Speed star records

[Orange1 0]

I watched "Cutaway" the other night (ok, i'm still quite new at this ) .. and it got me wondering... do people really sit in the door while their rigs at the other side of the plane?

More seriously , what I was wondering is: what is the record for an 8-way speed star? and what is the largest speed star done to date, and the time? (I did a search here but couldn't seem to find it.) Any other speed star trivia welcome!

Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

[markd_nscr986 0]

FYI

Most "old" speed star comps were 10 ways

Marc SCR 6046 SCS 3004

[Orange1 0]

ok ... any info on those?

Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

[markd_nscr986 0]

I can recall being in some 16-19 second 10 ways.......but I think the guys winning were turning 10-12 second times????? or faster??????

That's from my memory and has been an awfully long time

Marc SCR 6046 SCS 3004

[RogerRamjet 0]

I was on Jim Hooper's Ten High team in 1974. We took 4th place in the annual Turkey meet (of 105 teams) with average times in the high 13's. I believe the winning team from Deland had average times in the low 12's.

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Roger "Ramjet" Clark
FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519

[markd_nscr986 0]

Thanks Roger.....

I knew there would be some Phlying Phossils that have a better memory than me

Marc SCR 6046 SCS 3004

[kallend 1,625]

The GKs did a 10-way star from a current USPA legal all behind the diagonal line no-show exit in 11.52sec this year at Nationals.

Majik Knights did it in 9.38sec in 2004

SDC-STL did it in 8.80sec in 2002

Here is a video of a 12 second star from a no-show exit.

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

[markd_nscr986 0]

Awesome

Thanks Doc!

Marc SCR 6046 SCS 3004

[jonstark 8]

When 10 ways were done out of DC3s we were allowed to hold on for exit. We were able to pull an entire 10 way out the door and make it round within 5 seconds. It was a five way round with a tail that whipped around to dock in between numbers 1 and 5 while a steering hanger climbed onto grips from underneath. I have been on sub 4 second 10 ways but we didn't do any in competition. I was on the team "Barely Legal" in 1986 that won the Nat's. The videos were awesome. It is more of an acrobatic feat than flying. The exit took less than 1.6 seconds from the first show of a body part to the last part exiting the a/c. Any slower and somebody was going to get hurt. Our best exits were in less than 1.4 seconds with the star completed under 4 sec. It rates as one of the biggest and best thrills of my life.

Team Captain, Carl Daugherty, got so good at instructing the exit that teams with very few jumps were able to pull it off with some success. We practiced a tremendous amount to get it down and had some secrets that got passed on the Carl's next team. They in turn had their own secrets which shortened their exit dramaticly and helped them win yet again.

Daryl Berger
Danny Cuoco
Danny Bachelor (RIP)
Mike Johnston
Carl Daugherty
Jane Marchant (RIP)
Mark Harrington
Jon Stark
Jack Jeffries
Jen Wright

[kallend 1,625]

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When 10 ways were done out of DC3s we were allowed to hold on for exit. We were able to pull an entire 10 way out the door and make it round within 5 seconds. It was a five way round with a tail that whipped around to dock in between numbers 1 and 5 while a steering hanger climbed onto grips from underneath. I have been on sub 4 second 10 ways but we didn't do any in competition. I was on the team "Barely Legal" in 1986 that won the Nat's. The videos were awesome. It is more of an acrobatic feat than flying. The exit took less than 1.6 seconds from the first show of a body part to the last part exiting the a/c. Any slower and somebody was going to get hurt. Our best exits were in less than 1.4 seconds with the star completed under 4 sec. It rates as one of the biggest and best thrills of my life.

Team Captain, Carl Daugherty, got so good at instructing the exit that teams with very few jumps were able to pull it off with some success. We practiced a tremendous amount to get it down and had some secrets that got passed on the Carl's next team. They in turn had their own secrets which shortened their exit dramaticly and helped them win yet again.

Daryl Berger
Danny Cuoco
Danny Bachelor (RIP)
Mike Johnston
Carl Daugherty
Jane Marchant (RIP)
Mark Harrington
Jon Stark
Jack Jeffries
Jen Wright

Right - it's not possible to compare times from the old rules with times from the current rules, since the exit is so critical.

Fun event!

...

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

[Orange1 0]

Thanks guys for the info and video link!

By current "legal" you mean unlinked exit? what elese? What does "behind the diagonal line" mean?

Sorry for the dumb questions, i'd seen the term speed star before but otherwise learnt all i know about it from the movie, which is dangerous

Skydiving: wasting fossil fuels just for fun.

[kallend 1,625]

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Thanks guys for the info and video link!

By current "legal" you mean unlinked exit? what elese? What does "behind the diagonal line" mean?

Sorry for the dumb questions, i'd seen the term speed star before but otherwise learnt all i know about it from the movie, which is dangerous

In the video you can see a diagonal line marked on the floor of the plane, running from the front of the door frame across the floor to the opposite side of the cabin. In the current USPA rules for 10-way speed the team has to be behind this line, and the clock starts when any part of any jumper crosses the line.

Here's another 10-way speed jump (not a star this time).
www.iit.edu/~iit100/tfxdingo.mpg

...

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

[RogerRamjet 0]

The rules at the time of the example I posted above (1974) where that the clock starts when the judges, looking through telemeters, saw anypart of a jumper. We made our jumps from a standard door DC-3, so exit was single file, all facing forward, no floaters.

I think the rules then were much more difficult than what I saw on the video as you can exit 10 people from that wide door much quicker than the DC-3 or Beech D18 doors used back then.

Still looks like fun to me though!

