PKAP Airship 1 Takes to the Skies

Sunday was a big day for the project. Our helikite, nicknamed the “PKAP Airship 1” (all PKAP things – people, gadgets, etc. eventually receive a nickname), made a successful maiden voyage. We took it out to Koutsopetria and set up shop. It was quite an operation and required 2 cars. The hardest part was getting the tank of helium

 

out to the site in our small cars. The rest was downhill after that…sort of. Flying a helikite takes a bit of practice. It had great lift and we had no problem getting it to the right altitude. Making sure it stayed centered over the area we wanted to photograph, however, was a bit more complicated. We eventually were able to get that sorted out and the setup produced some great results. That was a bit of a relief for me, since there have been a lot of jokes made about the helikite and the possible outcomes.

RSM

Advertisement