The blimp won't make it for the TeaParty in Boston?

[amistybleu]

And still, nobody will give a shit. You seem to be the only one thats making such a big deal over the blimp being in Boston. People have tried to explain the logistics of deflating the thing, and you don't seem to get it. Raising money for Ron Paul is what is important right now. You can't change the weather by posting 50 times. You can't get the banners any faster by posting 50 times. You aren't going to get anyone to dismantle the thing and truck it somewhere and pay out the ass for helium by posting 50 times. Give it a rest, it looks like everyone is working as fast as they can.

+1

 

[Edward]

Screw the blimp! How much would it cost to rent one of these for the month with "Ron Paul: Hope for America!" stenciled on the top and bottom of it...?

 

[amistybleu]

The only way I would get in on that is if we made a personal visit to the three corupt branches of government. If we do that I am in.

 

[Knightskye]

Screw the blimp! How much would it cost to rent one of these for the month with "Ron Paul: Hope for America!" stenciled on the top and bottom of it...?

Man, I laughed when I saw the picture. "Ron Paul's supporters have launched a Stealth Bomber for their 'moneybomb'."

At least that would make sense for the previous owners to be the Navy, or something. But we wouldn't want to dump tea; Cheney might give the order to fire!

I'd love to scare Glenn Beck some more, though.

 

[tomjammarsh]

Those bombers cost about 1.2 BILLION each, Edward...not gonna happen.

Haha, anyways, I do want to quote what someone said:

Look at its top speed, flight hours per day and distance it has to travel to reach Boston. Its not going to make it. I'll be impressed if the blimp manages to get off the ground before Sunday.

On a positive note the media is interested in the big story, the fundraising and will report on it. They'll be interested in the blimp too, but they don't care if its over Boston, New York, or DC, its irrelevant. In fact I hope the blimp is grounded until after the money bomb. Let the media report on the money bomb for a few days and make the blimp launch a seperate story altogether. Instead of combining the two events into one report let them report about Ron the entire week.

The fact the blimp won't be there might even be a blessing in disguise. It's not good to concentrate ALL resources in one area just to lose eveywhere else. The blimp has NOT received a TON of coverage yet, this is a good thing. It will be even better to have the Blimp fly Monday, so we have a consistancy in the news rather that just one explosion. Let's let the media report on one awesome story at a time. Let them divide their air time, once for the moneybomb and again the next day with the blimp FOLLOWING the moneybob.

When you do everything right, God is bound to give you something back. I have a firm belief that this shit happens for a reason and that hard work never goes unrecognized. You can't push a bird out of the nest before it's ready. It will fly, just give it another three or so days.

 

[Menthol Patch]

OK, but you're now saying that they should refund everyone's money if it doesn't make it on time...in effect saying the ONLY thing this is good for is the Tea Party. That's a completely different message.

I'm thinking of a cost benefit analysis.

If the blimp is not in Boston for the Tea Party it will NEVER have as good of an opportunity to be noticed by the media!

 

[amistybleu]

I'm thinking of a cost benefit analysis.

If the blimp is not in Boston for the Tea Party it will NEVER have as good of an opportunity to be noticed by the media!

OK, Hurry up and do a cost benefit analysis and repot back with the results.

 

[tomjammarsh]

I'm thinking of a cost benefit analysis.

If the blimp is not in Boston for the Tea Party it will NEVER have as good of an opportunity to be noticed by the media!

Read my post about 3 posts up.

 

[Menthol Patch]

Consider this....

1) The blimp project will NEVER have a chance to get one tenth of the media attention it can get for being at the Tea Party where we raise ten million dollars in one day!

2) Part of the reason for the blimp project is to help support the Tea Party. The Tea Party and the blimp are SYNERGISTIC. If the blimp is not there the Tea Party will miss out on even ADDITIONAL publicity!

3) Every project most be worth the cost. Right now the project is worth the cost because it will get a HUGE free boost of publicity by being at the Tea Party! If it does not make it to the Tea Party it will miss out on that publicity and it will NEVER get another chance to get that much publicity!

If the blimp cannot make it to Boston for the Tea Party I think the money could be better spent on other projects.

