- Thu Dec 01, 2011 8:52 pm
#261672
I have a 25 mile commute - so I have time to dream up this stuff..... How about a hang sport of Airball! Would it be dangerous.... you bet! It therefore should have great crowd appeal! I can see it on ESPN now!
I envision Airball basically as such - first pilot to strike ball in air enters 1st place, second pilot 2nd place, etc. Balloon (ball of some sort* filled with just enough helium to make it rise @ 50-100 ft/min). Ball is released from some point (launch, between launch and LZ, LZ, other....). Ball is designed strong enough to withstand (hopefully) a strike by a hang (ya wouldn't want it popping and enveloping the glider!). The ball could be released, allowed to ascend to a certain altitude, then the launch window opened. Or, launch window opens where all pilots must launch before a particular time, then the ballon/ball is released and allowed to ascend towards the pilots aloft. Or, ........ now's your turn - could this work? How? What sort of other rules, equipment (multiple GoPros on balloon/ball to film for TV fun???), scenarios for competition rounds, etc., etc. should the sport have?
Oh yeah, pilots who strike balloon would be DQed if their glider suffered structural issues which led to other than a safe landing (you'd want to hit the balloon/ball at a slow speed and nose first would likely be better than wing tip first!).
I envision Airball basically as such - first pilot to strike ball in air enters 1st place, second pilot 2nd place, etc. Balloon (ball of some sort* filled with just enough helium to make it rise @ 50-100 ft/min). Ball is released from some point (launch, between launch and LZ, LZ, other....). Ball is designed strong enough to withstand (hopefully) a strike by a hang (ya wouldn't want it popping and enveloping the glider!). The ball could be released, allowed to ascend to a certain altitude, then the launch window opened. Or, launch window opens where all pilots must launch before a particular time, then the ballon/ball is released and allowed to ascend towards the pilots aloft. Or, ........ now's your turn - could this work? How? What sort of other rules, equipment (multiple GoPros on balloon/ball to film for TV fun???), scenarios for competition rounds, etc., etc. should the sport have?
Oh yeah, pilots who strike balloon would be DQed if their glider suffered structural issues which led to other than a safe landing (you'd want to hit the balloon/ball at a slow speed and nose first would likely be better than wing tip first!).
Attachments
airball.jpg (50.58 KiB) Viewed 4816 times
Last edited by ChattaroyMan on Fri Dec 02, 2011 7:27 am, edited 1 time in total.
Steve Baran � U2 160 � Chattaroy, WA - USA � USHPA# 16529 � www.centeroflift.org