on the ground to prevent the balloon from directly touching the ground. Especially when working on grass, the macroscopic sharpness of the grass can cause microtears in the balloon.
Unscrew the safety lid from the gas tank. From this point on, everyone within 20 feet of the balloon should be wearing safety glasses.
Attach the regulator to the gas tank. For Helium, this should be a CGA-580 regulator. A single-stage regulator is fine, but a dual-stage regulator is preferred due to safety reasons. A dual-stage regulator will allow users to regulate the rate at which the gas leaves the tank and has a separate valve to cut off the gas from leaving the regulator; however, dual-stage regulators are much more pricey.
Spread the balloon out on the blanket, and be careful not to step on the latex. The neck of the balloon is much thicker and can stand a little bit of roughness, but the skin on the rest of the balloon is very easy to tear. Using gloves and hairnets prevents the oil produced from the human body from getting onto the balloon and degrading it, as well as preventing the hair on our heads from poking microscopic tears in the balloon.
Insert the balloon fill-line into the neck of the balloon and zip tie it around the outside of the neck of the balloon. Before tightening the zip tie, please attach a small string with a loop to the zip tie and tie another length of string to attach to the gas tank cart or another weight to prevent the balloon from flying away if someone lets go of it.
If using a single-stage regulator, open the valve at the top of the tank, then slowly open the valve to stream gas into the balloon. Slowly open the regulator until the valve is entirely open. If using a dual-stage regulator, open the valve at the top of the tank, set the flow limit of the gas into the regulator, then slowly open the other valve at the end of the regulator. Slowly open the regulator until the valve is entirely open.
It is good practice that once a valve is opened entirely, the valve be closed a hair of a turn, so if someone else tries to test the state of the valve that they don't break it.
During this process, someone should be holding onto the tank and monitoring the pressure left in the tank while a separate person monitors the balloon by holding onto the neck.
Additional people may be required if the balloon is large or if it is windy; these additional people can put their hands up to stop the balloon from blowing in a certain direction.
Once the balloon lifts itself off the ground, attach the force scale to the string with the loop and either stake the other end into the ground or securely hold the force scale in place, like by gripping the handrail of the gas cart, so the lifting weight can be measured properly. Continue filling the balloon until the desired lift weight is achieved.
If the predetermined lift weight is too much for the force spring scale, a digital fish scale is not recommended. It is recommended that gym weights or calibration weights be used to hang from the same loop and to continue to fill the balloon until the balloon naturally lifts these weights off the ground without sinking.
Once the balloon has achieved its desired lift weight, close the valve to the regulator and the tank. Hold the neck of the balloon and twist the rest of it to cut off the flow through the neck. Place a zip tie around the twist so it doesn't undo itself. While maintaining a tight grip on the balloon, twist the inflator hose out of the neck and try not to let the zip ties that are holding the tether string fall. Push these zipties further up the neck of the balloon, and tighten them down around the twist. Very carefully, with the points pointed away from the balloon, snip the tails of the zip ties off.
Feed the neck of the balloon through an o-ring and fold the neck over the o-ring so it sits next to the twist. Use additional zip ties to hold the end of the neck up so the o-ring stays in place. Carefully cut the tails of the zip ties off and use electrical tape to cover the sharp ends so they do not swing up and puncture the balloon.
Attach a string for the payload to attach to, and attach the string tether to the o-ring.
Assign someone from the balloon filling team to hold the balloon via the o-ring until it is launch time.
Launching an Unmanned Moored Balloon at UCF
Previous Unmanned Moored Balloon launches at UCF, conducted by the Knights Satellite Club, took place in the Arboretum Park behind the L3 Harris Building. However, due to the safety concerns of rolling compressed gas over uneven terrain, without the ability to lift the tank off the ground if it gets stuck, it is recommended that future Unmanned Moored Balloon launches be conducted in Surface Lot D1.
Ideally, all launch materials should be gathered, and the payload should be in a testing phase ahead of launch. In order to launch, a SAFE form must be filled out AT LEAST 15 days before the scheduled launch date. Please use the following as a reference when completing each SAFE form (https://safe.sdes.ucf.edu/). Additional information will be required if each launch chooses to launch from a parking lot as well as communication with UCF Parking Services.
