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Ballon Drop Mis-fortune @ the Byron Boogie

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I had the opportunity to view a water balloon dropped from 500ft put a mellon size hole all the way through the top and bottom skin of a young ladies once air worthy canopy. From one PD Demo reps opinion on the damage " the cost to repair will out way the cost of a new canopy". The young lady was standing 25ft. from the target. I'd advice in the future to other who might take part in this fun little activity stand where you are once on the ground and view the balloon drops so you could take evasive maneuvers if needed.

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dropped from 500ft put a mellon size hole all the way through the top and bottom skin of a young ladies once air worthy canopy



I wonder what it would have done to the young ladies skull had it hit her.
I advise in the future that the organizers of such an event take better percautions or someones gonna get hurt.
'In an insane society a sane person seems insane.' Mr. Spock

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Quote__________________The young lady was standing 25ft. from the target. I'd advice in the future to other who might take part in this fun little activity stand where you are once on the ground and view the balloon drops so you could take evasive maneuvers if needed.
Where was her canopy,lying on the ground? What was she doing anywhere near the vicinity and why were they dropping objects over a congested area? The people doing the drops/allowing the drops should have cleared the area.
This is a serious issue,somebody could have been seriously injured or killed...

ChileRelleno-Rodriguez Bro#414
Hellfish#511,MuffBro#3532,AnvilBro#9, D24868

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Hi everyone. I'm actually the person that got hit by the water balloon and just for the record:
I DID get hit by the balloon and it didn't hurt at all
I had just landed and was trying to get my gear and get out of the way as fast as I could. It was totally my fault for landing so close to the target so there really isn't anyone to blame but myself.
My canopy was over my shoulder at the time which is probably why it did so much damage. The PD rep that was there was nice enough to let me demo a Specter the next day (thank you again!!)
PD just got back to me and told me it would be around $165 for a whole new cell replacement so it's not as bad as everyone thinks.
;)

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Saw a video of some guys takin "Jacko" for his first,and last jump.The video was friggin hilarious as far as the pre flight training and the ride to altitude.They messed around with "Jacko"in freefall but eventually they lost him.It was out over the desert so I dont imagine anyone on the ground could get hurt but the fact they lost "Jacko"kind of made me wonder if the whole thing was safe at all.
Does "no harm,no foul"apply here ?
How easy is it to lose something like a pumpkin in freefall?
dropdeded
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The Dude Abides.
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scdean,
Did the person that was in control of the ballon say they will pay for the repair on your canopy? I understand that you think that it is your fault, BUT, in the end, they are the ones that should be looking out for skydivers that are in final to the area that the ballons are to be dropped in. I understand that the sky diver is responsible for him/herself as far as safety is concerned, but should that really apply in the case of purposefully tossed missiles from 500 feet? I might be blowing smoke, but if this was my rig, I personally would like to have a chat with the person(s) involed in the damage to my rig. That would really piss me off.
Tear canopy on fence - me, tear canopy on tree - me, tear canopy by landing too close to another skydiver on final - me, trash canopy by the falling of an object that was thrown from above, which has the optimum vantage point over all those involved - THEM. Am I off base here?

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How easy is it to lose something like a pumpkin in freefall



That's why we took the spot out over cow pastures when I did my pumpkin jump 2 years ago. We were worried I might have it rip off of my head and take out something on the ground...

(see attatched)

At the same DZ we did flour bombs for a competition once, we moved them way away from anything that could get hurt by little sacks of flour falling from 1000 ft (dropped under canopy).
--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

2-small.jpg

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Take a 1lb bag of flour out with you and tear the top off in freefall,looks cool from the ground just doesn't last as long as smoke. careful though,we had one guy dump it in his face,frigging hilarious video!

ChileRelleno-Rodriguez Bro#414
Hellfish#511,MuffBro#3532,AnvilBro#9, D24868

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How easy is it to lose something like a pumpkin in freefall



That's why we took the spot out over cow pastures when I did my pumpkin jump 2 years ago. We were worried I might have it rip off of my head and take out something on the ground...

(see attatched)
hey I saw that one in Parachutist. Did you buy beer for that or not?
At the same DZ we did flour bombs for a competition once, we moved them way away from anything that could get hurt by little sacks of flour falling from 1000 ft (dropped under canopy).