Please realize that for the blimp to stay in the air the 230,000 dollars raised so far is NOT the final cost! To keep it in the air it will cost HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of additional dollars!

If it can make it to the Tea Party then the blimp project will be WORTH IT because it will bring in probably AT LEAST THAT MUCH to the Tea Party and it will have a GREAT START with TONS OF PUBLICITY!!!

If it cannot make it to the Tea Party then it is not worth the money!

 

[mkrfctr]

@Edward, interesting question, and while I couldn't find a good definitive answer, here's a few tidbits that would indicate it would probably cost a lot ...

"And the B-2 bomber, with its $2.2 billion price tag per plane, has a design life span of only 30 years. That's a depreciation of some $8,300 an hour -- whether it's in flight or not, whether it's invisible or not." (written in 2000) (link)

"The combat debut of the B-2 bomber has been notable, if for nothing else than its 31-hour (at $5,719 an hour) round-trip flight to the Balkans from its base in Missouri. The Pentagon might have stationed the stealthy B-2 in a friendly country like Britain, and saved about $270,000 per mission, except that the Air Force is squabbling with a California company over the details of a contract to produce a mobile, climate-controlled hangar that is needed to protect the bomber's sensitive, radar-absorbing skin." ('99 dollars) (link) considering that's a SAVINGS of $270k per mission in 1999 dollars ... for saving what, 10, 20 hours flight time... would equate to like $13,500-$27,000 an hour to fly - no idea if that includes the man hours to work on it or just the tangibles like fuel and the fuel for the refueling tankers to get to rendezvous points...

"The B-2 requires 119 man-hours of maintenance for every flight hour -- about a third of which is dedicated to fixing "stealth" problems. " (link)

And a cool video of a B2 dropping 80 500Lbs warheads simultaneously on a mock airfield:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u88IjDi5Jhc

 

[patrick123]

Consider this....

1) The blimp project will NEVER have a chance to get one tenth of the media attention it can get for being at the Tea Party where we raise ten million dollars in one day!

2) Part of the reason for the blimp project is to help support the Tea Party. The Tea Party and the blimp are SYNERGISTIC. If the blimp is not there the Tea Party will miss out on even ADDITIONAL publicity!

3) Every project most be worth the cost. Right now the project is worth the cost because it will get a HUGE free boost of publicity by being at the Tea Party! If it does not make it to the Tea Party it will miss out on that publicity and it will NEVER get another chance to get that much publicity!

If the blimp cannot make it to Boston for the Tea Party I think the money could be better spent on other projects.

Please realize that for the blimp to stay in the air the 230,000 dollars raised so far is NOT the final cost! To keep it in the air it will cost HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of additional dollars!

If it can make it to the Tea Party then the blimp project will be WORTH IT because it will bring in probably AT LEAST THAT MUCH to the Tea Party and it will have a GREAT START with TONS OF PUBLICITY!!!

If it cannot make it to the Tea Party then it is not worth the money!

1) You must have donated a lot of money given the amount of bitching.

2) We get it. You really really really want the blimp to make it to Boston.

3) You think that a picture of a blimp on the idiot box is going to get people to donate massive amounts of money to the Ron Paul campaign, but only on Dec. 16.

4) By disagreeing with you, I must be a Huckabee supporter.

5) You're completely batshiat crazy.

6) You steadfastly believe exclamation points add emphasis even when you end every other sentence you type with one.

 

[tomjammarsh]

Consider this....

1) The blimp project will NEVER have a chance to get one tenth of the media attention it can get for being at the Tea Party where we raise ten million dollars in one day!

2) Part of the reason for the blimp project is to help support the Tea Party. The Tea Party and the blimp are SYNERGISTIC. If the blimp is not there the Tea Party will miss out on even ADDITIONAL publicity!

3) Every project most be worth the cost. Right now the project is worth the cost because it will get a HUGE free boost of publicity by being at the Tea Party! If it does not make it to the Tea Party it will miss out on that publicity and it will NEVER get another chance to get that much publicity!

