roswell

Flight 29, with a manual ballast valve, was released just before
slmset on 22 November. It was observed descending 50 miles north of
Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 14 hours later. ihe average w:ind was 130 mph.
Radio receiption was for 69 minutes.
Of the other recent flights, satisfactory radio performance was
enjoyed only on flight 36. Before any more flights are made, a better
transmitter anfi, battery pack will be needed. Even on this flight the
signal was lost after 135 minutes, due to excessive range. the last
plotted position was northeast This flight was recovered
from Burlington, Iowa.
T1me-height curves of this series are included in figures 53, 54
and 55. Despite the limited data, some results can be determined. For
example, flight 32 is believed to have floated for at least 70 minutes
within 1,000 feet of a constant level above 40,000 feet MSL.
Flight 35 also exhibited 32 minutes of constant-level flight before
the radio signal was lost. From the remarkable distances that some of
the otners traveled (See flight summary Table VI, Appendix I) it is almost
certain that they floated for long periods.
These flights included a simple-filter manual ballast valve assembly
(Figure 9) designed to reduce equipment weight and cost. The performance
of this equipment justifies its continued use for relatively short flights.
Considerable difficulty was experienced with the type of· filter used.
Experiments are now being conducted to improve th~ filter.
Because of limited data received from earlier flights, modified
Fergusson meteorographs were added to the equipment train on flights 33,
35 and 39. As of January 1, 1948 none of these instruments have been
recovered.
- 31 -