Goodyear Blimp Crash

[Nick]

Did you guys hear about this?

http://jalopnik.com/5811406/goodyear-blimp-in-fiery-crash-pilot-dies-saving-three-video

The pilot of a Goodyear blimp died in Germany on Sunday when his airship, due to be retired in 2013, caught fire while landing. Before he died, the heroic pilot was able to save three passengers by ordering them to jump.

 

[bvibert]

Wow, that's pretty sad.

 

[dmc]

The humanity

 

[JerseyJoey]

Wonder if they found any abandoned birds eggs in the engines.

 

[ctenidae]

/had to be done
//sucks about the pilot, though

 

[marcski]

/had to be done
//sucks about the pilot, though

Wonder if they found any abandoned birds eggs in the engines.

Man, people (mainly GSS) were Banned for comments like these....

 

[mondeo]

Man, people (mainly GSS) were Banned for comments like these....

Just different. I'm betting no one on this site jumped out of the blimp...

 

[ctenidae]

Man, people (mainly GSS) were Banned for comments like these....

Hey, I said it sucks for the pilot.

 

[Nick]

it does suck for the pilot, pretty heroic. I was surprised to read the article that they went down to the ground, three people jumped out, and then it surged 150 feet in the air. I guess I didn't expect three people to have that much effect on the bouyancy of a blimp the size of the Goodyear blimp.

 

[Black Phantom]

Interesting:


From Wikipedia:

The blimps are filled with helium. The helium is maintained under low pressure, so small punctures do not pose serious consequences for the blimp. In fact, one inspection element of the blimps is to look into the envelope for pinpoints of light which are indicative of small holes. The blimps have infrequently been hit by small-arms fire from the ground.[citation needed] Also, birds can hit blimps and make small beak holes. These incidents have not resulted in any serious consequences to the blimp or its crew.

The Goodyear blimps are non-rigid (meaning their shape is not maintained by a rigid internal structure) dirigibles (directable/steerable airships). However, the term dirigible is seldom used in connection with blimps, being associated more with the great rigid airships of the past. Inside their exterior envelope, the Goodyear blimps are equipped with gas bladders. As the blimp ascends or descends, the internal bladders expand or contract to compensate for density changes and to maintain uniform pressure in the envelope.

 

[ctenidae]

it does suck for the pilot, pretty heroic. I was surprised to read the article that they went down to the ground, three people jumped out, and then it surged 150 feet in the air. I guess I didn't expect three people to have that much effect on the bouyancy of a blimp the size of the Goodyear blimp.

I thought so too, so looked into it. With no crew or payload on board, the blimp has about 675 pounds of positive bouyancy (actually has 100-200 pounds of negative bouyancy when fully loaded). A 450-pound drop in weight could have a pretty significant effect on it, it seems.

(202,700 ft3 of helium, @ 15 cu3/lb equals 13,500 pounds of lift. Empty weight of the blimp is 12,840 lbs according to Goodyear)

 

[Nick]

Wow, I'm surprised it was that much. I was assuming the weight of the cabin alone was so much more than the weight of the passengers that they would in effect be negligable.

 

[mondeo]

I thought so too, so looked into it. With no crew or payload on board, the blimp has about 675 pounds of positive bouyancy (actually has 100-200 pounds of negative bouyancy when fully loaded). A 450-pound drop in weight could have a pretty significant effect on it, it seems.

(202,700 ft3 of helium, @ 15 cu3/lb equals 13,500 pounds of lift. Empty weight of the blimp is 12,840 lbs according to Goodyear)

So the weight of the passengers was about 1/30th that of the blimp. Acceleration would only have been ~1 ft/s/s, giving enough time to let passengers jump then get out without it being too high. Maybe he was trying to control the blimp so that the survivors would have a chance to get out from under it.

 

[ctenidae]

So the weight of the passengers was about 1/30th that of the blimp. Acceleration would only have been ~1 ft/s/s, giving enough time to let passengers jump then get out without it being too high. Maybe he was trying to control the blimp so that the survivors would have a chance to get out from under it.

Weight of thepassengers is only 1/30th of the blimp with no helium in it. With helium in it, the 3 passengers probably weighed twice as much as the blimp.

 

[mondeo]

Weight of thepassengers is only 1/30th of the blimp with no helium in it. With helium in it, the 3 passengers probably weighed twice as much as the blimp.

Sorry.

The mass of the passengers is only 1/30th of the blimp.

 

[Nick]

Argh, my physics is really failing me on this one.

 

[ctenidae]

Sorry.

The mass of the passengers is only 1/30th of the blimp.

More precise, to be sure, but I was pointing out that the passenger's weight as a portion of the bouyancy is quite significant, helping explain how, with 3 passengers off quickly, the blimp could climb 150 feet pretty rapidly.

 

[mondeo]

More precise, to be sure, but I was pointing out that the passenger's weight as a portion of the bouyancy is quite significant, helping explain how, with 3 passengers off quickly, the blimp could climb 150 feet pretty rapidly.

F=ma

Assuming neutral bouyancy before the passengers dropped out (has to be close near the ground,) F=450lbf. m= ~13,000lbm. F/m=450lbf/13000lbm=1/30 lbf/lbm*(32.2ft/s/s*lbm/lbf)=~1ft/s/s.