Speed Diving

[virgin-burner 1]

Quote

Quote

world championships were held not too long ago in switzerland; marco wiederkehr did 511.63 kmh in his 2nd round!!!

I think he's an instructor in Kappelen, maybe I'll do some AFF jumps with him!

isnt he austrian!? dont know where i got this from, but hey, have fun! and send some congratulations!

“Some may never live, but the crazy never die.”
-Hunter S. Thompson
"No. Try not. Do... or do not. There is no try."
-Yoda

[lilchief 0]

with my altitrack in my former swoop pants i reached 486Km/h or 303mph. I didn't have two protracks to attach on the laterals.

I did check speedskydiving.net and emailed some nearby DZ to see if there was any competiton, but they were all far away. Would have been fun to try it out with the the fast fallers and see how fast i really fell

"Once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been and there you long to return." - Da Vinci
www.lilchief.no

[virgin-burner 1]

jesus, get into competition then! thats good!!!

“Some may never live, but the crazy never die.”
-Hunter S. Thompson
"No. Try not. Do... or do not. There is no try."
-Yoda

[MrDree 0]

Quote

Quote

Quote

world championships were held not too long ago in switzerland; marco wiederkehr did 511.63 kmh in his 2nd round!!!

I think he's an instructor in Kappelen, maybe I'll do some AFF jumps with him!

isnt he austrian!? dont know where i got this from, but hey, have fun! and send some congratulations!

I think he's from Liechtenstein!


@Lilchief: USA national record is 468km/h... Give it a try!

"One day, your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it's worth watching."

Dudeist Skydiver #101

[virgin-burner 1]

so, you hung out at the dz this weekend!?

“Some may never live, but the crazy never die.”
-Hunter S. Thompson
"No. Try not. Do... or do not. There is no try."
-Yoda

[MrDree 0]

Nah, I didn't, it was raining on Saturday, and on Sunday I was too tired to even leave my apartment...

"One day, your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it's worth watching."

Dudeist Skydiver #101

[Staso 0]

Quote

@Lilchief: USA national record is 468km/h... Give it a try!

hey! leave my record alone !!

the numbers that are used for competition are not the maximum speed achieved,
it's an average over vertical kilometer. the max speed is not very reliable.
if you have your pro-track in your helmet it's even less reliable - it's easy to have huge
spikes up and down by moving your head while in the track right off the speed
dive. i've seen speeds as low as 20-30 mph on my in my track right off the dive.

for competition we have 2 pro-tracks on both side of the rig and if the average
between them is more then 30km/h (?) then the jump is disqualified.

--
it's not about defying gravity; it's how hard you can abuse it. speed skydiving it is ...
Speed Skydiving Forum

[MrDree 0]

Oops, sorry!


Thanks for the information, I was wondering how the speed was measured/calculated.






Oh and by the way... well done!

"One day, your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it's worth watching."

Dudeist Skydiver #101

[Staso 0]

thanks!

it's a fun discipline, but without competition it gets a little bit boring. unfortunately it's not very common here in the states and travelling to Europe gets pricey!

i was fortunate enough to get a fully paid trip to Morocco for one of the world meets - it was all paid by Moroccan dept of tourism. that was pretty sweet :) but Marco took the gold there as well - he's a great guy and awesome competitor and he's really-really fast :)

--
it's not about defying gravity; it's how hard you can abuse it. speed skydiving it is ...
Speed Skydiving Forum

[MrDree 0]

It's always nice to be paid to do what you love!
I also wondered, what are the exit and opening altitudes for this type of jump? And how much time (or vertical distance) does it takes to return from the maximum speed position to a normal flat position?

"One day, your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it's worth watching."

Dudeist Skydiver #101

[Staso 0]

Quote

It's always nice to be paid to do what you love!
I also wondered, what are the exit and opening altitudes for this type of jump? And how much time (or vertical distance) does it takes to return from the maximum speed position to a normal flat position?

exit and pull altitudes are the same. exists are actually have to be between 13 and 14k otherwise jump doesn't count. for slowing down, i used to go into track at 5k and dump around 2.5. so it takes about 8-10 seconds to slow down

--
it's not about defying gravity; it's how hard you can abuse it. speed skydiving it is ...
Speed Skydiving Forum

[MrDree 0]

Ok, so basically it's just a 'normal' jump, in normal conditions, without weights and with standard gear (although i guess you use a special container to avoid premature deployment, right?). And in those normal conditions, you almost reach Mach 0.5...


And thanks again for taking the time to answer all my newbie questions!

"One day, your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it's worth watching."