I'm not afriad of dying, I'm afraid of never really living- Erin Engle

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Hi everyone. I'm actually the person that got hit by the water balloon and just for the record:
I DID get hit by the balloon and it didn't hurt at all
I had just landed and was trying to get my gear and get out of the way as fast as I could. It was totally my fault for landing so close to the target so there really isn't anyone to blame but myself.
My canopy was over my shoulder at the time which is probably why it did so much damage. The PD rep that was there was nice enough to let me demo a Specter the next day (thank you again!!)
PD just got back to me and told me it would be around $165 for a whole new cell replacement so it's not as bad as everyone thinks.
;)



Ok, I can understand you wanting to take responsibility for yourself on this because you are a skydiver and you have the Byron Love. But.....the FARs clearly state that you will not drop objects in a manner that can cause a hazard to persons or property on the ground. I have a feeling that if they do that event again they will change how it's done there so that this does not happen again. Water can kill. I've said it before whether you hook into it, chop above it, or drop it on someone else it can kill. Glad that it did not even injure you this time. I have seen a water balloon launched from a catapult injure someone's neck pretty good. Sounds like the canopy took the brunt of the impact instead of you. Had this hit you square in the head this might be a very different story. Make sure next year they don't have anyone landing near the target for dropping.

Chris

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Ditto.

When I was 9 at summer camp we build a water balloon launcher. The water balloons were about baseball size. There was a huge open field we used for launching. Once we realized we could cover 200-300yards in the field one of the older guys had a brilliant idea to launch towards the main lodge in the forest.

It wasn't to cool when a young girl standing outside the lodge got hit and had a huge welt on her arm.

If it was me, I'd get Them to pay for the repairs to your canopy.


Ken
"Buttons aren't toys." - Trillian
Ken

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Tear canopy on fence - me, tear canopy on tree - me, tear canopy by landing too close to another skydiver on final - me, trash canopy by the falling of an object that was thrown from above, which has the optimum vantage point over all those involved - THEM.


what he said.
'In an insane society a sane person seems insane.' Mr. Spock

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A water balloon dropped from 500ft will probably reach about 170-200km/h.



That sounds about right, depending upon the size of the water balloon, based upon my experience. I would tend towards the lower end of your estimate.

I was once on a dive where we planned a water balloon fight in freefall, done over a large empty field. When the balloons were released, they went "up" relative to the skydiver's speed (RW flying, or about 120 mph).

Everyone missed except for one guy who noticed the trend, and released his balloon by pushing it underneath me. The balloon then rose up and smacked me in the chest, and exploded into a spray of water.

The other balloons continued in freefall into the dirt field, and made quite a crater in soft dirt when they hit.

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How easy is it to lose something like a pumpkin in freefall?



In my opinion, it would be a fool who would think that he could hang onto a pumpkin during freefall, as well as hold onto it through opening shock. Any such dive should be planned such that losing the pumpkin is assumed, and planned for.

They fall really fast, and they don't fall straight down. The last one I did, a few years ago, was just a small pumpkin. We passed it around in freefall in a 4-way formation. Then we released it to see what would happen. It accelerated to about 140 mph, and we dived to chase it. It fell in a corkscrew spiral, because of the unsymetrical shape, and was very difficult to follow and keep up with.

For fun, we used to have "salad jumps", whereby everyone brings some fruit or vegetable to the drop zone; cantelopes, tomatos, heads of lettuce, potatos, whatever. Everyone jumps out together holding onto their chosen fruit or vegetable, builds a formation, and then on cue, releases the fruit into the center. Then it's a blast to observe and watch what goes up, what goes down, and what stays with you.
Make sure you do it over open, empty land, with a large margin of error for vegetable wind drift.

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it would be a fool who would think that he could hang onto a pumpkin during freefall, as well as hold onto it through opening shock



I'm a fool then, I held on to a pumpkin, dumped with it, held on to it and landed with the thing. It CAN be done (and I've got the video to prove it:)
--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

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I'm a fool then, I held on to a pumpkin, dumped with it, held on to it and landed with the thing. It CAN be done (and I've got the video to prove it:)



Dave,

I think he was talking about a whole pumpkin, not the hollow one you were wearing.B|

But that was a sweet dive, though!

Kris
Sky, Muff Bro, Rodriguez Bro, and
Bastion of Purity and Innocence!™

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