Michael Fournier Attempt

[glgflyer 0]

Does anyone know if Michael Fournier made his record jump from 25 miles up in May?

[jtval 0]

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Does anyone know if Michael Fournier made his record jump from 25 miles up in May?

I'm fairly sure that if he jumped there'd be 100 threads talking about it.

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[IanHarrop 42]

There was lots of discussion not that long ago:
http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?do=search_results&search_forum=all&search_string=fournier&search_type=AND&search_fields=sb&search_time=&search_user_username=&sb=post_time&mh=25

"Where troubles melt like lemon drops, away above the chimney tops, that's where you'll find me" Dorothy

[piisfish 140]

he tried to, and usual never went much above surface.

this year's problem was that his FXC12000 fired his reserve in a pressure chamber when they tried to simulate the pressures of the flight. (where is the Crash cymbal icon when you need it ? )

scissors beat paper, paper beat rock, rock beat wingsuit - KarlM

[docjohn 0]

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his FXC12000 fired his reserve

FXC12000? Interesting choice. Was he jumping a Paracommander too?

Doc
http://www.manifestmaster.com/video

[billvon 3,008]

>FXC12000? Interesting choice.

Probably a good one. It has a significantly wider operating temperature range.

[IanHarrop 42]

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he tried to, and usual never went much above surface.

this year's problem was that his FXC12000 fired his reserve in a pressure chamber when they tried to simulate the pressures of the flight. (where is the Crash cymbal icon when you need it ? )

Seems odd that this whole attempt was grounded by a reserve firing. Would a repack on his gear be that much more than a normal rig?

Perhaps the cancellation due to reserve firing was indicative of more issues than we know.

"Where troubles melt like lemon drops, away above the chimney tops, that's where you'll find me" Dorothy

[piisfish 140]

he might have encountered the same problem on exit, at 120'000 ft and then he would have been in high shit.

scissors beat paper, paper beat rock, rock beat wingsuit - KarlM

[Southern_Man 0]

One big problem is that this test of the reserve was being done while the balloon was being inflated. Why all the testing wasn't done earlier, I will never know. Anyway, the balloon was only designed to be used once.

He never actually got off the ground. And yes, it was indicative of wider issues.

"What if there were no hypothetical questions?"

[jumpwally 0]

Is there another attempt scheduled this year ?

smile, be nice, enjoy life
FB # - 1083

[piisfish 140]

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Is there another attempt scheduled this year ?

he and his team first need to find a creative way to fail safely

scissors beat paper, paper beat rock, rock beat wingsuit - KarlM

[Southern_Man 0]

My understanding is that there was some talk of him trying for the late fall window (I think October?).

The problem w/ that is that the balloon was one use only and though the crew tried very hard to deflate it without any stretching or tearing, the designer would still not certify it as safe to make another attempt. The balloons are very expensive so he either needs to buy another one, which he lacks the funding for, or he need to find a whole new balloon crew willing to put him up in a balloon that the designer won't say is safe.

"What if there were no hypothetical questions?"