(Just copy and paste into fields)
These regulations are subject to change over time.
Organization Name: Knights Satellite Club Organization
Type: RSO
Advisor Email: [email protected]
Event Title: Tethered Balloon Launch Name of Mission
Location: Arboretum
Location Details: Arboretum Park
Number of Students: ##
Number of Non-Students: 0
Description: This is a Moored (Tethered) Balloon Launch from the Arboretum Park behind the L3 Harris Engineering Building. We intend to use the space right behind the trailer as it has little tree coverage and electrical outlets on the trailer. Similar to the last launch we performed earlier this semester, a 125 cubic foot Helium tank will be purchased and stored in PSB 461, where it will be transported via handcart to the Arboretum Park. The handcart has large enough pneumatic wheels that it traveled easily over mulch without the need for it to be picked up as that is prohibited. We intend to launch on the morning of DATE starting at around 8 am and will be done by no later than noon. If DATE is rained out, then we request a backup date of BACK UP DATE at the same time. To be clear, this is a Moored Balloon Flight as defined by the FAA rules found at the following link. This is NOT a Hot Air Balloon, it is an unmanned scientific payload. https://www.faa.gov/air_traffic/publications/atpubs/foa_html/chap19_section_5.html
No Food
No Alcohol
Organization will clean
Description: Club Members will keep track of all materials brought to the launch site and gather all trash produced, which will mainly be zip tie tails and the remains of the balloon once it has been expended. Once the Helium has reached its destination, all parties working directly with the Helium will be expected to wear safety glasses, and anyone who comes within 20 feet of the gas tank is also expected to wear safety glasses.
No Open Flame
No Additional Sound/Lighting
No Minors
No Temp Bleachers
No Power
Start Time is 8 am, End Time is 12 pm Set repeat Daily and end on the next day
If launching from the Arboretum Park, please use the following information to fill out an Arboretum Park Use Form. These must be submitted AT LEAST 3 weeks in advance of the launch date (https://ucf.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_1BuBy4hw5mrD6YJ).
Event Title: Tethered Balloon Launch Mission Name
UCF Department/Affiliation: Knights Satellite Club
Open Grass Space (behind office)
Event Name: Tethered Balloon Launch Mission Name
Start and End Date should be consecutive Day(s) of the week: Saturday/Sunday (if the form only allows you to choose one, choose the first day)
Start Time 8:00 am End Time 12:00 pm
No Assistance
No Power
No Plants
## Students, 2 Faculty, 0 Staff, 0 Other
Safety Regulations Dictated by UCF Safety Departments:
Environmental Health and Safety:
UCF Policy (Laboratory Safety Manual, digital page 67) does not support transportation of gas cylinders on public roadways by means other than vendor delivery.
From Dr. Sandra Hick @ Environmental Health and Safety
"Gas cylinder dollies are not generally built for easy movement across soft terrain or over objects that may become entrained in the wheels. It may be difficult to move a size 80 tank of helium (roughly 49 lbs and 36” high) safely through the Arboretum path to the proposed location. Though it may be tempting, safe cylinder transportation does not allow the cylinder to be carried."
From David Fikhman @ Environmental Health and Safety
"The main worry is the uneven path that your group may face on the way to the launch site, but if you are careful and have the cylinder appropriately strapped and transferred as they say then it is fine.
My main suggestion/recommendation for them, if they could do this, is to find a launch site that could potentially be in an open parking lot of area where they do not need to move the tank over uneven surfaces. Even if it rained beforehand, it could make the ground surface slippery as well which could be a big hazard.
It would be best to do the suggestion to avoid any uneven surfaces/potential hazards associated with an unpaved road."
"If you are able to apply the impact-resistant plastic material to help move the cart, and have the PI come launch with you, I approve of it.
Just want to ensure there is as minimal of a risk as possible. Thank you!"
When traversing uneven ground, the club must use non-slip flat surfaces to roll the gas cart over the uneven terrain. Plywood, Balsam Wood, or plastic sheets work fine.
Emergency Management
No Balloon Flight may take place during a football game, as there is a Temporary Flight Restriction in place for each game.
Risk Management
Must specify that Unmanned Moored Balloon Launches are not Hot Air Balloon Launches.
Reference Documents
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