Dudeist Skydiver #101

[Staso 0]

there is nothing real special about containers - they just have to be in good shape and be freefly friendly. the only modification i had on mine was a velcro sewn to pilot chute handle and matching piece on the bottom of the container. i also had a custom d-ring cutaway handle, but that was more as a personal preference.

another thing that was a bit off - speed skydivers always go first. this kinda breaks the general order rule, but it's a lot safer this way. during speed diver one might wonder a lot horizontally being in a very steep but not vertical dive. going after another group would be dangerous. fortunately you have about 10 seconds to slow down and you can cover a lot of ground in a track coming out of the 300 mph dive.

i did about 600-700 speed jumps at my dz always going first and i was never even remotely close to anyone under 3k. i would usually open, turn where i need to go, do my sliders, pump my brakes and then find the next group still in free fall and away from me.

it's a fun discipline and can be done safely.

--
it's not about defying gravity; it's how hard you can abuse it. speed skydiving it is ...
Speed Skydiving Forum

[JohnRich 4]

Quote

another thing that was a bit off - speed skydivers always go first. this kinda breaks the general order rule, but it's a lot safer this way. during speed diver one might wonder a lot horizontally being in a very steep but not vertical dive. going after another group would be dangerous.

I'm having a little trouble with this statement. If you can wander in your dive, then what keeps you from wandering forward into the airspace below the group that exited behind you?

I've been having trouble with this very thing. I exit after the RW and free-flyers, but before the tandems. And a couple of times I've ended up opening too close to the group that exited before me.

I'm wondering if I'm diving past the point of being vertical, so that I'm actually back-tracking a bit. Theoretically, the other groups should be getting more freefall drift and moving away from me. But several times, that hasn't worked out right somehow.

But the sure way to eliminate this problem, is to turn perpendicular to the line of flight as you start to dive, so that any wandering either forward or backward, does not take you into other groups up or down the line of flight.

[Staso 0]

Quote

Quote

another thing that was a bit off - speed skydivers always go first. this kinda breaks the general order rule, but it's a lot safer this way. during speed diver one might wonder a lot horizontally being in a very steep but not vertical dive. going after another group would be dangerous.

I'm having a little trouble with this statement. If you can wander in your dive, then what keeps you from wandering forward into the airspace below the group that exited behind you?

I've been having trouble with this very thing. I exit after the RW and free-flyers, but before the tandems. And a couple of times I've ended up opening too close to the group that exited before me.

I'm wondering if I'm diving past the point of being vertical, so that I'm actually back-tracking a bit. Theoretically, the other groups should be getting more freefall drift and moving away from me. But several times, that hasn't worked out right somehow.

But the sure way to eliminate this problem, is to turn perpendicular to the line of flight as you start to dive, so that any wandering either forward or backward, does not take you into other groups up or down the line of flight.

i understand your concern and it's a legit concern, however i think it's well addressed. the active phase of the speed dive is less then 40 second. the second group is usually a big RW group. they take a lot of time at the door. overall it gives you about 30 seconds extra time. tracking 10 seconds coming out of the 250+ mph dive gives you a lot of distance. i always spend these seconds tracking down the wind line and always end up a bit short and far away from the next group. again during this several years i didn't even come close on any of my jumps. it gets trickier when there are several speed divers and usually a separate pass required for that.

turning 90 degrees on exit will not work. if you body is off a tiny bit you will turn.

--
it's not about defying gravity; it's how hard you can abuse it. speed skydiving it is ...
Speed Skydiving Forum

[JohnRich 4]

Quote

the second group is usually a big RW group. they take a lot of time at the door. overall it gives you about 30 seconds extra time

I don't think most drop zones will permit that much time between a speed jumper exiting first and the next group out the door. And that could well leave you a short spot from which you can't get back to the airport.

Quote

turning 90 degrees on exit will not work. if you body is off a tiny bit you will turn.

Mine doesn't turn, because I'm looking at the ground for reference, and controlling myself so that I stay straight.

[maxmadmax 8]

Greetings,

The one thing that holds me back from hitting the speed circut is the "gate".

I am hauling ass in a major way....and I want plenty of time to slow down.

Steer with a couple of fingers and fight the wobble.
Got wobble? It's all over for me.

I don't swoop it out rather I bust it flat and feel my feet touch the back of my head.

It's a rather sudden de-acceleration and very invigorating.

Maybe just maybe one day I'll may try the ISST but for now it's just top speed.

Best of Luck Stan...you fast falling rascal.

Ciao,
Mad Max

Don't go away mad....just go away!

