WHEN DO I GO?

January 8th is not a good day to launch. The green blob on the predictor shows Peaky taking a dip in the English Channel!

We're launching Peaky from Roysia Middle School in Royston, Hertfordshire at some point between the 16th January and 16th February.

​The question is when! In order to launch the conditions need to be just right.

​Here's the list of things we need to consider:

1. Once we've launched Peaky we have no control over where he goes. However, there is a flight predictor that gives us an estimated flight path. We need to make sure that we don't launch if it predicts Peaky will land in the sea.
2. ​We need permission from the Civil Aviation Authority, the organisation that manages the routes that aircraft take. They are likely to say we will can only launch if the wind is blowing towards the North (away from the airports around London) .You can try the predictor by going to http://predict.habhub.org/ Find Roysia Middle School on the map then click 'Set with map'. Click 'Run Prediction' to see the predicted flight path marked with a black line on the map (the red dot is launch site, the flame is burst, the green dot is landing location). Try different launch dates and times.
3. The wind at the launch site must gust below 10 mph. Any higher and the balloon will be very difficult to handle while we are inflating and it may burst. Check the wind gust speed on http://metoffice.gov.uk. Try dragging the slider to see different days and times.
4. We need to launch Peaky on a weekday morning.
5. We cannot launch during the week of 23th-28th January. 

We need all of these conditions right before we can launch. Why not leave a comment with a recommendation on a good date to launch Peaky.