By the way, most of the ideas that have been propounded here were, indeed, thought of by the Board folks, too. Balloons work at EM -- but that's a one day meet. Even when it's two days -- the balloons get replaced for day #2 because the wind overnight will blow them so much that the balloon touches the lakebed surface - and pow, there goes the balloon. The helium leaks out, yes, but over a day or so it doesn't leak all that much.
From my personal experience of putting Balloons out at El Mirage for the second day of a two day meet, these were my observations:
Some Balloons
did not need to be replaced and were left as is.
Some balloons did deflate or explode, but the reason could be anything from the Balloon hitting a vehicle, the Balloon being overinflated, people getting drunk and think it is funny to sit on or pop a balloon etc. How could I tell? Balloon remnants were still attached to the string.
Some Balloons were missing in action. Strings had been cut not broken. You can tell the difference
El Mirage is much different than Bonneville in that people can park and camp right next to the cones that the balloons are attached to, and the string depending who is measuring it can be 18-20 feet long. This allows the balloon a large radius it can travel in depending on the wind, thus hitting vehicles parked next to the cones.
These balloons are much stronger than you would think, they are not your typical Kid's balloons. Another thing I found out is the balloon is much stronger if you only fill it to about 80- 90% of its capacity as this allows for the balloon to expand and also gives it some give when it hits the ground which equals less breakage.
These were my observations.
Tom G.