[Staso 0]

Quote

I don't think most drop zones will permit that much time between a speed jumper exiting first and the next group out the door. And that could well leave you a short spot from which you can't get back to the airport.

There is no need for "extra" time - the next group is the biggest RW group on the load - and they take forever at the door. i go right on the cut, so i don't slow them down at all and still have enough time before they exit. going short is not a problem for me either - with luxury of 10 seconds of super fast track i can get back anywhere i want. before you say that i would go back towards the next group, i would say that i go at the angle and my dz landing area topography allows that i go back where i can land safely and still not get close to the next group.

now, if we need to argue if having a speed skydiver on the load adds additional risk, i would agree with you. but i think it's manageable risk and it's a low risk. but putting speed skydiver somewhere else in the order lineup rather then first would add to that risk significantly.

if you think about freeflyers, they also add risk to RW flyers. being faster fallers they have potential to fly into RW group airspace altitude wise. the risk is mitigated by putting them after RW groups. so having that additional discipline (freeflying) adds to the overall risk as opposed to having all people do RW. but we accept the discipline and manage that risk for the sake of growing number of disciplines in skydiving.

the same goes for speed skydiving. yes, it's dangerous, yes it complicates the exit order. but the way we do it i believe we minimize the potential risk the best we can. how long did it take to accept that free flyers go after RW? it was odd for a while and many DZ were stuck with the freeflyers going first for the longest time and some still do it! now it's common practice that they go after RW.

you have a lot more years in skydiving and a lot more jumps then i do and i respect that. but i spent last 6 or 7 years doing speed dive on every load i was. comparing these jumps with one or two "other" jumps i did per season i can tell you that canopy flying wise being first out and doing what i do was the safest combination. on some occasions i would be landing and seeing 2nd group break off. i never had that much separation on other jumps.

Quote

Quote

turning 90 degrees on exit will not work. if you body is off a tiny bit you will turn.

Mine doesn't turn, because I'm looking at the ground for reference, and controlling myself so that I stay straight.

well, trust me i can be very stable in my dive. but that's not the point. there is a saying that you might cringe at - "if everything is under control, you're not going fast enough". the purpose of speed skydiving is not being stable and is not being on heading it's flying on the edge of your stability to achieve the fastest speed. if you're stable, you're falling too slow. you have to push it to the limit, otherwise there is no reason for it. while pushing hard you might accidentally turn 90 degrees, and by turning back on heading you would apply some control against the air stream around you and lose the precious speed.

please don't take it personally, in no way it's targeted at you. i just want to show that speed skydiving can be done safely without additional risk to others. some people question that and question the whole discipline. i had way too many questions about why do i do speed skydiving, the say it seems so boring. for me it's always the rush and intensity of the freefall at that speed. it's like a drug :) and i guess it's like explaining to non-skydiving people why we skydive :)

--
it's not about defying gravity; it's how hard you can abuse it. speed skydiving it is ...
Speed Skydiving Forum

[Staso 0]

Quote

I am hauling ass in a major way....and I want plenty of time to slow down.

it's really easy to kill the speed. i slam it from full dive transitioning into a full track. take a look at the attachment. in 10 seconds i went from 294 mph at 5k to 83 mph at 3k. you can see how straight the braking part is. building speed up take forever, slowing down is a different story. lots of speeders are big dudes. and they fly tight vinyl suits and still manage to slow down.

Quote

Best of Luck Stan...you fast falling rascal.

Ciao,
Mad Max

well, my fast days are over :( as of this july i retired form skydiving at the jump 1001. i jumped for competition and it fueled my desire to jump. with majority all the meets taking place in europe it gets real expensive to travel and compete. i organized several competitions in the states but the discipline never took off. so i somewhat lost it ... but i'm moving on to my next adventure - climbing North Col of Mount Everest in may next year with summit climb expedition (summitclimb.com). i'm still going for the altitude, except i'm doing it hard way :)

by the way, if there is any interest in that expedition - let me know ! :)

--
it's not about defying gravity; it's how hard you can abuse it. speed skydiving it is ...
Speed Skydiving Forum

[JohnRich 4]

Quote

there is a saying that you might cringe at - "if everything is under control, you're not going fast enough". the purpose of speed skydiving is not being stable and is not being on heading it's flying on the edge of your stability to achieve the fastest speed. if you're stable, you're falling too slow.

I understand this completely. At the upper limit like that, there is a fine line between control and speed. If you hang out more hand control to stay smooth, you create drag which reduces speed. If you tuck your hands behind your back, you reduce drag and increase speed, but lose control. It's tough to find just the right balance to maximize speed, while still retaining control.