In article ,
"Peter Duniho" wrote:

"Ron Garret" wrote in message
...
How exactly is a balloon going to overtake a helicopter? Or any other
powered aircraft for that matter?

See Grumman's post. There's a reason I specifically wrote "a balloon
overtaking a helicopter IN A HOVER" in my post (emphasis added).

What difference does that make? Who is overtaking whom is determined
according to velocity vectors relative to the air, not the ground. (And
if you doubt this, consider the following scenario: two aircraft are
flying slowly into the wind, one behind the other. The distance between
them is decreasing. Do you really wish to argue that the upwind
aircraft could be overtaking the downwind aircraft if they are facing a
sufficiently strong headwind?)

In the situation you describe (a balloon "overtaking" a (hovering)
helicopter from the rear) the helicopter is actually flying backwards
and overtaking the balloon. A balloon's airspeed is always zero.

rg