lost at 14,000 ft - furry hat scientist advice needed

[hairymango 0]

So you exit the plane the plane at 15,000ft (tandem under drouge) and your nice new fur hat with a protrack in it (not much weight) decides it doesnt like you anymore and detaches itself from your head at about 14,000 ft , your under canopy at 4,500ft.

Now the question is does the hat drift further down the wind line than the point you opened or does it not drift as much as you did in freefall!? 30 knot winds at 15,000ft, no wind on teh ground

So do I search more around where I exited the plane OR search further down the wind line from were I opened OR search around were i opened???

Im getting mixed opinions so Im putting it out there and maybe someone has some scientific knowledge of furry hats in freefall

Thanks
Adam

[jcd11235 0]

Look farther downwind than where you opened. It should fall slower than you in freefall, and should therefore drift farther than you. The slower it fell, the farther it drifted, assuming winds aloft.

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[MikeJD 0]

Furry hat in freefall? There's always a chance a passing falcon might have mistaken it for dinner - in which case it could be a long way from your exit point.

[MikeJD 0]

On the other hand, you could:
1) Ask NWFlyer how far her Bonehead drifted
2) Triple the distance
3) Make that your search radius

[CSpenceFLY 1]

4) Don't double post

[NWFlyer 2]

Quote

On the other hand, you could:
1) Ask NWFlyer how far her Bonehead drifted

Before the helmet was located we were going to try to get the exact coordinates of the exit point and pull the winds aloft info ... we figured one of the uber-geeks on here (billvon or kallend, among others, I'm sure) would be able to give me a 10 foot radius in which to search!

And mine was definitely farther up the wind line than where I opened, though I couldn't tell you precisely how far.

"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke