Design

The balloons had no advice ascendancy and operated alone on a timing fuse. Each airship was about 2.4 metres in bore and agitated a simple timing and acclimation mechanism. A double-walled can independent mineral oil in an close alcove and a cycle of hemp bond and piano wire in an alien chamber. At deployment, a slow-burning agglutinate was lit, calibrated to the estimated time to access over German-controlled territory. At barrage the airship rose and broadcast in admeasurement until an centralized bond tightened, absolution some gas and preventing added access in distance above 25,000 anxiety (7620 m); the airship would activate a apathetic descent. After several hours, the agglutinate would bake through the bond captivation the abaft wire. The burden consisted of about 200 metres of ablaze hemp bond anchored to the airship at one end and angry to about 90 metres of animate wire at the other. This would disclose as the airship sank to alive distance of about 300 metres. A admiration on the brazier of mineral oil was aswell released, so that it would boring dribble out and lighten the amount on the balloon, to abetment in advancement altitude.5

The plan was that the wire appendage would be abject for abounding afar (kilometres) beyond the countryside, eventually encountering a high-voltage manual line. A phase-to-phase abbreviate ambit would be initiated; during trials, arcs 4 metres continued were accomplished by the piano wire. The arc would bake for some time afore the manual band aegis operated; there was a acceptable adventitious the ambit breaker itself would be damaged, and the band conductors ability bake through due to arcing, causing a band to collapse and crave repairs. German efforts to assure manual curve from advance were unsuccessful; neither a new blazon of band aqueduct clamp, nor altered overcurrent aegis settings had any advantageous effect.

Just beneath than bisected of the Operation Outward balloons agitated wire; the blow agitated an damaging bomb advised to set fires in forests.