Thoughts before "going in"

[VEGAS_MIKE 0]

i think you mite survive with a wing suite

45 mph impact on water, you can live through that.

[jrcolo 0]

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i think you mite survive with a wing suite

45 mph impact on water, you can live through that.

Think about cliff jumpers? Some are hitting the water at 80 mph headfirst. I think your chances would be pretty good pending on body position at impact?

[VEGAS_MIKE 0]

i would think you may get some ground effect as well maybe 40 mph at impact. you would be moving forward at a high rate of speed. you mite just skip across the water like a flat stone in a pond.

if the math worked out someone my actualy try this hahah, what is your forward speed in a wing suite?

[LuckyMcSwervy 0]

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i think you mite survive with a wing suite

45 mph impact on water, you can live through that.

Always be kinder than you feel.

[UDSkyJunkie 0]

I've only had one jump that I truly thought I might not make it... very stupid self-induced super-tight landing area (think 50 x 50 feet) surrounded on all sides by large obstacles. Very high winds, misjudged it badly, and somehow toggle-whipped myself to saftey. anyway, my thought process was something like this:

"oh shit, I'm gonna die. so this is what it's like to die in a hook turn." and then a loud "NO! never give up, there's always a chance, just keep at it, keep at it, keep at it..." Everything focused down to a razor point and I made it happen... I still don't know how.

But all of that happened in like 2 seconds. With a full minute, and truly no way out, who knows.

"Some people follow their dreams, others hunt them down and beat them mercilessly into submission."

[OlympiaStoica 0]

This whole thread makes for an interesting read. I have nothing humorous and insightful to add. I just hope that if I find myself in that possition, I won't spend the last 10 - 15 seconds of my life being scared ... I wish for the calm those with close calls speak of ...

O

[skyjumpenfool 2]

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....... I won't spend the last 10 - 15 seconds of my life being scared ... I wish for the calm those with close calls speak of ...

Nothing calm about it!! It's the sheer terror that spins our minds into slow motion mode. It's like time slows down and we are able to focus on the problem at hand. It's hard to explain, but it's like every sense becomes more acute.

What's weird is you won't recognize what I'm talking about until after the event is over. Looking back and reflecting, you’ll understand.

And........... I hope none of you reading this will ever experience it. Be Safe!

Birdshit & Fools Productions

"Son, only two things fall from the sky."

[pontiacgtp00 0]

If I got into this situation, say falling out of my rig for example. I'd be very afraid and probably thinking something along the lines of "Well this is it, into the great unknown! Hope it doesn't hurt." Then maybe say a short prayer.


Then splat.

[Bolas 5]

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....... I won't spend the last 10 - 15 seconds of my life being scared ... I wish for the calm those with close calls speak of ...

Nothing calm about it!! It's the sheer terror that spins our minds into slow motion mode. It's like time slows down and we are able to focus on the problem at hand. It's hard to explain, but it's like every sense becomes more acute.

What's weird is you won't recognize what I'm talking about until after the event is over. Looking back and reflecting, you’ll understand.

And........... I hope none of you reading this will ever experience it. Be Safe!

Totally agree...

Once you get on the ground (hopefully safely) you then realize how fast you're breathing and that you're heart is racing.

May want to check to see if the underwear is still clean too.

Stupidity if left untreated is self-correcting
If ya can't be good, look good, if that fails, make 'em laugh.

[dks13827 2]

RW with another passenger ?? LMFAO !!!! thanks.

[dks13827 2]

and ask about Tom Phillips, Casa Grande 1974. he hit highway 93 !!!!!!!!!

[skypuppy 1]

Nothing calm about it!! It's the sheer terror that spins our minds into slow motion mode.
__________________________________________________

Well, it wasn't with me.

I think the ones feeling sheer terror are the ones that freeze and go in without pulling all the handles. I'd pulled mine, and I was just a bit disappointed....

If some old guy can do it then obviously it can't be very extreme. Otherwise he'd already be dead.
Bruce McConkey 'I thought we were gonna die, and I couldn't think of anyone

[humanflite 0]

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Well, it wasn't with me.

...pulling all the handles. I'd pulled mine, and I was just a bit disappointed....

lol - nice summary

[JohanW 0]

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I would think you may get some ground effect as well maybe 40 mph at impact. you would be moving forward at a high rate of speed. you might just skip across the water like a flat stone in a pond.

if the math worked out someone may actually try this hahah, what is your forward speed in a wing suite?

Ground effect starts at a height of twice your wingspan, I believe. Maybe 3 meters. I doubt you're going to feel the effect in the 1/7 second you have between ground effect and ground.

Forward speed, at a reasonable glide ratio of 2:1, would be 90 mph.

In a flare, I could get descent rate down to 35, maybe 30 mph. There have been people (with bigger suits and more experience) getting it under 10 mph, and one claims he had it climbing momentarily. Difficult to time the flare though.

I am not a volunteer.

Johan.
I am. I think.

[Nutz 0]

Man, I have been loving this thread. There have been some good answers from rw with other passengers to being "just a bit disappionted" that nothing worked.

"Don't! Get! Eliminated!"