Considering. Considered. Now, consider this:
1. The blimp project (240,000$ price tag so far) will be completely trumped by the 6-7 million we raise. Why would they report on a 240,000$ blimp when we just raised 30 times that the same day? If we launch it AFTER the TeaParty, people will associate the 6-7 million raised on the 16th to the Blimp.

2. The Tea Party is getting a lot of publicity. There is more than one tea party going on that day, there are a ton going on where I am.

3. Every project has a cost. Sometimes that cost is lost time. They are trying to launch the beast in time to get there. Posting profusely about how it would not have been worth it I think is a pessimistic way of looking at it.

The Blimp will get air time when it is launched. IT ALREADY HAS AND IT ISN'T EVEN IN THE AIR! It is guaranteed to get airtime whether we launch it in time to be in Boston or not. The moneybomb is guaranteed to get airtime as well. How about we SPREAD OUT (launch the blimp the day after the moneybomb) so we have a consistent and considerable amount of airtime which will be GUARANTEED exposure? It just makes more sense. The blimp will be nothing but a FLICKER compared to the moneybomb. Let's just launch it the 17th.

 

[tomjammarsh]

1) You must have donated a lot of money given the amount of bitching.

2) We get it. You really really really want the blimp to make it to Boston.

3) You think that a picture of a blimp on the idiot box is going to get people to donate massive amounts of money to the Ron Paul campaign, but only on Dec. 16.

4) By disagreeing with you, I must be a Huckabee supporter.

5) You're completely batshiat crazy.

6) You steadfastly believe exclamation points add emphasis even when you end every other sentence you type with one.

Leave the ad hominum out of it. Debate on principle, not how they say it but rather what they're saying. No need to cause a divide in the grassroots.

 

[patrick123]

Leave the ad hominum out of it. Debate on principle, not how they say it but rather what they're saying. No need to cause a divide in the grassroots.

I completely agree, and I will leave the ad hominem out of it in the future. Your response was reasoned out much better than mine and I'm man enough to accept constructive criticism.

 

[Joe3113]

Personally, I really don't think it's a tragedy if the blimp doesn't make the tea party. We know the media will be all over the tea party for at least a few days.....if the blimp can be launched within the media hype I think it will still get it's maximum effect. Don't fret people. Revolutions are not meant to be easy. Stick together and ride the bumps.

 

[wisconsinite]

Personally, I really don't think it's a tragedy if the blimp doesn't make the tea party. We know the media will be all over the tea party for at least a few days.....if the blimp can be launched within the media hype I think it will still get it's maximum effect. Don't fret people. Revolutions are not meant to be easy. Stick together and ride the bumps.

Agreed. The "Tea Party" is not just Boston anyways. It's all over cyberspace. Sure, it's great if the Boston rally is big, but the blimp will be a story wherever and whenever it goes.

 

[pyrazole2]

Wasn't the money for the blimp donated? (donation - 1. an act or instance of presenting something as a gift, grant, or contribution. 2. a gift, as to a fund; contribution.) There weren't any guarantees or contracts to sign with your donation.

Remember our goal, guys. If the blimp isn't in Boston, then it's a setback, it will still have the intended purpose. It's not a good thing that it won't be there, but it's not a tragedy either.

PS -

Do you have any idea of the cost to replace 170,000 to 180,000 cubic feet of helium?

Actually, yes....I bought helium on 12/7/7 for a contract price of $106.93 per MCF (1,000 cubic feet). So that's what? 21 grand for 200 MCF. I think dismantling the structure and packing it for transport would cost a fortune, though.

 

[szczebrzeszyn]

Wasn't the money for the blimp donated?

NO

 

[pyrazole2]

NO

Enlighten me. The money to fly the blimp wasn't donated money? Where did it come from?

 

[moberley]

Enlighten me. The money to fly the blimp wasn't donated money? Where did it come from?

I can't speak for the other post author, but I guess it depends on your definition of a donation. I would personally not choose the term donation to describe the money being spent on the blimp. To me these are purchases. However, there's some variation in the way that people use the word donation (some charities sell things for a "suggested donation" for example). Also, I think that at least some of the money came from people who regarded their purchase as a donation.

In any case, I don't think its a very important distinction as regards the blimp but I'm just somebody on the Internet not a lawyer or anything like that.