Intentionally Dropping Something in FF

[jettero 0]

This came up on a british (mostly) message board I frequent. It happens that the site leader's PDA broke. It's a handsrping visor ... was.

Anyhoo, I had offered to get video of myself dropping it in freefall. Excitedly, he asked for my address so he could send it over and I could set it up. Then reality kicked in and I realized that I probably can't actually do it. It's pretty dangerous really.

But my question is: What has to be true to intentionally drop something in freefall? I sincerely doubt I'd be allowed to do this at my home dropzone. But, people drop those PRCP handles all the time -- apparently at Eloy, people drop whole cars. I've seen video.

[WrongWay 0]

You'll never find a pilot willing to drop it. If that thing kills somebody it's on his shoulders, so I wouldn't get your hopes up.

Wrong Way
D #27371 Mal Manera Rodriguez Cajun Chicken Ø Hellfish #451
The wiser wolf prevails.

[mr2mk1g 10]

Skydive Arizona evidently don't have a problem with dropping stuff as big as cars out of the back of skyvans... but then that's because they're over a desert.

You're not going to be alowed to do this in the UK, we have too dense a population. We're not even alowed to jump with skyballs over here even though those are supposed to be caught before deployment.

Please don't do it without permission - you could kill someone. Best suggestion - eat humble pie and say you can't or take a trip to Arizona.

[pilotdave 0]

It's actually perfecty legal... well... it can be anyway. You just have to ensure that it won't cause damage to persons or property below. You might break a litter law... I dunno about that. But as far as the FAA is concerned, dropping stuff is legal.

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FAR 91.15 Dropping objects.

No pilot in command of a civil aircraft may allow any object to be dropped from that aircraft in flight that creates a hazard to persons or property. However, this section does not prohibit the dropping of any object if reasonable precautions are taken to avoid injury or damage to persons or property.

Dave

[jettero 0]

It's not over the UK, it's over michigan... it's just a britsh (mostly) website.

I totally get that I won't be able to do this. I reasoned that out on my own. I just wonder what I'd have to do ... to do it. And I'm thinking going to arazona to skydive doesn't sound so bad.

[jettero 0]

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It's actually perfecty legal... well... it can be anyway. You just have to ensure that it won't cause damage to persons or property below.

So, in theory... If I got someone really awesome at spotting to help me; I could just drop it over some trees or something?

That was more or less my original plan.

[pilotdave 0]

Yep. If you really want your ass covered, you'd probably want to know for sure that the area of woods you're dropping over is uninhabited and that you're definitely capable of dropping it so that it lands where you expect. But as long as your precautions are "reasonable," you can do it.

Dave

[quade 4]

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But as long as your precautions are "reasonable," you can do it.

Do keep in mind however that IF something were to happen and it killed someone on the ground and the FAA looked into it, I'm almost certain that they'd have a different definition of the word "reasonable" than most of us would.

Yes, you can pretty much do it, but be aware there is still going to be hell to pay if something were to go very wrong.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[Airman1270 0]

I've dropped a "Bart Simpson" doll rigged to an old pilot chute over Rome, GA. "Bart" has about a dozen jumps. I don't suppose this would create much of a hazard, though.
Remember those training instructions to "throw away the ripcord" in the event of a cutaway? What would happen if the silver handle should strike someone on the ground. Would the emergency situation be taken into consideration, or could we expect to be prosecuted/sued (as we can be in so many other areas of life) for failing to prevent bad things from happening?

Jon S.

[mnischalke 0]

Considering the density and surface area of a PDA, it's much more likely that you'll be releasing it than dropping it. As soon as you let it go in freefall, it's going to go up, not down.

Just something to think about.

mike

Girls only want boyfriends who have great skills--You know, like nunchuk skills, bow-hunting skills, computer-hacking skills.

[mjosparky 4]

Duck tape it to an old bowling ball and ask the pilot to make a low pass over the target area, say 2,000 feet age. With someone good at spotting looking over your shoulder let it go. Just don't tape over the finger hole, they make the ball sound like a baby crying in freefall.
It is perfectly legal, drop zones drop thing from planes all the time, they are called skydivers.

