The BOSCOMBE DOWN
BALLOON CHALLENGE
COMPETITION RULES
The challenge
Schools and youth organisations in the Boscombe Down area are invited to participate in a
competition for three separate prizes, each of £1000. Competition entrants will launch one or more
small helium-filled balloons, each of which will carry a miniature radio-tracking payload.
Prizes will be awarded to the entrants who are judged to have achieved, within the rules and spirit of
the competition, the highest altitude; the greatest range from launch site; and the longest time of
tracked flight.
The three competition parameters (height, range, and endurance) will be judged independently, so
that an entrant who wins in any particular category will still be eligible for consideration in the others.
In theory at least, it is possible for a single entrant to win in all three categories, and thereby to
collect a total of £3000 in prize money.
Competition entries
To ensure 'a level playing field' for all competitors, the organisers have developed a standardised
process for registration, briefing, oversight, and judging of entries. Eligibility for any/all prizes is
dependent on strict adherence to this process, and to all of these Competition Rules.
Any entrant who does not follow the required process, or who breaks the Rules, will be excluded
from the competition. In this, as in all other aspects of the competition, the organisers' decision will
be final and non-negotiable.
Registered entrants may fly any number of balloons in this Competition, but each individual balloon
(or ensemble of joined balloons) will be counted as a separate flight package. All flight packages
must be launched individually, and all the rules and regualtory processes will be applied individually
to each.
Safety and protection of young people
The organisers take very seriously the protection of young and/or vulnerable people. All entrants
are required to ensure that all legal obligations in this respect are met at all times; and further that
reasonable common-sense measures (whether or not required by law) are in place wherever they
may be needed.
For schools, this means that parties of students must always be accompanied and supervised by an
adequate number of suitably qualified teachers, teaching assistants, etc – as for any other activity in
a public place. For cadet organisations, the same principle is to be applied, with adult staff retaining
responsibility for the safety and protection of cadets. For Scout groups, qualified Scout Leaders will
be required to do the same; and in any other type of organisation, the same general principle is to
be applied.
During any formally organised visits (eg to MOD Boscombe Down), the host organisation will
exercise due care and attention with respect to health and safety matters, but ultimate responsibility
for the safety and protection of young and/or vulnerable people remains with the competitor
organisation (school, cadet organisation, Scout association, etc).
Issue 1.1, 9 Feb 16.
1 of 4
Research and preparation
Though apparently simple in concept, successful (and competitive) balloon flights are always
preceded by a good deal of planning and preparation. Many aspects need to be considered. These
include, but are not limited to:
 The properties of the upper atmosphere (temperature, pressure, gas composition, etc);
 Weather (surface wind, upper air winds, turbulence/vertical winds, humidity, icing, etc);
 The behaviour of the balloon envelope as it ascends into the upper air;
 The behaviour of the radio payload as it ascends into the upper air (reliability, affordability);
 The behaviour of the flight ensemble just before, and just after, take-off;
 Trajectory tracking / recording;
 Safe return to earth;
 Recovery / abandonment of the payload.
Fortunately, a wealth of information and guidance on all of these topics (and many more) is
available, and competitors are strongly encouraged to make full use of the resources provided.
Wider research, using additional resources, will also be worthwhile. Winning this competition will be
a little about good luck, and a lot about good planning and preparation.
To assist with this, competitor organisations will be provided with a starter pack when they formally
register as entrants. The organisers will then visit each competitor organisation and deliver a more
in-depth technical briefing. This will cover both regulatory and STEM aspects of the competition.
In running this competition, the organisers seek to stimulate enthusiastic, self-motivated, and
energetic learning (principally but not exclusively in the STEM subjects); and all of this in a
competitive environment. All entrants who really embrace the spirit of the competition will be
winners (whether or not they collect any prize money) by virtue of the insight gained, the team work
enjoyed, and the satisfaction of solving a real-world problem through the application of theoretical
knowledge. Above all, the intention is that learning will be a lot of fun; and maybe, on reflection,
aeronautics might be considered as a subject for further study.
Balloons
All balloons entered into this competition must be filled with commercially available helium or
balloon gas. Under no circumstances is hydrogen to be used; nor any other flamable gas.
Balloons envelopes may be of any shape and design form, including conventional sealed expanding
volumes (like a weather balloon), super-pressure balloons, and zero-pressure balloons. Envelopes
may be of local design and/or construction, or may be commercially available items which are
simply bought in by the competitor.
The organisers intend all entrants to be in the general
longest linear dimension of the balloon, or ballo-payload combination must not exceed 2.0m at any
stage of the flight.
A payload, which includes all of the following elements, must be carried on all flights:
 A GPS sensor, which outputs plan-position and height data in real time, with an update rate
of not less than 1Hz.
 A temperature sensor, which reads ambient air temperature to a resolution of 1°C or better,
and which outputs this data with an update rate of not less than 0.1Hz.
 A telemetry radio transmitter, which broadcasts position, height, and temperature data from
the aforementioned sensors on a licence-free radio channel in the 434MHz band. Telemetry
is required to be in the general format of analogue RTTY, and compliant with the UK High
Altitude Society communications protocol (https://ukhas.org.uk/communication:protocol).
