cocheese 0 #1 October 25, 2011 When I see the blimp shot of the stadium, I always think about what it would be like to jump into one. I think I have my swoop all figured out, but I know it would be a lot different than I expect. Who has done a stadium jump? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BillyVance 34 #2 October 25, 2011 I have. Largest one was 86,000 seats. Legion Field in Birmingham for the first Conference USA game in UAB's short football history. You cant fly a pocket rocket into a bowl stadium. Although I was on my Triathlon 120, it's not loaded that heavily and I had my PRO rating on it. It's the only big stadium I ever jumped into and I did fine. The stadium was only about 30% full for the game however. Apparently UAB fans aren't all that crazy about football. They've never had much to cheer about anyhow, except once beating LSU in Baton Rouge. I've done demos into tighter spots than that though."Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BillyVance 34 #3 October 25, 2011 Also, you have to take the type of stadium into account and plan for it. You have the open-ended stadiums that most high schools have. Then you have the horseshoes. Then you have the full bowls. Then you have the full bowls with upper decks. The higher the stadium is built up, the more difficult it will be to enter and set up your landing. Each type require their own strategy. Also take into account your parachute's size and wingloading. I'd jump Legion Field again since it only has an upper deck on one side, however I do not think I could jump Bryant-Denny Stadium safely, mainly because it's a fully enclosed upper deck stadium with 101,800+ seats. Winds can do funny things in stadiums. You never quite know what to expect."Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pchapman 261 #4 October 25, 2011 I've only done a fairly 'open' 30,000 seat stadium where most jumpers used their regular crossbraced canopies. Just fly above one set of stands then 180 it steeply past the goal posts to land near the centre. Vid from one of my jumps gives some idea of how fast everything happens: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzcSqpjxpzU It could have worked in a more closed stadium. But for one of the really big, steep, closed-side stadiums, that's a different game that I haven't played... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cocheese 0 #5 October 25, 2011 Cool video. Yea I'm thinking full bowl, carving the bowl until it's time for a 180 double fronts sling shot No practice jump either. I would do it perfect in practice and fuck it up for real I'm sure.Not sure if I would take a bow or just give a big thumbs up That's a tough call. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
artard 0 #6 October 25, 2011 Here's what it looks like to jump into Broncos stadium during a packed game (not me, a local instructor): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbk5iTtuwi8http://www.mixcloud.com/prajna http://vimeo.com/avidya Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pchapman 261 #7 October 25, 2011 Quote http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbk5iTtuwi8 Nice. A serious demo: Huge stadium brightly lit at night, everything else dark, flash bulbs going off, flying pyro and a flag. Perfect, other than the slider flapping madly all the way down. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Krip 2 #8 October 25, 2011 We did a baby stadium jump about 15 -20 yr's ago. A Farm team for the seattle pro team. Cheney stadium, Tacoma wa, 20 way from 13K, we have the video but don't have a clue how to post it. Jumping a 7 cell cruise light, Loaded about 1 to 1 a lot of us were jumping without a pro rateing, didn't visit the stadium first, or even know the surrounding area.We did a practice jump before the stadium jump (RW) and had a quick briefing." Look for the large flat roof " Kmart or Fred Meyer (I forget) then head toward the 4 lane hwy. Land somewhere in the outfield heading from 1st to 2nd Base. Since we had never seen the stadium we aked if the light pole wires were above or below ground. "Below" Launched the two way with a nice lady (kiss pass) set a good fall rate I think it built to a 19 1/2 way and 19 peeps made it into the baby stadium. From 13K there are a lot of ball diamonds, large wooded area, so many things could have gone wrong, but they didn't.I complimented the person that spotted the load. I thought it was great spot lots of room for S turns, opening at different altitudes etc . The spotter was Told us the spot was way to short. The base opened last, what me worry, we were able to follow the folks in front of us once we figured out which direction we needed to go. Now that we're older and wiser and listening to MR Twardo it was a dumb demo, the folks in the stands can't see a exit from 13k or a 20way in spite of one or two people wearing smoke. My guess the person who put the demo together was being paid by the head, or was just trying to me. We got 2 free jumps and a video.That we haven't looked at in ages. R. One Jump Wonder Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