My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

[LouYoung 0]

I don't think Skydive AZ drops things out of the plane OVER Skydive AZ. All of the big stuff you see in Good Stuff and the "Worlds Largest Rubberband Ball" were dropped over private property outside Kingman, AZ in the northwest portion of the state.

Lou

[jettero 0]

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Considering the density and surface area of a PDA, it's much more likely that you'll be releasing it than dropping it. As soon as you let it go in freefall, it's going to go up, not down.

I had not thought of THAT! I guess I figured it'd be more dense than me. Fascinating.

Now I wish I'd set up a poll: Will it go [up] or [down]?

I should add that I was picturing a streamer on one edge so it'd be falling edgewise -- if that makes any difference.

[mnischalke 0]

As JohnRich has shown in another thread a while back, even certain bullets will not drop faster than you, with many going "up," further, all of them, even the pointed ones with a high ballistic coefficient, will tumble. Why would a partially hollow plastic pda be different?

edited to add: Adding a streamer would slow it down further. I also believe attaching a streamer is highly unlikely to work at all as a stabilizer due to the object's low mass and flat shape.

mike

Girls only want boyfriends who have great skills--You know, like nunchuk skills, bow-hunting skills, computer-hacking skills.

[jettero 0]

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I also believe attaching a streamer is highly unlikely to work at all as a stabilizer due to the object's low mass and flat shape.

This is extra fascinating. It appears that I know almost nothing about the skin drag on falling objects. It actually leads me to something I've been wondering about.

I would actually like to set up one of those FF streamer balls like in good stuff. How did they adjust it to fall at a rate similar to their own? Or did they?

[mnischalke 0]

It's a fairly delicate combination of weight and streamer type and size.

I don't mean to snub you, but before you get all wound up, you might want to learn to fly yourself for the next several hundred jumps before even thinking about bringing projectiles with you.

mike

Girls only want boyfriends who have great skills--You know, like nunchuk skills, bow-hunting skills, computer-hacking skills.

[pdj6p 0]

You don't have to drop it while in freefall. If you were under canopy at 1000-2000 feet you could find an area open enough to safely drop it and it will still get going fast enough to break into bits.

Death is so permanant, and I'm just not ready for that kind of committment.

[Raistlin 0]

We once dropped a lavatory pan and got it on video. There wasn't a piece bigger than a thumb when it met the ground; man did it flip in the air :)

then people jumping out with brooms to look like witches don't hold onto the broom...

[jettero 0]

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You don't have to drop it while in freefall. If you were under canopy at 1000-2000 feet you could find an area open enough to safely drop it and it will still get going fast enough to break into bits.

That's an option of sorts... but I wouldn't get video, which is part of the goal.

[jettero 0]

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I don't mean to snub you, but before you get all wound up, you might want to learn to fly yourself

No snub taken, you are totally correct.

There's a lot of stuff I'd like to grow into from here. And flying around inanimate objects is one of them.

You know, something to aspire too. I think I got in over my head with the PDA thing; but I'm still looking into the feasibility. I'm going to ask some people (including my DZO) about just how dumb it really is.

Then again, there's a pumpkin day at my DZ. So, you never know. Perhaps if they think it's funny they'll help me out. Perhaps they'll just tell me, "no."

I think it'd make a slick video either way.

[crutch 0]

I have ridden a bike out of an otter before, the video is pretty funny. Couple of things we did/found out. The bike fell much slower than us, never seen five people track as hard as we did when I let go of it. We jumped over an unpopulated area about five miles long and three miles wide to ensure that the bike didn't hit any one. Maybe there is a lake or something near your DZ that you can let the PDA go over?

blue skies,

art

[DancingFlame 0]

Take a look at that photo:
http://skyphoto.ru/phpgallery/displayimage.php?album=topn&cat=0&pos=0
You'll definitely like it

[ltdiver 3]

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Take a look at that photo:
http://skyphoto.ru/phpgallery/displayimage.php?album=topn&cat=0&pos=0
You'll definitely like it

Dear friend, Andrey....he's at it again!

ltdiver

Don't tell me the sky's the limit when there are footprints on the moon

[Zenister 0]

that photo soooo needs a freeflier

____________________________________
Those who fail to learn from the past are simply Doomed.

[nigel99 475]

I swear it looks like there is a child sitting 3rd along in the rubber dingy...

Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.