Can I weather balloon up above A

[MDeitch1976]

If I get a tow from a weather balloon above FL600, if I had a capable plane(hypothetical) can I now fly VFR? Coming back down, do I just tell them I got trapped above the "A". Or if in a hypothetical hig altitude piston LSA with a chute, just float back down through?

 

[Jim Logajan]

If I get a tow from a weather balloon above FL600, if I had a capable plane(hypothetical) can I now fly VFR? Coming back down, do I just tell them I got trapped above the "A". Or if in a hypothetical hig altitude piston LSA with a chute, just float back down through?

The weather balloon becomes a manned balloon as soon as you attach your manned aircraft to it, and then it would need ATC clearance before ascending into Class A. So your hypothetical doesn't work quite the way you want.

 

[Jim Logajan]

If you want to get an aircraft above Class A without having to pass through it, just fly more than 3 NM beyond the U.S. coast and ascend to 60K+ feet, then fly back over the coast.

 

[Jim Logajan]

If you want to get an aircraft above Class A without having to pass through it, just fly more than 3 NM beyond the U.S. coast and ascend to 60K+ feet, then fly back over the coast.

Found an oddity in the regs:

I got the 3 nm number from section 91.1. That is how far out it says Part 91 is applicable.

But in 71.33(a) it says Class A extends 12 nm from the coast.

One place I can see where that extra 9 nm difference might come into play is Part 103 operations. I'm too lazy to check the regs for unmanned balloons and such.