[NealFitz 0]

or hows about of there are few of us on the aircraft and all do RW together- and get the world record for the most points turned in freefall I doubt sticking the two fingers up at a passenger as they fell to straighten their legs would help

Dudeist Skydiver #170
You do not need a parachute to skydive, you only need one to skydive again

[Zarcero 0]

Back in the mid 70's. I was on the parachute team at the US Military Academy at West Point. We were preparing for a meet and jumping at the school itself instead of at our normal drop zone at Lake Frederick. The helicopter (UH-1) would pick us up at one of our athletic fields right next to the Hudson River. I opened with a malfunction and then cut away. I pull the ripcord on the (front mounted) reserve and nothing comes out, so I pull the flap and punch the reserve on the side. The reserve deploys, a 26' conical. I now have some decision making to do. West Point sits on a bluff and I know I will never make it to the plain so... (1) I can go in the freezing Hudson River water and try and swim to shore, (2) head for the cliff and try to land on the strip of land between the cliff and the river. By the way there are power lines and railroad tracks on that strip of land, or (3) just head for the cliff, slam against it and fall to the ground after the canopy collapses and hope I only break a leg or two.

I took option three. I am heading towards the cliff, maybe I will be able to maneuver this reserve to that small strip of land. I drop below the bluff and I have instant maneuverability. There is like zero wind below the plain and the reserve just does what I want it to do. I land between the cliff and the railroad tracks and power lines. A train rushes by shortly after the landing. Yikes! You should have seen the looks I got from people on that train.

As I look out on the river, my pilot and crew chief are trying to fish out my main from the river. The crew chief is hanging off of the skid of the Huey and grabs the main (a Strato Cloud). The pilot didn't see the cut-away and so thought I was still under the canopy. The military police and an ambulance were rushed to the shore also thinking I was under the canopy as the pilot called it in. The ground crew saw the cutaway but had assumed I landed in the river anyways. I asked the first responders what the big deal was when they got there. They just looked at me.

P.S. It also happened to be my birthday.

[Auryn 0]

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I used to have similar thoughts begin bored while flying commercial. "What would I do if the plane had a massive structural failure and I found myself outside the plane?"

My thoughts were like this:

1. At normal cruise altitude, I assume I would freeze or pass out pretty quickly. Would I regain consciousness at 10-5k or so?
2. At a lower alt, like 15-20k MSL, I would be left with plenty of time to contemplate my fate, and skydiving would give me a huge advantage compared to the rest of the passengers now hurtling toward the ground. I could try to do some RW with one of them, or just enjoy the last moments of my life. I might be screaming in, but not kicking.
3. I think Springsteen's scream/yell at the end of "State Trooper" would be a good one to emulate.

It's a fun thought, but the results from the recent air france crash indicate that you'd be instantaneously fatally injured by the airstream upon being thrown from the A/C at cruise speed.

[Auryn 0]

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>At normal cruise altitude, I assume I would freeze or pass out pretty quickly.

I doubt it. I've jumped from 30K with just a jumpsuit and shorts and was OK - and I've jumped from 26K with no bailout O2. The temperature at 30K is around -40F average, and that's definitely doable for a minute or so without freezing solid.

At 35K, assuming the plane disintegrated instantly, you'd have around 30 seconds of consciousness, and you might make it to breathable air in that time (considering how much faster you'd be falling at those altitudes.)

There is a big difference between getting out of a jump plane at jump-run speed and an airliner at cruise speed. The latter would most likely be fatal as the recent air france crash has shown.

[skydiverbry 0]

Mine was simple...
"SHIT....SHIT....SHIT....THIS IS GONNA HUR..........

--------------------------------------------------
Growing old is mandatory.Growing up is optional!!

D.S.#13(Dudeist Skdiver)

[hackish 8]

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There is a big difference between getting out of a jump plane at jump-run speed and an airliner at cruise speed. The latter would most likely be fatal as the recent air france crash has shown.

I got out at 160-180kts once and it was brisk. I think normal cruise speed on an airliner is somewhere around 600-800kts. That's a number of times faster - no way you could do that with your normal exit position. The only thing I can think of is to cannonball out and stay like that for 10-15 seconds.

I hope the thieves who took my car & rig decide it would be cool to jump from a building and "parachute to the ground". I wonder what they'd think of as they're going in?

-Michael

[steveorino 7]

I didn't have 50-60 seconds. I had a double malfunction and I distinctly remember thinking, "I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die!"

I did as I was trained and as I trained my students. Fight it all the way down. "Keep pulling handles until your goggles fill with blood" Around 1000 feet I cleared a partial reserve, and survived with a broken foot. I was jumping again in two weeks.

steveOrino

[pchapman 261]

Even if an airliner is going 550 kts, the indicated airspeed (ie, the wind pressure) might only be, I dunno, 250 kts due to the low air density at altitude. Still it would be a bit of a "brick wall" to hit, even without contacting any wreckage.

[beowulf 1]

I have been pretty lucky so far. No major incidents while skydiving. But I have been in a couple of major car accidents. The last one I remember thinking oh shit this is going hurt a lot and I am going to die a very slow and painful death. The next thing that went through my mind was that I had a lot more things to do then just die.
I was mostly right. It was very painful and slow recovery. I was just wrong about the dieing part. Although it was very close.

[livendive 8]

Having been "sure" on one jump that I was gonna die, my emotions were embarassment & regret...feeling stupid and sorry I'd be putting my family through this. I've found I have a similar response in non-skydiving situations too, when I became confident my actions were about to cause my death.

Last year I was thinking one jump wasn't going to end well (reserve problems...though death wasn't ensured, it seemed probable) and my thoughts were of the "might as well keep myself busy" variety as I went back to working the problem. I'm glad I did.

Blues,
Dave

"I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!"
(drink Mountain Dew)