BALLOON REMOTE DEFLATION DEVICES

There is sometimes a legal requirement for aerostats to have fitted a system whereby they will deflate if they get loose from their tether. This ensures that they cause as little damage as possible to buildings or overhead wires and also that they do not disrupt air traffic.

Most normal blimp aerostats are seldom capable of flying more than a few hundred feet which means that a simple second line to a plug is often sufficient. However, Helikite aerostats fly thousands of feet high which makes the second line system impractical. So Allsopp Helikites Ltd has devised two methods of deflating Helikites (and other aerostats).

Allsopp Helikites Ltd produces two unique aerostat deflation devices for professional use.

1) Automatic Barometric Cut-Down. Air pressure reduces with altitude. A sensor on the aerostat detects the difference between the atmospheric barometric pressure of its launch height and its present barometric pressure. If it detects that the Helikite is at too great an altitude, it initiates a hot wire cutting device that creates a large hole in the balloon material which quickly release the helium gas and causes the Helikite to descend. This system requires no human interaction besides the initial setting of the height parameters and so should satisfy any legal requirements.

2) Radio-Controlled Cut-Down. An encrypted radio signal is sent from a ground station transmitter to a radio receiver on the Helikite, which initiates a hot wire to cut a large hole in the balloon material to cause the gas to escape and the Helikite to descend. The signal can be sent within 10 Km of the Helikite. This can be a very rapid method of downing a Helikite. So it is quite possible that the operator would be able to retrieve the Helikite quickly and with minimal damage.

Both systems are extremely simple to use plug-and-play designs for very fast deployment, and yet they are very sophisticated and computer controlled with an ability to test the circuits and wires for faults before deployment. They also check the battery power is sufficient. They use Lithion Ion batteries which operate at very low temperatures and have years of shelf-life. The electronics of both the ground station and the airborne components are water-resistant. The total weight of the airborne components is 1.3Kg.