airtwardo 6 #9 October 25, 2011 Quote Cool video. Yea I'm thinking full bowl, carving the bowl until it's time for a 180 double fronts sling shot No practice jump either. I would do it perfect in practice and fuck it up for real I'm sure.Not sure if I would take a bow or just give a big thumbs up That's a tough call. Some are tougher than others, all are challenging. The thing about a closed stadium is the winds tend to swirl, creating a toilet bowl effect, your rate of descent can change drastically every few seconds...ya really don't want to be carving the bowl, I've seen people doing that end up sitting with the crowd. Saw a couple guys take a down plane in once, their speed about doubled and through they broke it as fast as they could, wasn't fast enough...one of them never walked again. Did one into an NFL game once, the practice jump the day prior went great...day of the jump they had installed all the trolley camera wires and didn't bother to mention it to us. Didn't hit any of them but it got a bit sporty there for a few seconds! ~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JerryBaumchen 1,048 #10 October 25, 2011 Hi Krip, Quote Look for the large flat roof " Kmart or Fred Meyer (I forget) then head toward the 4 lane hwy. One year many moons ago, Ted Mayfield organized a demo into a stadium at Hood River, OR. As Ted was lining up the jump run one guy on the load said "Why are we jumping into The Dalles, OR?' Ted said 'This is Hood river.' and the guy said 'Then why is Dallesport just across the river, over there?' Dallesport is an airport located on the north side of the Columbia River at The Dalles, OR, about 25 miles east of Hood River, OR. That, along with many other reasons, is why I NEVER went on any of Ted's demos. JerryBaumchen Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jumpdude 0 #11 October 26, 2011 Big canopies and a steep slow approach is always a crowd pleaser, especially when you can put on the brakes and stop around 150ft above the field before letting up and flying in for nice soft one or two step on target landing! Refuse to Lose!!! Failure is NOT an option! 1800skyrideripoff.com Nashvilleskydiving.org Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dpreguy 14 #12 October 26, 2011 If you are going into a statium that has a zip line camera, just play along with this explanation, even though it is a bit long: Grab a piece of plain typing paper and lay it on the desk. Visualise 4 towers. uh... about 7 inches high, just outside the 4 corners of the paper. These towers represent the 120 foot "anchors/pullys" for the camera cable support system, (in a typical football stadium) Now visualize 4 individual cables "anchored" at the tops of the 4 towers, and connected to the camera (now in the center of the field). If the cables are somewht taut, the camera is suspended pretty high, and the TV viewer gets long overhead view over the center of the field. Slacken the cables evenly, and the camera stays in the center of the field, at whatever height the operator wants. The operator can even slacken the cable so much that the camera lays on the field. If the football player is to be viewed colsely, then just slacken the cables, and the camera lowers. Slacken the cables evenly and the camera always stays in the center. Slacken and tighten them in an even but coordinated manner, and you can put the camera over nearly any part of the field at any height. The limitaion is that the closest they can get to any corner, is about to the 20 or 30 yard line and maybe about 50 feet in from the sideline. To view a player in , let's say the 30 yard line, and off to one side, just reel in the one corner cable in that corner, and slacken the other three, and the camera is suspended nearly over the player if he isn't too near to the the sideline. These cables are very thin, and are absolutly invisible to the jumper coming in from above. Now. To get to the point. When the jumpers exit the plane, the camera is still wholly suspended and running around, suspended 40-50 -60 feet in the air, taking shots of coaches, performers, diginitaries, cheerleaders, etc, most of whom are probably in the center