There are thousands of weather balloon starts every day without any damages to airplanes.
replyIt's not factor as long they are not crossing a specific size/weight - jet engines and windows from airplanes are tested to withstand a direct impact.
Yeah, and pico baloons are extremely tiny, often at 10 grams or less, comprising some very thin plastic, some thin wire and tiny PCBs - this is also how they can fly so high for so long.
replyLost of types of hail will be much heavier and harder on impact for example.
It also reminds me of the recent incident where an object (potentially a weather balloon) struck a plane windscreen and caused significant damage to it, as well as injuring one of the flight crew. I don't know if it would cause the same amount of damage given it's size, but hitting any solid object at cruising speed is sure to leave a mark
replyshouldnt be cruising in the balloon lane then
replyBalloon doesn't teleport to the balloon lane though
replyThat was a much larger balloon that had sand ballast. The sand was what did the damage
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