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I recently bought a 6 foot tall inflatable corona bottle off of e-bay. I am wondering if these things can be filled with helium? Has anyone tried this before? It appears there is a base within the bottle so I am not sure it will be too heavy. Also, if helium works, is one of those 'party canister' from a party store enough to fill it?

Joe Merchant...

What you want to do with the helium in the bottle is not a good idea. First, it's gonna take a helluva lot of helium to fill it. Then, it will probably only float a foot in the air if you're lucky because the plastic that the bottle is made of is more heavy and durable than a balloon's sheer latex. Finally, you are taking your life in your own hands when dealing with that much helium! A cool idea you had, but not a safe one/ Fins up brother...

Thanks for the advice Ringo...I had my doubts that it would work, but had no idea it was a hazard. I guess mixing helium and a grill isn't the best of ideas...

Just a note-
While the thing probably won't float very high, there is no danger in mixing helium with a grill. Helium isn't flamable. That's why they use it in blimps now, because it won't explode.

here's a little math and physics to see if your corona blimp is even possible.

using helium, the volume of the inflatable bottle has to exceed the weight of the bottle according to this formula:

volume (cubic feet) > 14.374 * weight (lbs)

weigh the bottle on a postal scale and you can probably approximate the volume by dividing the bottle up into cylinders and then adding them together.

vol of a cylinder = length*PI*radius*radius
PI= 3.1415

Hey AF,
Math Suks!

yeah, but it pays the bills

Professor AlbatrossFlyer...

Thanks for the reply....I've assigned a team of NASA's finest to look into whether this will work or not. They estimate their research will take 2 to 4 weeks, so it will be cutting things close if I want my bottle to fly high above Alpine. I guess this is what my high school physics teacher was talking about when he said, 'yes, there is a use for these formulas in the real world.'

How about attaching other Helium balloons to the corona bottle for extra lift? Hope it works, and will look for it...18 more days.

other useful calculations:

how many 8 oz glasses of beer are there in a 1/2 keg of beer??

Not enough!!!

actually if i remember correctly it's 240 allowing for some waste/foamy pitchers/and untapable leftovers.

Professor...

Would you by chance know the ratio of ice to liquid for making the ideal margarita?

yes i would, but it's proprietary data and the basis for my highly regarded margarita recipe.

an interesting sidenote and history lesson...

the blimp problem is actually the Archimedes' Principle which he discovered 220 B.C. when he was commissioned by King Hiero II to determine if the king's new crown was made out of pure gold or not. eureka!

I rented a canister of helium for a buffet show once and filled one of those blow up sharks. It never even got off the ground. Ditto with a beachball.

I was left with this huge canister of helium and no use for it. Enter parrothead ingenuity.

I started trading helium shots for a beer---I had people lined up 12 deep for a shot. It was hilarious----I ended up with over three cases of beer and some of the best parking lot pictures EVER!

McGee...are you kidding me? You couldn't get a beach ball off the ground? I find that hard to believe. Good call on trading shots for beer....

Professor A-Flyer....

I hate to be critical, but my history books tell me it was actually King Hiero III, not II. You disappoint me with your posting.

i quote from Introduction to Fluid Mechanics 2nd ed. by Fox and McDonald pg. 87 perhaps the 3rd "I" got lost somewhere between the manuscript and the printed page..... my other references do not include either II or III after Hiero's name. perhaps i'll check some of the online encylopedias after this.

the online version of the Encylopaedia Britannica references him as Hieron II, tyrant of Syracuse, Sicily later named king by his countrymen after defeating the Mamertini a body of Campanian mercenaries who had been employed by the former tyrant of Syracuse, Agathocles.

perhaps tyrant in this connotation is something like "duke" or "earl" and not evil dictator.

By the way, it looks like Archimedes was the original industrial defense complex. since his job with the king was to devise war machines for the defense of Syracuse.

I wonder if it would be possible to fill one of the large Corona seaplanes with helium so it would fly? The one I have seems to be lighter than one of those Corona bottles.

What do you think Albatross Flyer - should I give it a shot? Would love to fly it at 4 shows this summer.

I'm in the process of making a Hemnisphere Dancer kite now - and hoping for enough wind on concert nights.

Dan