how much distance can you cover from 13500

[Rookeskydiver 0]

hey birdman jumpers. just wondering how much distance someone can cover if they were flying straigth. And also if it it possible to gain altitude during freefall, in other words can you fly upward?

PCSS # 1 Rookeskydiver
"Its a Wonka Bar"....."Go ahead Charlie open it, lets see that golden ticket"

[SkymonkeyONE 4]

Novice birdmen don't really have much problem getting out a mile long. I have been on several skydives from the 14,000 foot range where we have made it back from three miles out, getting out upwind of course.

Chuck

[maretus 0]

On bird-man.com:

Q: How far can you fly with the BirdMan suit?
A: From 13,500 ft. (4 km) to 3,000 ft. (1km) you cover over 3 miles.
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I think over three miles (5 km's) is very doable and especially with good tailwind even more. If the glide ratio of a birdman would be 1:2 then with 3 km freefall you would cover 6 km's of distance. What comes to gaining altitude in freefall, in general I don't think it is possible. I think it is possible to momentaryly achieve level flight or even little climb but to "fly upwards", mening really gain altitude, I don't think it can be done.

http://www.ufufreefly.com

[vesatoro 0]

My longest flights (from 13500ft) with good tailwind have been about 7-8km long (measured roughly from map)

Vesa

"Fear is the path to the Dark side"
(Master Yoda)

[Sonic 0]

Have you seen the wingsuit boogie video? There's exits on there where people are gaining about 200 foot altitude on exit from the C-130.

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It's like something out of that twilighty show about that zone

[verticalflyer 11]

The climb John Loken was able to make on the Herc was due to a very good body position but more importantly an instant lift source e.g the prop blast from the C130 port and starboard props that combine to make an awesome slipstream, which combined about 100ft behind the herc in a kind of sweet spot. Unfortunately this was not sustainable. However coming out of steep dives Yuri has mentioned he thinks he is getting positve lift, as in climbing. However some GPS type analysis is probably needed to determine whats really going on.

Still looks damn cool though. As materials improve and our understanding of the best way to fly improves I am sure climb out will become more common. But were still in the learnign to walk stage at the moment.

Cheers

Fraser

Dont just talk about it, Do it!

[Sonic 0]

The run-in speed of a c130 has got be be 140? Looks cool where most people are staying level with the plane for a while, then the odd one or two gain alti. Would this show on the pro-track graph? It charts from just before exit doesn't it?

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It's like something out of that twilighty show about that zone

[verticalflyer 11]

have'nt checked my data yet as I need to load it all up and my PC died, but once I do I'll let you know, i doubt it will show that much of interest, just a very slow initial descent rate, which you get initially anyway before your in full flight.

Dont just talk about it, Do it!

[mountainman 0]

As far as the ProTrack question goes: I have found that it puts my "exit altitude" about 300' below what my altimeter (and others) say we are at. I think others have expressed this before with the PT.

So, with that in mind, your PT doesn't even start to register the jump until you are a couple of hundred feet into the skydive and you have some speed built up.

I believe this also explains why it doesn't register a h-n-p jump. Your body doesn't have enough speed to "turn on" the device.

Of course, this is purely my opinion and observations.

http://www.brandonandlaura.com

[TB99 0]

This is direct from PT manual:

"All speeds are calculated from 15 seconds after exit to 7 seconds before deployment."

Trailer 11/12 was the best. Thanks for the memories ... you guys rocked!

[cobaltdan 0]

i have seen jari and others pop up above the plane on exit when doing high speed passes on a casa.

as far as diving and then gaining positive flight it is not possible with a wing suit without a serious trick. we dataloged 0 but only after a sustained dive with a piggyback passenger falling off just before pull up...

sincerely,

dan<><>

Daniel Preston <><>
atairaerodynamics.com (sport)
atairaerospace.com (military)

[cpoxon 0]

Quote

So, with that in mind, your PT doesn't even start to register the jump until you are a couple of hundred feet into the skydive and you have some speed built up

Not quite true. It's true to say that it may take a couple of seconds to decided you are in freefall rather than a descending plane, but during the climb the ProTrack is constantly buffering readings so that it can retrospectively determine when you exited. Have you noticed in the JumpTrack software how it actually charts from -2 seconds, and the altitude plot is usually flat for those 2 seconds until exit.

example

[mountainman 0]

I have never used the JumpTrack software. I was basing my observations from the reading on my altimaster III and my Pro Track. Whenever I jump from say 13k, My PT usually will be about 3-400' below whereever my alti said.

I dont know if it is just a general mismatch or if it doesn't start until then.

Thanks for the example, Cpoxon.

http://www.brandonandlaura.com

[PhreeZone 20]

Odds are the alti is off on your Alti3. Compare it to others in the plane and you'll probally see a few hundred feet difference between a few alti's.

Yesterday is history
And tomorrow is a mystery

Parachutemanuals.com

[jceman 1]

Quote

Odds are the alti is off on your Alti3. Compare it to others in the plane and you'll probally see a few hundred feet difference between a few alti's.

Not necessarily. Lynn and I compare our Pro Tracks after each jump we do together, and there seems to often be a 200 foot difference between hers and mine as to exit altitude. WTF? When we exit together?

Faster horses, younger women, older whiskey, more money.

Why do they call it "Tourist Season" if we can't shoot them?

[mountainman 0]

Actually, my alti is the same as pretty much everyone elses. That is why I thought the PT was not registering correctly.

I have always checked it to others and it looks good.

Hmm...

http://www.brandonandlaura.com

[basehoundsam 0]

I've used my PT on a 2000 foot wall 4-5 times this year, in special mode, and it has been almost right on the money. I'ld say it's pretty damn accurate..
Jay

Jay Epstein Ramirez
www.adrenalineexploits.com

[quade 4]

Quote

Not necessarily. Lynn and I compare our Pro Tracks after each jump we do together, and there seems to often be a 200 foot difference between hers and mine as to exit altitude. WTF? When we exit together?

200/13000=0.015... or 1.5...%.

That's a pretty freekin' small margin of error for a device that costs less than $300! BTW, a 200 foot difference between two ProTracks is still within the design specs listed in the back of the manual. Manual says each unit is accurate to + or -100 feet. Obviously one unit could be +100 and the other -100 for a 200 foot total spread.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[cobaltdan 0]

dytters sample at only 4 hertz, they are incredible signalling devices but not highly accurate for dataloging critical jump information i.e. from test jumps or for record attemps.

l&b does make a version of their protrack called a prolog aimed at test applications but althought they have done an incredible job of the software and math involved, it still suffers from the accuracy of the pressure sensor and sampling rate.

several times during test jumps we stuffed a couple of prologs in next to our dataloggers. altitude data logged varied off up to several hundred feet and differed between both units. still nice for a matchbook sized back up...

sincerely,

dan<><>

Daniel Preston <><>
atairaerodynamics.com (sport)
atairaerospace.com (military)