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Roger "Ramjet" Clark
FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519

[Adriandavies 0]

The Sibson DZ in the UK has recently revived our 8 way speed star event. It is now held in September at the end of our season. It is a 'no show' competition but unlike the Americans we don't have a diagonal line to stand behind however no one can have any part of their body outside the door. I think the record is just over 8 seconds set quite a long time ago by the Red Devils parachute battalion team.

[kallend 1,625]

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The rules at the time of the example I posted above (1974) where that the clock starts when the judges, looking through telemeters, saw anypart of a jumper. We made our jumps from a standard door DC-3, so exit was single file, all facing forward, no floaters.

I think the rules then were much more difficult than what I saw on the video as you can exit 10 people from that wide door much quicker than the DC-3 or Beech D18 doors used back then.

Still looks like fun to me though!

Not sure I agree about the DC3. My recollection is that although the door is indeed narrow, the fuselage is so wide you can really line up for a perfect shot at it. That is not the case with the Otter, despite its wide door, on account of the placing of the line (current USPA rules) and the narrow fuselage (usually with benches).

Regardless, I still maintain that comparing times from different eras with different rules and planes is an exercise in futility.

It is indeed a fun event.

...

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

[RogerRamjet 0]

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The rules at the time of the example I posted above (1974) where that the clock starts when the judges, looking through telemeters, saw anypart of a jumper. We made our jumps from a standard door DC-3, so exit was single file, all facing forward, no floaters.

I think the rules then were much more difficult than what I saw on the video as you can exit 10 people from that wide door much quicker than the DC-3 or Beech D18 doors used back then.

Still looks like fun to me though!

Not sure I agree about the DC3. My recollection is that although the door is indeed narrow, the fuselage is so wide you can really line up for a perfect shot at it. That is not the case with the Otter, despite its wide door, on account of the placing of the line (current USPA rules) and the narrow fuselage (usually with benches).

Regardless, I still maintain that comparing times from different eras with different rules and planes is an exercise in futility.

It is indeed a fun event.

I would tend to agree. I have not jumped the Otter in 10 man, so don't know the physics (no pun intended) of exit vs. the DC-3.

Carl Daugherty was on the 1974 winning Deland team I spoke of above. He was also on the winning 16 and 20 man teams (as was I) that year. He was and is an excellent skydiver.

Note: I might be off a year, could have been 1975. I can't tell from my photo album. Carl Boenish took the pictures of the 16 and 20 man team jumps that year. I was honered to be part of those teams that year. They were made up of the best from Z-Hills and Deland and were probably some of the best jumpers in the world at the time (IMHO).

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Roger "Ramjet" Clark
FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519

[markd_nscr986 0]

Having jumped both Twin Otter and DC3 in speed star comps...... the "3" was a bit easier for me anyway........

Lodestalls that would inevitably show up at the Zhills 10 way meets in the 70's were not that good.......they couldnt slow em down enough......and if you happened to pile up a lot of guys in the back of one on jump run.....Look Out

Marc SCR 6046 SCS 3004

[RogerRamjet 0]

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Having jumped both Twin Otter and DC3 in speed star comps...... the "3" was a bit easier for me anyway........

Lodestalls that would inevitably show up at the Zhills 10 way meets in the 70's were not that good.......they couldnt slow em down enough......and if you happened to pile up a lot of guys in the back of one on jump run.....Look Out

Well, Loadstars didn't just show up at Z-Hills, we owned one. As for piling up in the back, it certainly brought down more than one Loadstar, but had more to do with configuration and pilot skill than anything else. With Bill Buchman or Jeff Searles flying, I did not fear the "stall."

Not sure about exit speed. We practiced from three different aircraft; the DC-3, the L-18 (Loadstar) and the L-10E (Like a twin Beech). I don't remember our times varying much, but I don't remember much anyway

Bottom line, I defer to yours and Kallend's opinions as you have jumped both aircraft and I haven't.

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Roger "Ramjet" Clark
FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519

[markd_nscr986 0]

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Well, Loadstars didn't just show up at Z-Hills, we owned one.


There would always be 5 or 6 at the meets I attended.......I thought they just "showed up"

I recall the exit speed on the Lodestalls being at least 15-20 knots higher than a 3 or an Otter........I might be wrong though.......an old diver driver could tell us for sure


I might have a pic of your Lodestall somewhere........
when I have some time I will scan it in and let you know

Marc SCR 6046 SCS 3004

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[RogerRamjet 0]

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Well, Loadstars didn't just show up at Z-Hills, we owned one.


There would always be 5 or 6 at the meets I attended.......I thought they just "showed up"

I recall the exit speed on the Lodestalls being at least 15-20 knots higher than a 3 or an Otter........I might be wrong though.......an old diver driver could tell us for sure


I might have a pic of your Lodestall somewhere........
when I have some time I will scan it in and let you know

That would be cool, I have a lot of jumps from that Loadstar. I also flew right seat and did most of the flying to Aurora IL when we took it up there for the summer one year (Bill Buchman was the pilot in command).

I talk with Bill every now and then, I'll ask him. BTW, he says the Skyvan is just as dangerous for the same reason (as the Loadstar). I believe he told me they (Deland) have a line painted on the floor that no one can go aft of unless the Pilot has indicated it's ok (he's ready in other words).

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Roger "Ramjet" Clark
FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519

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[skydog 2]

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I think the record is just over 8 seconds set quite a long time ago by the Red Devils parachute battalion team.

This is going to be sad, but the record is 7.62 seconds. I only know cos when we were training for the nationals the team leader was one of the record holders, and he only mentioned the record a.......few times.

Bryn

Journey not destination.....

[Joellercoaster 6]

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The Sibson DZ in the UK has recently revived our 8 way speed star event.

Is this the one with the "best second point" award? Some of those photos are classic...

--
"I'll tell you how all skydivers are judged, . They are judged by the laws of physics." - kkeenan

"You jump out, pull the string and either live or die. What's there to be good at?