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jasonRose

High Alti jump question...

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>What kind of training/lisence do you need to jump at high alti??

For a 20K jump, you will need a half hour briefing on oxygen usage (usually a cannula.)

For a 30K jump, you will need a 2-3 hour course on the gear you will be using. A chamber ride is also a very good idea to aquaint you with your reactions to hypoxia.

USPA breaks them down into:

intermediate altitude (15-20K)
high altitude (20-40K)
extreme altitude (40K+)

Each has a set of recommendations outlined in the SIM. Some general ones include use of an AAD, appropriately warm clothing and use of hand signals (since you may not be able to talk with a mask.) It's in section 6-7 and is a good source of info.

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SIM is a bit lightweight on the subject. Suggests, but doesn't seem to quite require a B for 15-20, and a C for 20+ (D for 40+?).

There's a huge difference between Skydance and Hollister on a 24k jump. Skydance treats it like a junior 30k, thereas Hollister treats it like a super 18k. One wants a C and probably the flight chamber ride, the other just wanted a B. I did my one two weeks after Shark signed off the B list for me.

Definitely worth the $50, but the early morning part was a bit rough. Definitely took something out of me - I think I did one more after and then went home.

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Quote

>What kind of training/lisence do you need to jump at high alti??

For a 20K jump, you will need a half hour briefing on oxygen usage (usually a cannula.)

For a 30K jump, you will need a 2-3 hour course on the gear you will be using. A chamber ride is also a very good idea to aquaint you with your reactions to hypoxia.

USPA breaks them down into:

intermediate altitude (15-20K)
high altitude (20-40K)
extreme altitude (40K+)

Each has a set of recommendations outlined in the SIM. Some general ones include use of an AAD, appropriately warm clothing and use of hand signals (since you may not be able to talk with a mask.) It's in section 6-7 and is a good source of info.



Thanks for the info, sims seem like some general guidelines to follow on this topic. I found it useful..;)
Some day I will have the best staff in the world!!!

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At higher altitudes (30K+) you will also need to arrive several hours early to start prebreathing oxygen. At the WFFC last summer we were up at 4 AM to begin suiting up at 5:30 AM with prebreathing starting at 6 AM for a 7-7:30 AM take-off.

The rule was if you could not get your blood oxygen percentage up to 99-100% you were not allowed to make the jump.

It was fun and a great experience, but a royal pain in the butt to be getting up when everyone else was just getting into bed. ;)

Blue skies,

Jim

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When Apple Valley DZ was open, they offered high altitude jumps, 30,000 feet, for about 2 years. I taught the ground school and JM’d the jumps. The requirements were:

1. D Lic.
2. 3rd class med.
3. Attend a high altitude chamber class.

On Sunday the jumper would make 2 familiarization jumps from 12,500 feet with full gear. On Monday jumper would make jump from 24,000 feet. The following Monday jumper would jump from 30,000 feet.

Equipment provided:
1. Flight helmet
2. MBU-12 O2 mask
3. Twin 53 bail out bottles
4. Pre-breathing console (6 man)
5. Phys Tec
6. JM
7. 2 pilots

The environment at 24,000 feet plus is very hostile and you can end up dead very quickly.

Sparky
My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

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Hi Jason.

I just did a high-alt at Eloy on Sunday (first jump of 2006!) from a bit over 21,000', and here's what I can tell you:

At Eloy at least, they only "required" an A, but they didn't seem to want someone who'd just gotten their A on the jump. I learned this when someone I befriended whilst there was denied. I suspect they wanted at least 50 jumps or so, I had I believe 78 or 79 or somesuch.

Brian Burke did the briefing for us, explaining the dangers of high altitude jumps, how to recognise hypoxia, the symptoms, etc. He explained that the higher exit speed of the King Air at those altitudes coupled with the lower air pressure would combine to make it difficult to hold on to float positions outside of the aircraft, and so forth. Use of the oxygen systems was fully explained, including the fact that you really won't feel the air flow. Also noted was that it's fairly chilly up there, usually around 70° colder than ground temps.

The jump itself was a blast, and the view is sure as hell different!
cavete terrae.

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Air Force Captain Joseph Kittinger, Jr. jumped from 102,800 feet (31,334 meters) from the Excelsior III balloon gondola in 1960 test, freefalling toward Earth for over 4 minutes.

Here is an article..

http://www.dropzone.com/news/SpaceParachutingSkydivin.shtml

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From what I remember reading of that jump my impression was he was more of a passenger on that jump. Every deployment was automatic, and he had a drogue to keep him from going supersonic. More of a space jump and probably not very comfortable.
"The evil of the world is made possible by nothing but the sanction you give it. " -John Galt from Atlas Shrugged, 1957

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>my impression was he was more of a passenger on that jump.

I don't think static line jumpers are passengers, even though their parachutes are opened for them. If someone else was controlling his freefall he may have been considered a passenger.

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Kittinger was testing a bail-out system.
This was back in the days when the CIA/USAF/some other secretive US gov't agency was using gas balloons to spy on Russian nuclear testing. Some one asked: "What if the Russians shoot down a balloon? How will the pilot survive?"
Kittinger did a series of test jumps to prove that it was possible to parachute from a balloon - flying at 100,000 feet and survive.
On his record jump, Kittinger suffered a problem with a glove, but did not tell ground crew, because he decided that the quickest way to thaw his hand was to jump.
Spy balloons were soon replaced by spy satellites.

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