of the field awaiting your arrival. About 45 seconds before touchdown, or a whole minute if you are lucky, the operator quickly lowers the camera to the ground in one of the corners, at about the 20 or 30 yard line and 100 feet in from the sideline, a crew member detaches the long cable ( the one from the 120 foot tower opposite the corner) from the camera and lets it go, or runs like a madman to the corner where the tower is. The camera end of that cable will obviously lay on the groud when the tension is off. Gravity pulls it down and back, as the tension is released. Here is the situation for the demo jumper: 3 cables are still attatched from the three 120 foot towers to the camera, which is now on the ground at the 20-30 yard line, being hugged by a crew member, and 100 feet in from the sideline, and within reason are slackened from the three remaining towers. They loop down in predictable downward arcs kinda like you see on a suspension bridge, as does the freed long cable. The fourth (long one -disconnected) cable lays down better then the other three. You, as a demo jumper must still visualize the differing loop arcs of the three cables still connected to the camera, as well as the disconnected long cable. These hanging looping cables are a hazard; especially the three still connected to the camera, as those three are not laying on the ground like the long one. These three are looping for their whole length from the towers to the camera hugger. Remember, they are still suspended, in the air from the towers, and pose a great hazard below 120 feet. The closer you are to the 4 towers, the higher the cables, and even though they are slackened, the only really hazard-free part of the field/airspace 120 feet and below, is the part of the field not under the 4 cables. You had better know, before exiting the airplane, which corner of the field the camera will be when it is lowered to the ground, as you must gauge your final approach WITHIN the trapezoid of the field that remains safe when you are below 120 feet. Remember, the 4 cables, even though slack, still hang down from the towers in a "suspension bridge"manner, so the closer you are to one of the towers, the more likely you will run into one. You must trust the zip line camera crew to actually get the camera on the ground at least 45 seconds before you touch down, detatch the long cable and the operator must allow the slacks quickly. If you run into a cable, you will probably die, if you fall unimpeded from an altitude greater than 50 or 60 feet. With a fall from 60 feet, everone dies. When everyting goes right, and you avoid the part of the airspace/field below 120 feet under the cables looping down from the towers, you are just fine. When you leave the plane, you are committed, even though the zip line camera is probably still suspended over rhe center of the field, or wherever, and at what ever height the opreator wants. The cable crew must do it's job correctly, in a timely manner, and lower the camera in the corner you expect it to be, and quickly allow the slack to occur. As in all thngs, when everything goes right, nobody gets hurt. If you do one of these jumps, you will have more on your mind than just swooping. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
airtwardo 6 #13 October 26, 2011 ~on trolley cameras...Like I said, gets a bit sporty for a few seconds there at the end. ~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ron 7 #14 October 26, 2011 I have several stadium jumps...... They are ALL different and even a second jump into the SAME stadium is different. It is very common to have your wind streamer change directions while on final.... On time it started blowing *UP* while I was on base. Another time in I think the UofI I was under canopy and broke through the lights. Since I was born in IL when they announced my name the crowd went WILD. Between the shape of the stadium and the people yelling like hell... I thought my canopy was literally going to shake apart and the lines were shaking like guitar screens. A stadium jump is nothing to take lightly."No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BillyVance 34 #15 October 26, 2011 Quote ~on trolley cameras...Like I said, gets a bit sporty for a few seconds there at the end. Reliant Stadium in Houston has those guy wires. You had to know where they were coming in. "Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mjosparky 3 #16 October 27, 2011 They can really raise the pucker factor. Use the right gear and like Twardo said, run the bowl coming in. They can look really small from the air. Scary but fun. Sparky http://i397.photobucket.com/albums/pp55/mjosparky/Skydiving/rosebowl.jpgMy idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
