Loosing the weight while in flight

[TOT 0]

I was thinking the other day about how some swoopers load themselves down with a lot of weight to get a longer swoop and thought "Would someone be able to get a longer swoop if they were able to loose the weight once they entered the gates and were flying level?"

Would this cause the canopy to surge forward and slam the jumper to the ground?
Would the canopy simply gain altitude and fly the jumper further because they now have less weight pulling the to the ground?
Has anyone experimented with this in the past?

I would think that if you could shed 30-40 pounds once you are finished the arc of the swoop then you could fly further.

Any ideas out there?

TOT

[CanuckInUSA 0]

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I was thinking the other day about how some swoopers load themselves down with a lot of weight to get a longer swoop

Don't forget that as of this season, new weight restriction rules came into effect and none of us bigger guys (I'm not small but far from big ... big) are allowed to wear weights. It's only the small/medium sized swoopers who are allowed to load up. So swooping with weights is slowly (at least for now) becoming a thing of the past.

But to get to your original question, coming in at around 80 or so MPH, taking my hands off of my risers/toggles to drop the lead is pretty much the last thing going on in my mind. If people jump with weight, it's a good thing to think about having a cut away system (Marianne Kramer might still be alive if she could cut her weight belt away). But cutting away a weight belt as you level off just doesn't seem like the right thing to be doing.

But what do I know ... I haven't been doing this stuff (competitive swooping) for all that long.

Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

[garywainwright 0]

How about drinking as much water as you possibly can about an hour before you go up then pissing yourself as you fly down the course?

http://www.garywainwright.co.uk

Instagram gary_wainwright_uk

[bofh 0]

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But to get to your original question, coming in at around 80 or so MPH, taking my hands off of my risers/toggles to drop the lead is pretty much the last thing going on in my mind.

I guess one can build an electronic quick release connected to a bite switch. It would be a bit unsportly though, with the new rules.

[phoenixlpr 0]

How about taking that weight as water like gliders do? :)

[eUrNiCc 0]

Water weighs 8lbs/gal. The maximum amount of weight allowed under the current rules is 35lbs, hence you would have to make room for about 4.5 gallons... That's alot of water!
Maybe you could put on a drysuit and fill it up?

Egad, A BASE life defiles a bad age.

[phoenixlpr 0]

How about having it inside the swoop pants?
And flush it with a tongue switch?
It can even keep your legs cool or warm.

[SkymonkeyONE 4]

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How about drinking as much water as you possibly can about an hour before you go up then pissing yourself as you fly down the course?

How about keeping the jokes to Bonfire, please? Seriously. I have been having to spend a lot of time lately cleaning junk like this out of the topical forums I moderate. I am becoming less and less tollerant, people. Understand that. If you do not have a legitimate answer to the guy's question, then please refrain from answering at all.

Chuck

[SkymonkeyONE 4]

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How about having it inside the swoop pants?
And flush it with a tongue switch?
It can even keep your legs cool or warm.

Some of you might be laughing at this, but I know for a fact that there was at least one top five competitor that was considering something like this in 2001.

Chuck

[phoenixlpr 0]

What was keeping him/her back from implementing the idea?

[ntacfreefly 0]

Rules state that you must land with everything you exit the aircraft with I believe.

Blues,
Ian

To the mind that is still, the whole universe surrenders. ~ Lao-Tzu

It's all good, they're my brothers ~ Mariann Kramer

[DrewEckhardt 0]

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"Would someone be able to get a longer swoop if they were able to loose the weight once they entered the gates and were flying level?"

Dropping the weight decreases your kinetic energy without changing your drag; so as soon as you dump it your deceleration will increase. This loss would be integrated over the entire duration of your swoop.

Dropping weight slightly decreases your stall speed.

So if you dumped it at the beginning, the little gained at the end wouldn't be enough to offset the huge loss.

[raymod2 1]

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Dropping the weight decreases your kinetic energy without changing your drag

If you are in level flight when you drop the weight the canopy will start to climb. Assuming you let off on the rear risers to offset this effect then your angle of attack will decrease and so will your drag.

[SkymonkeyONE 4]

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What was keeping him/her back from implementing the idea?

If you are ever in Texas, why don't you ask him; it's Eric Butts.

[marks 0]

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Rules state that you must land with everything you exit the aircraft with I believe.

Blues,
Ian

if it does now, I am not sure about. but as of 12 months ago, that was not the case. pm me or call me if you want to discuss it.

chuckie!

it is a good thing that the swooping forum is lighting up, maybe you need some help in moderating, to make the job easier!

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[bob.dino 1]

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What was keeping him/her back from implementing the idea?

If you are ever in Texas, why don't you ask him; it's Eric Butts.

Phoenixlpr is in Finland; I think that's not too likely in the near future.

[phoenixlpr 0]

True, but none knows....

[SkymonkeyONE 4]

Terrve!