Freefall Fruit

[Tuna-Salad 0]

So it was suggested to a friend of mine that i try and peel and orange in freefall. Anyone tried this? Thoughts?

Millions of my potential children died on your daughters' face last night.

[lost_n_confuzd 0]

Is that to help with the mantis position or something? While I'm here, what is the mantis position used for as opposed to the regular belly position? Is it just an "upgrade" to the boxman?

http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?do=post_view_flat;post=3646078;page=1;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;mh=25;

[RedSyphon 0]

In my (limited) experience the mantis position serves well as a transitional position when taking grips, etc.

_________________________
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[GaryRay 0]

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Is that to help with the mantis position or something? While I'm here, what is the mantis position used for as opposed to the regular belly position? Is it just an "upgrade" to the boxman?

http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?do=post_view_flat;post=3646078;page=1;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;mh=25;

several reasons for it, it gets your center of gravity higher so that you can see everyone in your formation, also alows for faster turns, needs a little more balancing but just like everything else on your belly, its easy to learn :).

JewBag.
www.jewbag.wordpress.com

[Tuna-Salad 0]

I seemed to fall faster when trying the mantis position. Peeling the orange wasn't to practice anything.. just to see if I could do it without dropping it.. or get it done before it was time to pitch.

Millions of my potential children died on your daughters' face last night.

[Andy9o8 0]

You are talking about spotting the jump to assure it's over a wide-open field, or water, or something like that, aren't you? I'd think an orange at its terminal velocity, with the mass from its water packed into a fairly small bulk, and being fairly streamlined, would hit with some force should you accidentally drop it.

[labrys 0]

Don't be such a drama queen. It's only an orange. It will reach terminal velocity in a very short time and it will not become a North Korean nuclear missile if it's dropped in freefall.

There isn't much difference between the impact of said fruit dropped from the roof of a 2 story house vs dropped from 14000 feet.

Owned by Remi #?

[Andy9o8 0]

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Don't be such a drama queen.

Ah, you got me figured out.

http://www.hollow-hill.com/sabina/images/authentic-drama-queen.jpg

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It's only an orange. It will reach terminal velocity in a very short time and it will not become a North Korean nuclear missile if it's dropped in freefall.

There isn't much difference between the impact of said fruit dropped from the roof of a 2 story house vs dropped from 14000 feet.

I don't think that's the case, and I think my point is reasonable. But, I'm no engineer. Show me a scientific or engineering analysis, and then let's discuss it further.

[labrys 0]

That's an awesome pic.

A penny dropped from the Empire State Building has roughly the same mass as an unladen European swallow.

An orange dropped in freefall has roughly the same mass / impact effect as an African swallow carrying a ripe coconut .

I hope that's a sufficient technical analysis.

Owned by Remi #?

[mdrejhon 8]

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An orange dropped in freefall has roughly the same mass / impact effect as an African swallow carrying a ripe coconut . I hope that's a sufficient technical analysis.

I think that it varies on the orange. I've held very lightweight, airy, bubbly oranges that would very likely fall much slower than pennies.

Likewise, the compact, dense oranges would probably fall more than twice as fast.

There are so many varieties of oranges and orange-like fruits, with different densities due to membranes and air bubbles.

The highly buoyant, water-floating, pulpy ones that don't taste juicy, are the lightweight ones.

Still will make a good juicy splat, though.

[labrys 0]

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There are so many varieties of oranges and orange-like fruits, with different densities due to membranes and air bubbles.

Edit to add that I stand humbly corrected:

You are correct, sir. Vorpal citrus fruits might well bore a hole through the planet if dropped from high altitudes.

Second edit:

Considering the possible effects of dropping a really dense orange on the planet makes one uber aware just how vulnerable we are to the possibility that some really anti-social skydiver might decide to drop a pomegranate over a populated area.

Owned by Remi #?

[Andy9o8 0]

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An orange dropped in freefall has roughly the same mass / impact effect as an African swallow carrying a ripe coconut .

Male or female swallow? Ghanaian or Nubian? Husked coconut or un-husked?
If you can't control for variables, it's just junk science.

Seriously, I still think you underestimate the speed and impact force of an orange, especially an un-peeled one, hitting someone's head at its terminal velocity. But maybe I'm insane. Sometimes I do vant to be alone. Anyhow, I invite any of the engineering types out there to enlighten us with an analysis.

Jumping with a skyball can be fun. But one should always take reasonable precautions to do it safely. Gosh, that does sound dramatic.

[labrys 0]

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Jumping with a skyball can be fun. But one should always take reasonable precautions to do it safely.

Joking aside, an orange is NOT a skyball. A skyball is filled with weight such that it has enough mass to fall as fast as a human. There's a HUGE difference between the mass of a skyball and that of an orange.

I'd never claim that dropping a skyball in freefall was safe.

Owned by Remi #?

[amstalder 0]

I really hope I dont ever get smacked in the head with an orange dropped from whatever thousand feet. I cant imagine itd feel good, lightweight bubbly version or not

[lost_n_confuzd 0]

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***
Joking aside, an orange is NOT a skyball.

Your point is ...pointless. An orange, weighing more and traveling faster than a baseball, will do some damage
and possibly kill someone. Yeah, it may be a one-in-a-million shot, but that's for you to decide, not me.

You may have some problems if you were to ever fail to catch your orange

Maybe they'll understand, I know I wouldn't.

[pirana 0]

Nothing like some good real data. Who is going to tape an Alti-Track to an orange and get some?

" . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

[fastphil 0]

I've done orange tosses in freefall; they fall about the same speed as a jumper so can be tossed without the usual "arch" of land based tossing. The earth's population was much less back then so there was little chance of hitting someone on the ground...

[Andy9o8 0]

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I've done orange tosses in freefall; they fall about the same speed as a jumper

Ah. Some hard data. Thanks.

[kimemerson 7]

Look, money where your mouth is stud. Money where your mouth is. Anyone who doubts the orange will do any harm, blows it all off as drama queening, simply step up to the plate and let the rest of us drop said orange from said heights on your head. Hard scientific data right there when you need it. Don't forget the video.

[fastphil 0]

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I've done orange tosses in freefall; they fall about the same speed as a jumper

Ah. Some hard data. Thanks.

They're kinda soft actually, and quite cool to toss at your freefalling buddies because of the "weightless" conditions...

[Andy9o8 0]

Which brings us to more data:

Tensile strength of different varieties of oranges

This is fun. To the extent engineering is fun. Which it isn't.

[kallend 1,623]

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This is fun. To the extent engineering is fun. Which it isn't.

Really? It sure beats law.

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[skron 0]

Engineer I'm not, but I do try to be a responsible jumper. Anytime you take an object out of an airplane you should consider using a spot over an open area in case you were to lose it. I believe it could kill someone if it were to hit them on the head, but even if it only knocked them out or dented a car or hangar, do you want to be responsible for that damage?? Skydiving gets enough bad press, do us all a favor and air on the side of caution to avoid more.

Well behaved women don't often make history.

[kallend 1,623]

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Don't be such a drama queen. It's only an orange. It will reach terminal velocity in a very short time and it will not become a North Korean nuclear missile if it's dropped in freefall.

There isn't much difference between the impact of said fruit dropped from the roof of a 2 story house vs dropped from 14000 feet.

Yes there is.

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[hackish 8]

I think we should call Mythbusters. Although they probably won't do a lot of science I could see them dropping some things out of an aircraft and possibly blowing something up as well!

-Michael