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Alan Eustace Jumps From Stratosphere, Breaking Felix Baumgartner’s World Record

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TBRigging

Well said Bill. Alan has been great to work with.

***The best thing about this record, in my opinion, is that Alan is one of the nicest, most unassuming people I've ever met. He was truly more interested in the science (and the adventure) than any fame this fantastic achievement might bring him. He is truly one of us, and someone all of us should be proud of.



Yes, an engineer and the son of an engineer. Truly a science guy. Not a marketer or a hypster, but the real deal. Paying the bills yourself does not take away from the deed. Kittenger and Baumgartner did not do it on their own, and neither did Eustace. In the end it matters little who financed it.
Always remember the brave children who died defending your right to bear arms. Freedom is not free.

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jakee

The article suggest he was drogue stabilised for the freefall (but who knows with journalists) so he shouldn't have had the same stability problems as Felix.

Also, I got a kick out of this "Mr. Eustace was carried aloft without the aid of the sophisticated capsule used by Mr. Baumgartner or millions of dollars in sponsorship money." No kidding, when you earn $20M a year you're free from the shackles of RedBull!:P


Hey.... you can't take it with you. Might as well have some fun with the money he's earned. The NY Times stated, Google offered to help/sponsor him but he didn't want it to turn into some sort of marketing event. I say he succeeded.

Bravo Alan Eustace!

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Hi gowlerk & RiggerLee,

Quote

Maybe you could tell me?



It is a B-5. These rigs used through loops made out of 550 lb suspension line ( or maybe 375 lb suspension line, I just do not recall ). It also used commercial grommets like in your current sport rigs rather than the 7/16" and/or 9/16" grommets as used in things like B-4/B-12, etc.

Dan Poynter 'sort of' used the B-5 concept when he designed the PopTop chest pack container.

OK, back on topic everyone ( including me ),

Jerry Baumchen

PS) Back about '66, a couple of local jumpers had the local Master Rigger build them each a piggyback rig in which the reserve container was based upon the B-5 design. The just had the ripcord pins laterally across the reserve container rather than longitudinally as in the B-5 Col. Joe used. Those were the days when there was a lot of 'home-built' gear being used.

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Congratulations to Alan Eustace, UPT Vector, Vigil USA and Performances designs and all support organizations. We have here a genuine dream team and three new records (altitude, speed and freefall time) as a result and including the three very top leaders in skydiving equipment. The best was that everything was performed without any trumpeting, fanfare and show off. What a nice suprise ! :)

Learn from others mistakes, you will never live long enough to make them all.

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Landing looked a bit scary - looked like he rolled over his head after a face plant. Heavy gear, I suppose, that made balance and a controlled PLF all but impossible.
*******************************************************************
Fear causes hesitation, and hesitation will cause your worst fears to come true

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crwtom

Landing looked a bit scary - looked like he rolled over his head after a face plant. Heavy gear, I suppose, that made balance and a controlled PLF all but impossible.



Yes O2 system for over 3 hours + heating and life support gear looked bulky, but he walked away and did it for a fraction of the red bull programme so massive hats off.
Dont just talk about it, Do it!

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crwtom

Landing looked a bit scary - looked like he rolled over his head after a face plant. Heavy gear, I suppose, that made balance and a controlled PLF all but impossible.



Well his spacesuit weighed about 300 lbs, or was it 400 lbs? so.... ;)
"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban

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woppyvac

The suit weighed more than 400lbs... that musta been a bear to fly under canopy!



I bet his arms were getting tired of steering that tandem canopy. ;)
"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban

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strife

http://d1i5n1u2fq2wa3.cloudfront.net/-EcFPk04SDadkEBNUCaYyA.jpeg

I doubt anyone needs to worry about trying to stand it up in that suit

http://www.skydivemag.com/article/alan-eustace-stratosphere-explorer?fwd=1

canopy deployed at 15k

30 minutes in the stratosphere what an amazing experience he would have had up there.



Given that he landed 70 miles away from where he took off, I'm interested in hearing details about how the recovery team tracked him.

In the video I see what appears to be a skydiver run toward him as the first person to greet him. Then in a later shot a helicopter is landing nearby.

So, am I correct to assume that a helicopter was in the general areas where he was expected to deploy and as he got near the landing area someone jumped from the helicopter to be the first person on the ground to greet him back to earth? Could this person also help in figuring out the wind direction? Perhaps by setting the landing pattern for him?

I'm interested in seeing more video from the jump or if anyone involved in the project is interested in giving a technical lecture on how this was done, I'd like to know when and where so I can attend. Very interesting stuff.

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chuckakers

***The best was that everything was performed without any trumpeting, fanfare and show off.



And thus didn't get an ounce of the positive press for the sport that Felix did.

What is your definition of "positive press"? I think it is going to be difficult, if not impossible, to judge the benefits of either of these jumps to "the sport".

It is my understanding that Joe Kittinger's record was a byproduct of government research, whereas the Baumgardiner and Eustace records were dome mainly to break records (although I am sure that something was learned in the process).

What effects do "records" have on any sport?

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AlanS

***http://d1i5n1u2fq2wa3.cloudfront.net/-EcFPk04SDadkEBNUCaYyA.jpeg

I doubt anyone needs to worry about trying to stand it up in that suit

http://www.skydivemag.com/article/alan-eustace-stratosphere-explorer?fwd=1

canopy deployed at 15k

30 minutes in the stratosphere what an amazing experience he would have had up there.



