March2000
TheFederalAviationAdministration
issued an Airworthiness Directive effec-
tive March 13,2000 for Cameron Bal-
loons Ltd. (Thunder& Colt) Titanium
propanecylinders,partnum berP/N
CB2380and P/N CB2383.
The CivilAviationAuthority(CAA),
whichisthe airworthinessauthorityfor the
UnitedKingdom, notifiedtheFAA thatan
unsafe condition may exist on [balloons]
thatincorporate certaintitanium cylinders
soldby Cameron Balloons.
The CAA advised that fatigue may
cause the longitudinal weld on these tita-
niumpropanecylindersto crack.This
would causethe propaneto leak from
these cylinders.
Cameron Balloons and Thunder &
Colt(owned by Cameron)issued an Alert
ServiceBulletin5, datedFebruary2,2000.
Cylinders must not be refilled, must be
emptiedof allfuelanddepressurized, and
must be returned to Cameron Balloons
factory after emptying.
Balloon Life contacted Cameron Bal-
loonsUSabouttheAD andServiceBulletin.
“Cyclic pressure testing undertaken
by Cameron Balloons identified a weak-
nessatornear one ofthe weldsin asample
of Titanium tanks that were tested. After
further extensive testing and research, it
was identified thatthe sameweakness
could occurinall titaniumtanks.The
weakness exhibited in the test resulted in
a pin-hole leakin one of the tank’s welds.
Although there have been no incidents
with any tanks in service, test bed results
indicated the potential for a reduced ser-
vicelife”,AndrewBairdtoldBalloon
Life.“Aftertesting tanks that were re-
turned from the field, however, itbecame
clear that real-worldconditionsare notas
harsh as the test-bed conditions, and that
actual minimum life is greater than what
was revealed by the testing.”
Nevertheless, Andrew indicates that
“wedecidedtoreturnalltanksinservicefor
treatment to eliminate the possibilityof an
in-serviceproblem.HereintheUSA.”Andy
continues, “Cameron BalloonsUS issued
andworksunderServiceBulletin#5,which
outlinesthe procedure and time frame for
return of the titanium tanks.”
“Thesolution,”Andyfurther remarks
“is to heat treat all tanksto a specific
temperature/quenchcycle.Thiscom-
pletelyeliminatesallunwantedstressesin
thetank. We tooksome of theoldest,most
well-used tanks in service and put them
cyclic testingshows that the cylinder life
was extended to nearly 60 years (given
daily use)atwhich point they stillpassed
the proof test required for all new tanks.
Obviously, wewere verypleasedwith
these results.
“Currently there are only seven cus-
tomers in the US who have these tanks.
Once we have the tanks inhand, they will
be heat treated and returned to our cus-
tomers. Our goal istosee toitthat nobody
will be without tanks for more than a
month at most, and for those in need, we
have also provided ‘loaner’ tanks to en-
sure they are not grounded.
“Cameron iscoveringthe cost of the
heat treatmentandshipping costs, and we
lookforward toreturningthetreatedtanks
to our customers as soon as possible. All
new titanium tanks being delivered have
alreadyundergone thisprocess, andthere-
fore, will not need to be returned.
“Indications are that we are the only
manufacturer to have tested its titanium
tanks in thismanner, therefore it remains
to beseenwhether other tanks on the
marketwillhave to undergo similar treat-
ment in the coming months.”
Formoreinform ationcontact
CameronBalloon US, Box 3672,Ann
Arbor, MI 48130, phone 734-426-5525,
Internet: www.cameronballoons.com.
DickSmithandJohnWallingtonhave
completed the first successful flightfrom
NewZealandtoAustraliabyballoon.
After taking off from the northern part of
the North Island in New Zealand at 5:55
a.m.February22,theduoflewtheir
Roziere balloon across the Tasman Sea
“against”theprevailingwinds.Smithpaid
tributetotheAustralianBureauof
Meteorology’scomputermodelingwhich
provided“incrediblyaccuratepredictions
for the whole of the journey.”
Smith and Wallington, who made a
successful trans-Australia flight in 1993,
landedtheballoononthebeachnear
WoodyHeadon theNSWmid-northcoast
around 1:10p.m. February 24. Theywere
approaching a military firing range and
chosethebeachlanding.Timeofthe
flight was 55 hours and 12 minutes.
The flightcrew had toovercome sev-
eral obstacles enroute including, icing up
of the burner and winds thatthreatened to
swing themsouthwardtoward Antarc-
tica. They constantlyvaried their altitude
the right wind direction. As they reached
land the balloon was brought down to 50
feet above the waves to prepare for the
beach landing.
Smith had made a “friendly” wager
of $100,000 regarding the potential suc-
cess of the flightand the winnings willbe
donated to Reverend Bill Crews’ Exodus
Foundation.
The Fédération Aéronautique Inter-
nationalehasratifiedTroyBradley’s
Roziereflight fromOzark, Missouri to
SpringHill, Tennessee for a worldrecord
distanceof 568.63 kilometers(353miles).
TherecordcoversAM-1upto AM-6
class balloons in theRozierecategory.
The new record surpasses the record for
AM-1 held by Bradley and the AM-2 to
AM-6 records held by Nick Saum. Brad-
ley also set a duration record on the flight
of 27hoursand 25 minutes surpassinghis
previous AM-1 recordand those of Saum
for the AM-2 to AM-6 classes.
TheFAI hasreceivedtwo newclaims
forpendingworldrecords.Oscar
Lindstrôm,Sweden,hassubmittedhis
claim for a new AX-3, hot air, distance
recordof204kilometers.Thecurrent
record is 186.52 kilomete