120 days of preparation, more than 24,000 training sessions, and more than 1.8 million balloon inflatable knotting exercises. Finally, on July 1, 100,000 degradable balloons lifted off perfectly with 0 mistakes.
On July 1, 2021, the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the CPC was held in Tiananmen Square. As the finale of the celebration, 100,000 balloons took off into the air, forming a colorful balloon curtain wall, like a soaring dragon, depicting spectacular colors in the blue sky.
He Jiangbin, president of the China Balloon Art Industry Association from Shanghai, recently told reporters the story behind the liftoff of 100,000 balloons.
The task is the highest in history
In March this year, He Jiangbin and his team were once again tasked with flying balloons from Beijing to celebrate the centenary of the founding of the Communist Party of China. Say "again" because he participated in the balloon release of the military parade commemorating the 70th anniversary of the victory of the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression and the 70th anniversary of the National Day. The balloon release of this mission is the highest in history, and because the epidemic has made the task more arduous.
After accepting the task, He Jiangbin led the team to meet overnight and selected 30 elites from all over the country from the Chinese balloon art industry as the technical guidance and support team of the entire release project, responsible for participating in the balloon release of the celebration conference.
There are many factors to consider at the release site
During the preparatory and seminar stage, He Jiangbin traveled back and forth to Beijing and Shanghai dozens of times, and was invited to serve as the technical guide for the balloon release link of the celebration conference and the relevant departments at the higher level to discuss the design of the balloon release, as well as what balloons to use, the size of the balloon, how to train, training plans, emergency measures, etc.
He Jiangbin said that during this period, they ran the factory, looked at the sample ball, did experiments, made the balloons filled with nitrogen, and fixed the color of the balloons. They selected a 100% degradable, positive color balloon as the release balloon, and finally determined the six colors of red, orange, yellow, green, dark blue, light blue and the expected effect of the release.
He introduced that after entering the training base, the most he did was to guide the volunteers throughout the process on how to inflate the balloon, how to control the size of the balloon, how to tie the balloon, how to grasp the tightness of the spout, and master the essentials of flight. According to the assembly process, the 100,000 balloons were inflated and tied for only 90 minutes, and each balloon was 25 centimeters in size after being filled with helium, and they specially made a balloon size measuring device from a cardboard box. He Jiangbin said: "Dig a round hole with a diameter of 25 centimeters in the closed carton, and the balloon can just be placed in the round hole to be a qualified size." ”
The balloon inflation is done within the specified time
The technical essentials of balloon inflation knotting, He Willhua summarized into 8 words: one drag, two turns, three pinches, four pulls, all actions in one go; and made a reference manual to give reference guidance to each unit; balloon inflation size standard: diameter of 25 cm after inflation; shape standard: balloon inflated after oval droplet shape; knot standard: balloon inflation after the tail nozzle set aside a section; speed standard: within 90 minutes to complete the specified number of balloons.
Balloons fly into the sky, flying to a high place becomes invisible visually, why strictly control the size of the balloon? He Jiangbin said: "Balloons of the same size lift off at the same speed, thus forming the effect of the balloon dome. ”
The balloon needs to be released by 7 o'clock on the same day, that is, nearly 6 hours from the blowing of the first ball to the final release, and needs to be prepared for exposure. As a latex product, the balloon is prone to heat expansion and contraction under the influence of the weather, which determines the size of the balloon's final release, and the size affects the buoyancy of the balloon, which also affects the speed and effect of lift-off. The team's plan was to inflate 100,000 balloons in batches in 100 cubic cages. The top cover of the cubic cage has two layers, one layer is metal and the other is plastic film, which has the function of rainproof and shading.
So many balloons fly into the sky, what if it bursts? He Jiangbin said that all the balloons released this time were filled with high-purity helium. Helium is an inert gas that is safe and reliable both during production and after release. The balloon material is pure natural latex and is 100% degradable. This makes the balloon safe in the air, even if it falls on the propeller of the aircraft, it will not cause an accident, and the balloon will disappear in an instant like a small piece of paper.
The time for the helium balloon to remain in optimal condition after being inflated is about 8 hours. According to the arrangement of the celebration meeting, He Jiangbin's team needs to start inflating the balloon at 4 o'clock on the same day, and the inflation time is only one and a half hours.
He Jiangbin said that more than 400 volunteers have undergone intensive training for more than 1.8 million balloons, whether in the wind and rain or in the hot sun, an average of more than 300 balloons per day are inflated, measuring rulers and knots, two people in a group, one person inflates the balloon, controls the size of the balloon, and one person is responsible for tying the balloon. Volunteers shortened the time from not playing a balloon in the first 10 seconds to being able to inflate and knot more than 2 balloons in 10 seconds, and the volunteers shortened the time to 60 minutes.
Sleepless nights of excitement
Balloon inflation officially begins at 4 a.m. on July 1, and colored balloons gradually fill the cube cage. At 6 o'clock, they pushed the cube cage full of balloons to the square and waited for the exciting celebration.
The balloon team finally completed the balloon release session at the celebration with zero mistakes. He Jiangbin said with emotion: "I can lead the team to complete this glorious historical mission with higher departments and volunteers, which is unforgettable for a lifetime." ”
(China Daily Shanghai Branch reporter Zhou Wenting)