Given that he landed 70 miles away from where he took off, I'm interested in hearing details about how the recovery team tracked him.

In the video I see what appears to be a skydiver run toward him as the first person to greet him. Then in a later shot a helicopter is landing nearby.

So, am I correct to assume that a helicopter was in the general areas where he was expected to deploy and as he got near the landing area someone jumped from the helicopter to be the first person on the ground to greet him back to earth? Could this person also help in figuring out the wind direction? Perhaps by setting the landing pattern for him?


spotter plane

http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/top-secret-mission-edmonton-pilots-helped-google-exec-set-near-space-skydive-record-1.2072451

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peek

******The best was that everything was performed without any trumpeting, fanfare and show off.



And thus didn't get an ounce of the positive press for the sport that Felix did.

What is your definition of "positive press"? I think it is going to be difficult, if not impossible, to judge the benefits of either of these jumps to "the sport".

It is my understanding that Joe Kittinger's record was a byproduct of government research, whereas the Baumgardiner and Eustace records were dome mainly to break records (although I am sure that something was learned in the process).

What effects do "records" have on any sport?

It wasn't difficult for me to see the benefits at all. It translated to the drop zone and that's where it counts.

I interact with a lot of the tandem jumpers at my home dz (and we do a LOT of tandems) and for months after Felix's jump our first timers were commenting on how cool/exciting/interesting it was. There was so much press about his jump that it spurred thought, questions, and more than a few people to actually make the decision to jump. Several folks mentioned that seeing the record jump is what started the conversation that eventually resulted in them making reservations for a skydive.

I consider anything in the media that shines a positive light on the sport good press and in this case we got a lot of it. Let's face it, Felix's jump was damn sensational and the way it was presented allowed even the whuffos a pretty good understanding of what they were seeing. More media coverage of Eustace's jump could have increased our exposure even more. More good press, more positive results on the drop zone.

As for your comment about what effect records have on the sport, that's not the point. The good press didn't come from either man setting a record. The benefit from Felix's jump - record or not - came from the media coverage of an exciting skydive.

It was also a lot better press than a teenage girl too lame to perform EP's or two Cessna's colliding on jump run. :S
Chuck Akers
D-10855
Houston, TX

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My most serious congratulations to Alan Eustace, for his new record. I envy him, but when I was his age, there wasn't much possibility of getting anything that would go that high.I had to settle for a Cessna 210 turbo and got out at 44 feet short of 7 miles. Best wishes for a continuance for Alan's space exploration, and may he have many more high or low jumps and most of all, safe jumps. Bill Cole D-41



aka chuteless numbers 2 and 3 .




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chuckakers

***Love it. Kittenger's record stands for decades. He then helps Baumgartner break it with years of planning, hype, and hoopla. The next thing we know. an Internet billionaire quietly spends enough money to break it two years later. Money can't buy me love. But it can sure buy lots of joy!



One *minor* difference if the article read is accurate. Sounds like this jump was drogue assisted. Felix went balls out.

Which also makes sense why a Vigil was okay to use. :P It's a joke people!
Life is all about ass....either you're kicking it, kissing it, working it off, or trying to get a piece of it.
Muff Brother #4382 Dudeist Skydiver #000
www.fundraiseadventure.com

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Not sure about that main vs. reserve issue but the container does perhaps look as you described.

I'm also wondering about the drogue deployment method up in minimal atmosphere / low dynamic pressure. Somewhere I saw it mentioned that they used special equipment or technique for that.

The drogue bridle does look odd in the brief moment one can see it in the official video, as if it has a rigid tube lower section designed in some way to keep it away from any jumper entanglement.

....Aha, I found where I saw it: it was in the very short report on an aviation news site, avweb.com :

"His technical team also designed a carbon-fiber device that prevented Eustace from becoming entangled in his parachute should he not be stabilized when he deployed the parachute."

So could the drogue in tube not be trailed normally after opening? On the 'real' jump did they jettison the drogue after deployment with a cutter? Or did they cut the drogue first and have some sort "main in freebag in reserve pack tray"? Each option has various additional implications.

========
EDIT:
Avweb also has a longer second article at
http://www.avweb.com/avwebflash/news/Record-Skydive-New-Suit-Pioneered-Six-Person-Capsule-Planned222978-1.html
which mentions,
"The pilot chute device, called Sabre, reduces the risk of pilot chute entanglement, which nearly killed Joe Kittinger during one of his Project Excelsior jumps in 1960."

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skydiverek

Did he land under a reserve? I can see no drogue attached to the flying canopy (and it WAS visible in some other canopy flight footage, probably taken from other jumps). Also, the reserve container looks open/empty during the landing phase.



To give a really head high droguefall position, the main was in the upper container, released using a standard Sigma Disc. The drogue was not trailing because it was in a free bag. A device to make the drogue bridle rigid was designed so that Alan couldn't get wrapped up in it before the drought inflated, which took several seconds. The whole system was designed to eliminate the potentially deadly flat spin that has plagued everyone else who has tried a really high altitude jump before. It worked beautifully as Alan reported maintaining control at all times.

The main purpose of this endeavor was science, and a lot was learned that will benefit future high altitude exploration. Alan should be congratulated on the tremendous gift of knowledge he has given all of us. After all, he is Vice President of Knowledge at Google.

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