0
OHCHUTE

Skydiver impacts Turkey Vulture.

Recommended Posts

Not a turkey vulture, but a few years back I recall there was a guy who hit some smaller bird. Luckily the guy had a full face helmet which helped a bit.

My guess is if you searched for it hard enough you'd find the thread here somewhere.
quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
It would be messy that's for sure. Big birds but i have never seen them very high. There are some electrical towers on the river near me that my friends and I like to base jump from. Two of them are notorious for Turkey Vultures and one the two easily had 100+ on it one night we were climbing. They dont scare easily and one decided to attack my friends stash bag...while he was wearing it.

Really dont think a skydiver impact would be likely though...never seen them that high. I have however seen hawks on several occasions around 3k ft, both in freefall and under canopy. We had a skydiver vs hawk collision at breakoff last year and if left a perfect wing imprint on my friends back. (Backtrack from VFS formation.)
Fiend

I am about to take my last voyage, a great leap in the dark. - Thomas Hobbes.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I had one close encounter with a turkey vulture during deployment. This was back in the days where pitching the pc at 2000 ft was considered "normal". :)

It wasn't much more than 100 feet away when I got in the saddle about 50 feet higher. I even tried to dive my canopy to it but it veered off. It wasn't until later that I learned they can spew vomit when threatened. I would have hated getting vulture vomit on me... B|:D

"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Ugh, I've seen those things on the ground and remember thinking it's a wonder they can fly at all. I've never seen a bird at more than a few hundred feet, though. There's really not much reason for them to go up there -- it'd just be that much harder to see food.

Back on Oahu, though, there were some birds that used to do a migration every morning on the west side of the island. I'm not sure what they were, but they came from the mountain, must have been flying at several thousand feet and were HUGE. Those might be a problem if you happen to be doing a dawn skydive there. Though it might be kind of neat to try to flock with them for a while in a wingsuit...
I'm trying to teach myself how to set things on fire with my mind. Hey... is it hot in here?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

0