oldwomanc6 38 #17 October 27, 2011 Quote They can really raise the pucker factor. Use the right gear and like Twardo said, run the bowl coming in. They can look really small from the air. Scary but fun. Sparky http://i397.photobucket.com/albums/pp55/mjosparky/Skydiving/rosebowl.jpg Amazing picture! lisa WSCR 594 FB 1023 CBDB 9 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JohnMitchell 14 #18 October 27, 2011 Stadiums can be tight. I've done college bowls with half the field covered by stage. A tighter demo we used to do was into the WA state fair, landing in the sawdust pile next to the stage, right before the crowd. Don't over shoot or you're in someone's lap.It was really fun at night, dropping a lit flare down below your feet on a steel cable lanyard and watching all the lit-up rides in the carnival section. Demos were a lot easier when we all had 7-cell F-111 canopies and knew how to shoot accuracy. I wouldn't want to do those demos on my Stiletto. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
matthewcline 0 #19 October 27, 2011 QuoteWhen I see the blimp shot of the stadium, I always think about what it would be like to jump into one. I think I have my swoop all figured out, but I know it would be a lot different than I expect. Who has done a stadium jump? I have over 700 Demo's, 200+ into Stadiums, in my experience: Demo Jumps require the right "Tool" for the job. There are maybe 10 people in the world who could safely swoop a stadium, most wear "factory colors" in the Pro ranks. A stadium is a monster compared top any other Demo. Not only the QB Cam as previously mentioned, but the bands, players, grounds crew, film crews, cables for the nets, goal posts, dramatic wind changes and then of course the HOPE that the TV or Stadium folks don't change the time line and you have to abort while on final. I have seen Swooper's do stadium demo's, but they use a more traditional type canopy because they used the right tool for the job. When you do jump a stadium, leave the super swoop canopy at the DZ and use a more traditional canopy (that you practiced with a lot, and then some more!) you will be much happier that you did. MattAn Instructors first concern is student safety. So, start being safe, first!!! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
normiss 622 #20 October 27, 2011 This. Night stadium jumps are amazing. Beautiful. Adrenaline pumping. No outs - the whole city looks dangerous. The roar of the crowd as you get lower. The rush coming into the stadium. Nailing the target. Your breathing. I love the challenge! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tkhayes 126 #21 October 27, 2011 it's as scary as fuck. I did two jumps into the homecoming game in Miami's Orange Bowl - I almost shit myself..... would I do it again? Hell yeah.... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mjosparky 3 #22 October 27, 2011 matthewcline QuoteDemo Jumps require the right "Tool" for the job. JohnMitchell QuoteDemos were a lot easier when we all had 7-cell F-111 canopies and knew how to shoot accuracy. You mean something like this? Sparky http://i397.photobucket.com/albums/pp55/mjosparky/Skydiving/Cable0004-2.jpgMy idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
airtwardo 6 #23 October 27, 2011 Quote matthewcline Quote Demo Jumps require the right "Tool" for the job. JohnMitchell Quote Demos were a lot easier when we all had 7-cell F-111 canopies and knew how to shoot accuracy. You mean something like this? Sparky http://i397.photobucket.com/albums/pp55/mjosparky/Skydiving/Cable0004-2.jpg Like I always say...http://www.dropzone.com/photos/Detailed/Personal/St_Louis_Baseball_105844.html ~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Krip 2 #24 October 27, 2011 Quote They can really raise the pucker factor. Use the right gear and like Twardo said, run the bowl coming in. They can look really small from the air. Scary but fun. Sparky http://i397.photobucket.com/albums/pp55/mjosparky/Skydiving/rosebowl.jpg Hi Mr Sparky Thats a greattttt pic.Who took it? R.One Jump Wonder Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mjosparky 3 #25 October 28, 2011 Quote Quote They can really raise the pucker factor. Use the right gear and like Twardo said, run the bowl coming in. They can look really small from the air. Scary but fun. Sparky http://i397.photobucket.com/albums/pp55/mjosparky/Skydiving/rosebowl.jpg Hi Mr Sparky Thats a greattttt pic.Who took it? R. An old friend, Dave Keith. SparkyMy idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
