The things people call and ask about after they own one.
Buying helium locally
Do not order helium online. Find a welding-gas supplier in your city. They sell industrial gas by the tank and they are used to accounts that come back every month.
A 200 cubic foot tank costs roughly $300 and covers about two months of flying a sphere including top-offs. For a blimp, the first fill takes most of a tank on its own.
A realistic top-off schedule
Plan on topping off every three to seven days. You are replacing about one percent a day, so the balloon does not fail suddenly. It gets visibly softer and starts to sit lower on the tether.
That visual is your gauge. When it stops looking taut from the road, it stops doing its job, and that is the point to add gas.
The wind rule
Twenty-five miles per hour in the forecast means bring it inside. Not when the wind arrives, but when it is forecast.
Balloons are lost to weather, not worn out by it. Every serious loss we have seen traces back to a forecast somebody decided to ride out.
Indoors
Fifteen feet of clear ceiling, minimum. Net lift on the blimp is about three pounds, so a sandbag or a booth tie-off is enough to hold it.
Check with the venue before you commit. Some halls have their own rules about helium regardless of your ceiling height.
Airspace in one paragraph
Under 150 feet above ground the FAA is not in the conversation. We fly at 120 feet, deliberately below that line.
The exception is controlled airspace. Within five miles of it, call the local tower and ask permission. In forty years we have not been refused.
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