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back to article Cheeky LOHAN chaps in gutsy snatch at El Reg's paper spaceplane crown

In an audacious and extremely cheeky high altitude operation over the weekend, Low Orbit Helium Assisted Navigator (LOHAN) team members Dave Akerman and Anthony Stirk had a pop at our Guinness World Record for the highest-altitude paper plane launch. The SNOW aircraft The underside of the SNOW aircraft The pair's SNOW …

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  1. bpfh
    Black Helicopters

    Authorisations?

    What sort of authorisations do you need for flying this sort of thing? Some countries take offence to having wierd flying things with attached electronic kit overflying their country or even crashing down in it!

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    1. Anonymous Coward
      Reply Icon
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Authorisations?

      I don't expect they'll worry too much - they'll just think it's the NSA, or an alien invasion. The velocity will be far too low for a spyplane or an ICBM.

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    2. Gareth 7
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      Boffin

      Re: Authorisations?

      Weather Balloons are excempt provided they use standard meterological balloons and the payload has a parachute. In the UK you just need to apply for a permit to launch - which is just to make sure what you are doing is excempt.

      http://ukhas.org.uk/_media/general:met_balloon_release_application_jan_05_.doc

      The radiosondes are wireless telegraphy act excempt too as long as they radiate less than 10mW. They usually are set to frequencies that are in the 70cm Amateur radio band to increase the number of recievers available for tracking - there is a pretty comphrensive amateur radio network covering most of europe/worldwide that will pick up tracking signals automatically and stick them on a variety of live websutes.

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  2. taxman

    H2 vs HE

    As title.

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  4. Grikath
    Pint

    Good luck finding it...

    The part of Holland it landed in is classic polder, which means a lot of water hazards, (in fact, at this time of year, especially with the current weather, it's one large water hazard), if it hasn't been blown out to the IJsselmeer alltogether.

    I've given a shout-out to some peeps I know that live thereabouts to see if anyone saw something pink landing/lying around, and ask around, so maybe you get lucky.

    Meanwhile b33r is in order for a fine attempt :)

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    1. Jonathan Richards 1
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      Thumb Up

      Re: Good luck finding it...

      +1 on the Good Luck.

      Putting those coordinates into Google Earth gets me a placemark just north of Noorddijk, but still with an altitude of 3256 m (10,682 ft). I'm not sure that ten thousand feet up counts as "pretty well to the ground", and I fear that the plucky paper may indeed have blown further to the north-east. However, the coast is 20 km away in that direction, and I wouldn't have thought the glideslope could be as good as 15%...? What were the local winds like there on Saturday evening?

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  5. Will Godfrey Silver badge
    Thumb Up

    Good effort guys.

    Nice to have some important news on here!

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  6. Joe Gurman

    A record which shall stand....

    ....until the blokes on the Space Station chuck a paper plane overboard.

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    1. Blitheringeejit
      Reply Icon

      RE: ISS launch

      Fair comment - though intuitively I would expect the lateral velocity would make a safe re-entry rather unlikely, given the flammability of your average paper plane. Unless the very gradual transition from near-vacuum to full atmosphere would provide enough gentle drag for something as low-mass as a paper plane to re-enter without burning up..? Any spacey scientists out there with a good answer for this one?

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