Novel way to save fuel.....

Ski in NC

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Balloons will leak out the helium, will need to be replaced, probably by someone driving around in a car. Neat idea, but not super practical.
 

kjclow

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Most impressive to me was that everyone backed into the parking spaces. Neat idea but here, a bunch of kids would just run off with the ballons. And someone would sue that the string danaged their bumper.
 

JSWTDI09

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I do not know about Korea, but in the US, kids would have a great time poking holes in those arrows and watching them fall (or playing with the Helium). An interesting, but impractical idea.

Have Fun!

Don
 

Powder Hound

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And if I get to the parking lot early, I can park combat-ready, I might kill the first balloon if it hits a hot exhaust part, and the balloon in front will tease other drivers who come to find the space is taken and the balloon lied to them. Then I'll get to see if I can break the balloon in front when I leave.

I like it. Not!
 

Rico567

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Two observations:

1. cool idea

2. lots o'negativity in this thread.
 

Ultrasonic

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I do not know about Korea, but in the US, kids would have a great time poking holes in those arrows and watching them fall (or playing with the Helium). An interesting, but impractical idea.
Same in England too - no chance of the balloons lasting long!
 
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NC TDIpilot

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That is a great idea. Perhaps we could do it in the US during the Christmas shopping season. Even though many are doing their Christmas shopping on-line, finding a parking spot at the mall can be brutal.
 

TDI_Dan

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Sadly I agree, the balloons would be vandalized in short order. I also never understood the need to back into a parking space. I've got a few theories though.
 

MikeMars

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... I also never understood the need to back into a parking space. I've got a few theories though.
From a hypermiler's viewpoint, it is more efficient to reverse etc at the end of the journey when the engine is hot & efficient, which then allows you to simply drive straight out at the start of the next journey when the engine is cold & inefficient. (Although a 'straight-through' parking space is best, since it allows you to avoid reversing at both ends of your journey).

From the 'defensive driving' viewpoint, you get better visibility into the traffic you are joining if you are facing forwards.
 

FlyTDI Guy

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Wow... helium is a rare and uber-finite resource on earth. It primarily comes from only one place here in the US. Once gone, that's it.
 

Daekar

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Wow... helium is a rare and uber-finite resource on earth. It primarily comes from only one place here in the US. Once gone, that's it.
Seriously? That's kind of scary. Of course, it shouldn't surprise me, a significant chunk of our natural resources only have one place where they are found in abundance. The largest copper deposit in the world is significantly depleted, among others. We have to hope that more will be found or this train is going to stop long before global warming, peak water, or any of the other bugaboos have a chance to get us.
 

FlyTDI Guy

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It appears supplies are being replenished but... Here's some quotes from Wikipedia

Natural abundance

Although it is rare on Earth, Helium is the second most abundant element in the known Universe (after hydrogen), constituting 23% of its baryonic mass.[4] The vast majority of helium was formed by Big Bang nucleosynthesis one to three minutes after the Big Bang. As such, measurements of its abundance contribute to cosmological models. In stars, it is formed by the nuclear fusion of hydrogen in proton-proton chain reactions and the CNO cycle, part of stellar nucleosynthesis.[54]

In the Earth's atmosphere, the concentration of helium by volume is only 5.2 parts per million.[67][68] The concentration is low and fairly constant despite the continuous production of new helium because most helium in the Earth's atmosphere escapes into space by several processes.[69][70][71] In the Earth's heterosphere, a part of the upper atmosphere, helium and other lighter gases are the most abundant elements.

Most helium on Earth is a result of radioactive decay. Helium is found in large amounts in minerals of uranium and thorium, including cleveite, pitchblende, carnotite and mo****te, because they emit alpha particles (helium nuclei, He2+) to which electrons immediately combine as soon as the particle is stopped by the rock. In this way an estimated 3000 metric tons of helium are generated per year throughout the lithosphere.[72][73][74] In the Earth's crust, the concentration of helium is 8 parts per billion. In seawater, the concentration is only 4 parts per trillion. There are also small amounts in mineral springs, volcanic gas, and meteoric iron. Because helium is trapped in the subsurface under conditions that also trap natural gas, the greatest natural concentrations of helium on the planet are found in natural gas, from which most commercial helium is extracted. The concentration varies in a broad range from a few ppm up to over 7% in a small gas field in San Juan County, New Mexico.

For many years the United States produced over 90% of commercially usable helium in the world, while extraction plants in Canada, Poland, Russia, and other nations produced the remainder. In the mid-1990s, a new plant in Arzew, Algeria, producing 17 million cubic meters (600 million cubic feet) began operation, with enough production to cover all of Europe's demand. Meanwhile, by 2000, the consumption of helium within the U.S. had risen to above 15 million kg per year.[32] In 2004–2006, two additional plants, one in Ras Laffan, Qatar, and the other in Skikda, Algeria, were built. Algeria quickly became the second leading producer of helium.[33] Through this time, both helium consumption and the costs of producing helium increased.[34] In the 2002 to 2007 period helium prices doubled.
 

Joe_Meehan

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From a hypermiler's viewpoint, it is more efficient to reverse etc at the end of the journey when the engine is hot & efficient, which then allows you to simply drive straight out at the start of the next journey when the engine is cold & inefficient. (Although a 'straight-through' parking space is best, since it allows you to avoid reversing at both ends of your journey).

From the 'defensive driving' viewpoint, you get better visibility into the traffic you are joining if you are facing forwards.

Some years ago I was a parking jockey. We were taught that you always back into a spot.

For a number of reasons, it is better to back into a spot than to back into traffic.
 
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