Talk:Balloon (aeronautics)

No order to this article

This page is all over the place - there are lots of facts in there, but no order to it. I've taken out about three links to the same page (hot air balloon. There were two 'see also' sections, in different parts of the article, linking to the same pages. There was a section on the montgolfier brothers which belongs either in hot air balloons (which is where I moved it) or under montgolfier. Shall come back and have a more in-depth shifting-things-about session, when I have more time. May have to do similar to hot air balloon and montgolfier brothers too, if they're in the same kind of state (potential, but a bit messy).   sheridan 22:25, 2005 Jan 11 (UTC)

There are also repeatedly strange expressions and locutions, sometimes actually obscuring the sense: it needs thorough going over by a native English speaker. The material about early history needs special attention: as far as I'm aware there is no serious evidence of the ancient or mediaeval use of hot air balloons, though I don't know about China. Deipnosophista (talk) 15:04, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

I agree: the article should be reorganized and citations added. It would also be nice to add a section on the physics involved, in particular regarding how balloons can be made to go up and down, and the catastrophes that resulted when control was lost.--Gautier lebon (talk) 11:04, 7 January 2010 (UTC)

continued use of hydrogen for ballooning

QuantumEleven -- Surprising as it may seem, hydrogen is still sometimes used by gas balloonists -- and not just in Europe. Several of the balloons flying in this year's Gordon Bennett Balloon Race, held in the US last year, used hydrogen. For a reference, see http://www.aibf.org/Gas/Races/about_gordonbennett.php Regards, Blimpguy 22:41, 30 April 2006 (UTC)

Hi there Blimpguy - you are right! <open mouth> <insert fist> I eat my previous words - thanks for checking up for me! — QuantumEleven 15:49, 2 May 2006 (UTC)

There are a lot of pilots who prefer to fly with hydrogen. A firend of mine would pick hydrogen of helium everytime given the choice.

Duplicate history

The sections History and Balloons as flying machines have a lot of duplication, almost like a couple of articles were stuck together. --Wfaxon 07:54, 18 October 2006 (UTC)

Unclear reference

This sentence "Lowe was called to act as a Forward Artillery Observer (FAO) from which aerial station he was able to direct artillery fire by a set order of flag signals, from an unseen position, onto a Confederate encampment."

contains and unclear reference. It is not clear whether "from an unseen position" refers to Lowe or the artillery fire. I'm assuming it's about the artillery fire, but I don't know enough about the history to be sure. Can someone who does correct it? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 134.10.22.103 (talk) 05:40, 9 November 2007 (UTC)

Colorado balloon

Created Colorado balloon for the boy in the balloon incident, rename it or whatever, but there it is Bachcell (talk) 19:54, 15 October 2009 (UTC)

Redlinks in the See also section are based on the following....

• Civil Aviation Authority (United Kingdom)

--222.67.200.212 (talk) 05:56, 8 February 2010 (UTC)

I do not understand. Is this a request or a statement? -AndrewDressel (talk) 15:33, 8 February 2010 (UTC)

Height

How highest can balloon fly? 35 km as Robert Harrison's ballon? Newone (talk) 04:29, 27 March 2010 (UTC)

Inaccurate Geography

In regard to this statement:

"With his ability to inflate balloons from remote stations, Lowe, his new balloon the Washington and two gas generators were loaded onto a converted coal barge the George Washington Parke Custis. As he was towed down the Potomac, Lowe was able to ascend and observe the battlefield as it moved inward on the heavily forested peninsula. This would be the military's first claim of an aircraft carrier."

There would be no battlefields Lowe could observe while being towed down the Potomac River. The Peninsula campaign was conducted on the peninsula bounded by the James River on the South and the York River on the North. Secondly, I don't see the necessity to cite this instance as the military's first claim of an aircraft carrier. It is just too much of a stretch.

