Today we had our first test flights for 2012!
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| PEGASOS-Zeppelin's first scientific flight for 2012 |
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| Cabin layout number nine, consisting of CPN-, API-, NAS- and NOX-Racks |
The instruments for cabin layout 9 (
CL9, nucleation) were already installed (tooled, as the specialists say) on saturday. For sunday, we had a bad weather forecast, so we had the chance for some free time (which most experimentalists still used for working on the instruments)
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| Sitting on the airfield with perfect weather |
For today, the weather forecast was looking good, so we moved the
airship out of the hangar at 10:30 a.m. After the pre-flight checks were
done by the pilot, it was realized that switching the electricity for
the racks from generator ground power to airship power did not work as
expected. The troubleshooting turned out to be complex. After a few
hours of hard work, the engineers and technicians of Zeppelin
Luftschifftechnik managed to find and fix the problem.
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| Second airship with touristic passengers passing the PEGASOS airship |
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| Spectral radiometer and inlet lines for API-ToF and CPN-Rack |
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As
a consequence of that, we were able to start the first test flight at
3:30 p.m. After 3/4 of an hour, the scientific staff on board was
changed and another 15 min flight was performed. All instruments on
board seemed to perform well and quick-look data from the flight was
later on discussed.
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| Second airship landing close to the PEGASOS Zeppelin |
After landing for the second time,
the airship had to be moved quickly into the hangar because of
increasing wind speeds. Under these rushed conditions, the electricity
for the racks had to be switched another two times to get to power
socket supply. These switchings were giving us trouble in November, but
this time every switch went smoothly and we are very happy that we can
now expect seamless power supply for the instruments.
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| PEGASOS Zeppelin landing |
On friday, the cabin layout was changed to the photochemisty package, which is also going to be used for the upcoming transfer flights to the Netherlands. While in the process ofexchanging racks, the pilots informed us, that weather with high windspeeds was about to pass through the region. Within one and a half hour, we would have to move out of the hangar to at least get a one hour flight. This was of course increasing pressure on the mechanics from Zeppelin Luftschifftechnik and the scientists responsible for the to be exchanged racks. With a combined effort, setup processes on the moving airship and last-minute hotfixes, we were ready just in time to have the last cabin layout take off on this day.
Our coordinator Spyros Pandis from Forth, Greece
and Andreas Wahner from Forschungszentrum
Jülich, Germany
and Thomas Brandt, CEO of ZLT Zeppelin Luftschifftechnik GmbH & Co
KG here presented the planned flight routes and
scientific background of the project.
