Operating Manual v1 0

Version 1 (Jeremy Wright, 07/02/2012 10:23 pm)

1 1 Jeremy Wright
h1. Operating Manual v1.0
2 1 Jeremy Wright
3 1 Jeremy Wright
The items below have been gleaned from meeting notes and video obtained during the Far Horizons design meetings and launch. They need to be put in the correct order and formed into a proper set of procedures. A format for the procedures needs to be decided on for the ODE wiki.
4 1 Jeremy Wright
5 1 Jeremy Wright
h2. Equipment Checklist
6 1 Jeremy Wright
7 1 Jeremy Wright
* Equipment duffle bag
8 1 Jeremy Wright
* Crescent wrench(es) >= 1-1/8" opening
9 1 Jeremy Wright
* Kitchen scale
10 1 Jeremy Wright
* Hanging scale
11 1 Jeremy Wright
* Regulator and custom fill connector
12 1 Jeremy Wright
* Cotton (jersey/gardening) gloves
13 1 Jeremy Wright
* Leather gloves
14 1 Jeremy Wright
* Zip tie cutter
15 1 Jeremy Wright
* Binoculars
16 1 Jeremy Wright
* Helium tanks
17 1 Jeremy Wright
* Ground tarp
18 1 Jeremy Wright
* Duct tape
19 1 Jeremy Wright
* Parachute
20 1 Jeremy Wright
* Balloons (two for redundancy)
21 1 Jeremy Wright
* Extendable painters pole (30’) with roller mount for hook if desired
22 1 Jeremy Wright
* Flight log (Jeremy will upload a scan of Adler’s)
23 1 Jeremy Wright
* Flight path prediction printout
24 1 Jeremy Wright
25 1 Jeremy Wright
h2. Safety Procedures
26 1 Jeremy Wright
27 1 Jeremy Wright
* Anyone who is holding down the balloon during fill and/or launch should wear leather gloves to protect against abrasion and pinch injuries.
28 1 Jeremy Wright
* Ensure that anyone with latex allergies is not exposed to the balloon during flight operations involving latex based balloons.
29 1 Jeremy Wright
* When switching helium tanks, make sure to close the main valve on the tank first before closing the secondary regulator. Otherwise pressure could get trapped in the secondary regulator’s body that is then released forcefully when the connector is loosened with the crescent wrench.
30 1 Jeremy Wright
31 1 Jeremy Wright
h2. Setup Operations
32 1 Jeremy Wright
33 1 Jeremy Wright
* Make sure that your balloons are not up against anything that might damage them in your equipment transport bag.
34 1 Jeremy Wright
* Once you have ensured that all of the equipment is in the transport bag, secure it with zip ties or some other method to keep someone from removing items.
35 1 Jeremy Wright
* All personnel who help steady the balloon should wear cotton gloves to help protect the balloon.
36 1 Jeremy Wright
* Keep the balloon from coming in contact with anything except cotton gloves during fill and launch.
37 1 Jeremy Wright
* They set up a workspace by laying out the ground tarp and ensuring that it is clean and free of debris, oils, etc. “Clean is key”.
38 1 Jeremy Wright
* Lay the helium tanks on one side of the tarp to help keep it from blowing away.
39 1 Jeremy Wright
* Remove the safety cover from the helium tank(s).
40 1 Jeremy Wright
* Attach the custom built fill connector’s regulator to the first helium tank.
41 1 Jeremy Wright
* Use a crescent wrench to tighten (snug) the regulator’s connector to the tank’s valve.
42 1 Jeremy Wright
* Open the helium tank’s valve and then open up the regulator.
43 1 Jeremy Wright
* Open up the balloon bag and unroll the balloon away from you with the open neck closest to the helium tanks.
44 1 Jeremy Wright
* Slip the 2” steel attachment ring onto the neck of the balloon.
45 1 Jeremy Wright
* Slide the neck of the balloon over the 1” outlet throat of the fill connector.
46 1 Jeremy Wright
* Wrap the neck of the balloon and tape it securely to the fill connector, making sure to leave a folded tab at the end so that you can remove the tape later. You’re securing it against about 20 lbs of pull. Use one continuous wrap that goes down the neck, overlaps the fill connector body, and then goes back up the neck of the balloon.
47 1 Jeremy Wright
* Open the main valve directly attached to the helium tank, and then open the secondary regulator. For a 1200 gram balloon and a K size tank, you’ll add approximately 1-1/2 tanks of helium to the balloon.
48 1 Jeremy Wright
* When switching helium tanks, make sure to close the main valve on the tank first before closing the secondary regulator. Otherwise pressure could get trapped in the secondary regulator’s body that is then released forcefully when the connector is loosened with the crescent wrench.
49 1 Jeremy Wright
* The paracord loop on the fill connector can be attached to the empty helium tank when switching to the second tank.
50 1 Jeremy Wright
* As the balloon inflates the fill connector’s paracord loop can be attached to a helium tank’s valve to hold it down.
51 1 Jeremy Wright
* When filling and launching the balloon in an outdoor location, use a clean tulle “tarp” to cover the balloon and keep it stationary.
52 1 Jeremy Wright
* Always ensure that the balloon doesn’t come in contact with anything. Keep any personnel without cotton or leather gloves on from touching the balloon.
53 1 Jeremy Wright
* During filling one person with leather gloves can hold the fill connector, wrapping the para cord around the wrist of their leather glove, and two people with cotton gloves should be on either side of the balloon to keep it from blowing around.
54 1 Jeremy Wright
* Weigh each component of the flight vehicle to ensure that it’s not over 12 lbs total, and that no single component weighs more than 6 lbs.
55 1 Jeremy Wright
* Calculate the amount of lift needed based on payload weight(s) and ascent rate.
56 1 Jeremy Wright
* Use a luggage scale to measure the lift of the balloon. Make sure to take the weight of the fill connector into account when doing this. Adler puts a line on the hose leading up to the fill connector’s PVC main body, and they have measured the weight of that part of the connector. When measuring the lift, they pull the balloon down to where the line on the hose touches the ground as they’re measuring the lift.
57 1 Jeremy Wright
* Make sure to use 50 lb rate zip ties to secure the payload(s) to the train line or frame.
58 1 Jeremy Wright
* Ensure that all your equipment with a contact number, what it is, etc.
59 1 Jeremy Wright
60 1 Jeremy Wright
h2. Launch Operations
61 1 Jeremy Wright
62 1 Jeremy Wright
* After filling, and during transfer to the launch location, make sure that the balloon does not touch the ground due to wind or mishandling or it may burst.
63 1 Jeremy Wright
* Ensure that the parachute and payload line(s) are not tangled or twisted prior to release.
64 1 Jeremy Wright
65 1 Jeremy Wright
h2. Chase and Recovery Operations
66 1 Jeremy Wright
67 1 Jeremy Wright
* The chase vehicles will be decided by what’s available and how many people are participating in the chase and recovery operations.
68 1 Jeremy Wright
* In certain areas (like Albuquerque), 4 wheel drive chase vehicles may be required.
69 1 Jeremy Wright
* At least one chase vehicle needs to have a directional antenna with a receiver suitable to track the balloon platform’s beacon.
70 1 Jeremy Wright
* Use the flight path from the predictive software to get a general idea of where to track/search.