Sincere regards, Mike Stewart mikekaykarenandrew@verizon.net —Preceding unsigned comment added by Stewartm001 (talk • contribs) 02:30, 10 June 2010 (UTC)

Svenska language link

For whomever most often edits this article, "Balloon (aircraft)", I noticed that the Svenska language link takes you to an article, "Ballong", which is on small, regular balloons. I believe the "Balloon (aircraft)" article should instead link to the Svenska language "Luftballong" or "Varmluftsballong". Thanks! Pillartopost (talk) 10:36, 4 May 2012 (UTC)

Issues

I noticed a few things that deserve to be changed. For one, it seems that near the bottom of "as flying machines," it mentions balloons used for air transport, and then lists both hot air and gas balloons, both of which are listed, linked to, and summarized in the "types" section; this seems redundant. Additionally, Where it mentions light gas balloons, these sound very much like high altitude balloons, which have their own page, so I feel like changing this phrase to that, except then it mentions that they have carried "even human passengers with a tether like in İstanbul, Paris, Berlin, Hong Kong or Singapore," which both isn't cited and has nothing to do with HABs. Perhaps this should be moved up to the short air transport section, so that the link will be relevant? Last, I noticed that it mentions zero-pressure balloons in the "as flying machines" section but not the "types" section, so a short summary should go in the types section. I will work on these and try to get a coherent organization out of these issues. Zoughtbaj (talk) 21:56, 29 June 2012 (UTC)

Blimps

Many Wkipedians take the PoV that the only significant usage of "blimp" is as the common word for a non-rigid airship. While American online usage makes this idea at least tenable over there, in Britain at least we use the term in a wider sense in which the term "blimp" can refer to any non-rigid streamilined envelope, including kite balloons typically used during World War II as barrage balloons. here are some references for this wider usage:

• blimp, Pronunciation: /blɪmp, noun, informal, 1 (also Colonel Blimp) British A pompous, reactionary type of person, 2 A small airship or barrage balloon, 2.1 North American A fat person,..." Oxford English Dictionary online.[1]
• Paris, M.; From the Wright Brothers to Top Gun: Aviation, Nationalism, and Popular Cinema, Manchester University Press, 1995, Page 127: "A novel and highly visible form of defence was the barrage balloon, the 'blimp', flown over a potential target...."[2]
• Follow that Blimp, WW2 People's War, BBC: "He was armed with a rifle and chasing an escaped barrage balloon which drifted overhead." [3]
• Wragg, D.; Historical Dictionary of Aviation, History Press, 2008, Pages 25-27: "Airship ... During the Second World War, the main combatants used barrage balloons, or blimps, to protect vital targets ...".

Wikipedia MOS:COMMONALITY says that, "Wikipedia tries to find words that are common to all varieties of English. Insisting on a single term or a single usage as the only correct option does not serve the purposes of an international encyclopedia." Since, for some of us at least, a "blimp" can be a kind of balloon, it is clearly a violation to place a disambig link at the head of the article here suggesting that a "blimp" is never a kind of balloon. I removed that link but it has been reinstated.

Can we please agree on whether we wish to localise this article to US usage? — Cheers, Steelpillow (Talk) 09:38, 24 August 2014 (UTC) [Updated 09:54, 24 August 2014 (UTC)]

OK, I take it nobody wants to challenge MOS:COMMONALITY. — Cheers, Steelpillow (Talk) 22:13, 30 August 2014 (UTC)

To cast this as a PoV or EngVar issue is a stretch. All the definitions given above equate "barrage balloon" with "blimp" not balloons in general. Instead, the issue is weather the envelope is shaped to facilitate airflow. I actually don't care much whether barrage balloons are considered unpowered blimps or balloons with a non-round profile, but I don't see the need to assume there is some vast conspiracy involved. -AndrewDressel (talk) 12:07, 1 September 2014 (UTC)

Try suggesting that Blimp be moved to the less ambiguous, equally widely used and technically more correct Non-rigid airship. — Cheers, Steelpillow (Talk) 12:26, 1 September 2014 (UTC)

Hot air balloons

Article stated that the first balloon capable of manned flight was made in 1760, but no source for this claim is cited.

The Wikipedia page on the Montgolfier brothers states that their first manned balloon flight was October 15, 1783, so I've amended the page to reflect this.

31.51.148.244 (talk) 04:11, 15 February 2015 (UTC)

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