Issue 1.1, 9 Feb 16.
2 of 4



No telecommand (uplink) is permitted, and any such facility that is built in for pre-flight test
purposes must be disabled (in an auditable way) before launch.
A battery pack, or packs, which have been demonstrated to run the payload at full power for
at least twice the predicted duration of the flight. Due allowance must be made for operation
at the low temperatures of the upper atmosphere. (Freezer testing is highly recommended.)
Sufficient additional equipment (connections, interfaces, antennas, etc) to enable live
telemetry data to be received by ground stations throughout the flight.
An identity tag, which will be provided by Competition officials shortly before launch.
All payloads must be designed, constructed, and installed in such a way that there is negligible risk
of injury as the ensemble returns to the ground. Expected features include soft, easily-bent
telemetry antennas; padded enclosures for all batteries and electronics; and a suitable parachute.
Any disposable ballast which is carried aloft must be in the form of dry granulated sand, and only
loose sand may be dispensed in flight. Ballast is not required by the competition rules, and carriage
(or not) is optional.
Contact details for the entrant (including a postal address, telephone number, and email address),
in a waterproof form, must be carried on all flights.
Much useful guidance, covering many aspects of high-altitude balloon engineering and operation,
can be found on the UK High Altitude Society website (https://ukhas.org.uk/frontpage:guides).
Flights
All competition flights must be scheduled, well in advance, in the official Competition Calendar.
Primary and Reserve launch dates will be required for all entries, and these must be published
through the UK HAS website. Normal formalities (NOTAM, etc) must be observed.
Final clearance to launch will be given by a scrutineer provided by the organisers, and no flight shall
be attempted without such clearance. The scrutineer will inspect the flight ensemble, to assess its
compliance with safety requirements; and will require written evidence of Civil Aviation Authority
(CAA) approval for the specific place, date, and time of the intended launch.
Positive tracking of the radio payload, by at least one ground station, must be established before
launch. In this context, 'positive tracking' is defined as an identified strobe on the UK HAS website
HABHUB flight tracking map, together with the usual symbology for the balloon and its trajectory.
Tracking, by at least one ground station, must be maintained throughout the flight; and the flight will
be deemed to have ended (regardless of the last reported altitude) if and when all tracking is lost for
a period of 15 minutes. If tracking is subsequently regained, the original end point will still stand for
the purposes of the competition.
In the event that a telemetered altitude indicates that the balloon has landed (ie before tracking is
lost), the place and time of first landing will be deemed to be the end of the competition flight.
Only flights launched before 1 September 2016 will be considered valid entries in this competition.
Determination of achieved maxima
After the last eligible competition flight, a judging panel provided by the organisers will determine
which entrants have achieved the greatest altitude, range, and endurance. The judges' decision will
be final and non-negotiable.
In their deliberations, the judges will apply the following criteria:
 Altitude: The highest recorded GPS-derived height, with due allowance for an appropriate
margin of measurement error if more than one competitor is in contention for the prize.
Issue 1.1, 9 Feb 16.
3 of 4


Range: The distance between launch point and flight end point, measured along a geodesic
of the Airy ellipsoid (OSGB36 chart datum), using the Andoya-Lambert method. (Note: This
distance may be considerably shorter than the total track distance flown.) As with altitude, if
more than one competitor is in contention for the prize, due allowance will be made for
uncertainties in reported GPS position.
Endurance: The interval between the moment of launch (as recorded by the scrutineer), and
the flight end point, as indicated by the telemetry data time stamp. Here too, due allowance
for measurement uncertainty will be taken into account if more than one competitor is in
contention for the prize.
If, in the opinion of the judges, no clear margin exists between 2 or more competitors (in any given
category) the prize for that category will be shared equally amongst those in contention.
Award of prizes
The organisers will notify prize winners, and publicise the results of the competition, during
September 2016. A prize-giving event, to which all participants will be invited, will be organised for
October/November 2016. Updates, and more detailed information, will be circulated to participants
as arrangements are confirmed.
Publicity
The organisers encourage all competitor organisations to publicise the competition and their
participation in it, within their own house journals, newsletters, and similar publications.
By formally registering as an entrant, competitor organisations also give permission for the
organisers to publish pictures of competitors, and reports of their achievements, in Royal
Aeronautical Society publications, in the house journals and on-line newsletters of sponsoring
organisations, and generally in the press and broadcast media.
Sponsorship and advertising
The Boscombe Down Balloon Challenge is sponsored by QinetiQ, and supported by Cameron
Balloons. The logos of these companies, together with that of the Royal Aeronautical Society, will
be displayed prominently on Competition documents published by the organisers.
Competitors are free to seek additional sponsorship for individual entries, as they see fit; and to
carry the logos or trademarks of any such sponsor(s) on their balloons. Large banners, trailing flags
or ribbons, and anything which is disproportionately large in comparison with the host balloon,
should be avoided.
–o–
Issue 1.1, 9 Feb 16.
4 of 4