At 01:40 pm 06/01/2006 +1100, you wrote: >In reply to Grimer's message of Wed, 04 Jan 2006 04:06:22 +0000: >Hi, >[snip] >>At 09:58 pm 03/01/2006 -0500, hohlraum wrote: >> >>> Did any ever get struck by Thor? >> >> >> >>I never heard of a case. >> >>Lighting doesn't bring down aeroplanes very often. >>Why should it bring down balloons? >> >>Frank >It may not bring the balloon down, but of necessity, the cable >must be conducting. Therefore lightning strikes are going to fry >the power connections on the ground. > >Regards, > >Robin van Spaandonk
Be an extra source of power then, wont it. 8-) Joking apart. I'm sure the developers are not complete idiots and have thought of that one. Doubtless you could think of many ways of combating the problem yourself. Presumably if one was measuring the potential between the balloon and the ground one would get an early warning and could react in some way or other. At the very least you could isolate the ground apparatus from the balloon till the danger was over. During the war barrage balloons were tethered by steel cables. Steel is a good conductor yet I never heard of a balloon being brought down by lightning and I never noticed the aroma of frying ground-crew. ;-) Frank
