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Cashmanimal

Record?....

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So, I inquired about this in January or so, but I never got an answer.

I am trying to find out what the current record is for the number of balloon jumps made in one day. I am almost positive that it is not an established record as i can't find it anywhere, but I figure somebody out there must have done a few in a day, at least?
It's all fun and until someone loses an eye... then it's just a game to find the eye

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I dunno what it would be, but my guess is it would be expensive as hell and my guess is a fairly low number at that.

Unless you were maybe thinking of doing a lot of BASE altitude type jumps from a tethered balloon.
quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

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Well I already have 15 pilots and balloons who said they would be willing to do it throughout the day. (I am an ex-balloon pilot, so that was the easy part).

We have done a mock-up of how it could work and I figure I could easily do 3 jumps an hour over the course of the day, planning on a couple hour break for mid-day winds.

Starting to go through the process of this, and was looking for some old numbers for comparison....
It's all fun and until someone loses an eye... then it's just a game to find the eye

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I will, for sure!

I am pretty confident in it... the team of pilots I have lined up is from a group in New Mexico (balloon capitol of the world--my home-state) called Top Gun. They specialize in rapid ascents/descents and have little fear of heavy distortion on the envelope. They are pretty amazing to watch, so I figured they would be the right guys for this job.

The other factor playing on my side would be the desert... we found a huge span of desert that has enough road access to allow many crews to head many directions, as well as giving the pilots plenty of room for high-wind landings. (not that there is any shortage of desert there... this one just seems better?)
It's all fun and until someone loses an eye... then it's just a game to find the eye

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A colleague of mine was a volunteer in the British Armed Forces in the eighties(?). He told me that their group was given a couple of hundred freshly packed parachutes and a tethered balloon to train with for a day.

A lot of them didn't really fancy the jumps from 300 ft. and they were 'left' with many many packed rigs begging to be jumped. According to his story, he did over 50 jumps from a balloon in a day. I wasn't there, but the guy is trustworthy and he showed me some pictures (that I currently can't find).

Ramon

PS: I may have posted something along those lines in January as well...
Rainman

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Can he provide any proof of it? I have been talking to the record book and they said they would need backed evidence. If so, I guess he would have to file the application in order for me to break it?

As far as the background check has shown, there is no declared record for this... so this would be an aside to the record. Something along the lines of: "Most skydives from a balloon in one day, yadda yadda yadda. (although it is said that _____ completed 50 jumps in one day, this could not be confirmed).

Hmm.... looks like something new to look in to
It's all fun and until someone loses an eye... then it's just a game to find the eye

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I have been talking to the record book and they said they would need backed evidence.

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Which record book are you referring to, Guinness or the actual FAI records?

The funny thing about 'records' that aren't already long time established is that breaking or setting a 'new' one is pretty easy.

For example: Balloon jumps could conceivably be categorized in many ways...Tethered and free flying. Hot air and gas. 'legal altitude' and not. Most jumps from a balloon shaped like a hamburger....on & on.

The FAI will gladly take your money and list your 'record', as well as the next 10 guys that are willing to pay and slightly vary the parameters, in the end it means little unless some kind of actual guidelines are set up or and old established record is actually broken.

IMHO the only 'real' record left worth going after is number of times jumping the shark! :)











~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

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I have been talking to the record book and they said they would need backed evidence.

Quote


Which record book are you referring to, Guinness or the actual FAI records?

The funny thing about 'records' that aren't already long time established is that breaking or setting a 'new' one is pretty easy.

For example: Balloon jumps could conceivably be categorized in many ways...Tethered and free flying. Hot air and gas. 'legal altitude' and not. Most jumps from a balloon shaped like a hamburger....on & on.

The FAI will gladly take your money and list your 'record', as well as the next 10 guys that are willing to pay and slightly vary the parameters, in the end it means little unless some kind of actual guidelines are set up or and old established record is actually broken.

IMHO the only 'real' record left worth going after is number of times jumping the shark! :)



Haha! Well.. maybe these plans will change....

As far as records go, I have done very little business with the FAI. My primary focus has been with Guinness because that will help me accomplish it easier, to be honest.

Funding for propane and gas and everything else that will go into this, I think it will be much easier to lure in sponsors for it when they hear 'Guinness' over anything else. That is really my only motive to that.

And you bring up an extremely valid point in the record variations. I suppose I should look into making this a bit more specific, and allow myself to hang on to the title a little longer? It could play in my favor. I had planned on having somebody with better planning and resources to smash my record fairly quickly.

It's always been a goal of mine to say at some point in my life, I held a world record.... why not combine all the loves of my life?

Although, now I really hope I can find a special shape to be included.... I can only hope to get a hamburger! :D
It's all fun and until someone loses an eye... then it's just a game to find the eye

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Here's my take on these kind of records, and just something to consider.

Since there is no record for most balloon jumps in 24 hour period (that I've ever head of) there's a smarter way to go about it than pounding out as many as you can right off the bat.

The first thing to do is popularize the record itself. That means design the parameters so the largest number of people will also shoot for the record. Go for free flight (not tethered) with a minimum pack opening altitude of 2000-feet (USPA-FAI) with regular skydiving gear.

Since there is no record at the moment if you just do ten jumps, you've got the record. Then someone comes along behind you and does fifteen, and then you come back and do twenty. And what happens is people will hear of it, not once, but every time someone ups the number and it soon becomes a real life "thing."

Records that are never broken just go by the wayside and become jokes like the most dives into a three foot pool while on fire. Nobody cares. If you bang out 50 jumps the very first time out no one else will play and the only time anyone will hear about the great "balloon record" is when you're trying to bag some hag late at night in a bar.

Look at what happened at the Perrine Bridge. In 2005 Miles Dasher did 57 B.A.S.E. jumps in 24 hours and he hiked/climbed out after every jump. Nobody has tried to break that record because it's just too hard. If Miles had done 30, then someone could have done 40, than Miles could have come back with 60 and the publicity generated would have been threefold.

In 2006 Dan Schilling did 201 B.A.S.E. jumps at the same place in 24 hours but he used a crane to lift himself back to the top of the bridge after each jump. Both these records are terrific achievements but when nobody tries to beat it – the record just dies of old age.

In your case, with more people involved, and because you were the first to set the balloon record you'll always know more of what's involved and what the tips and tricks are so you can keep coming back to the top of the heap. At the very least you'll always be known as the "father" of the balloon 24 hour record when you finally can't keep up with the kids anymore. So rather than just being a participant you can be the master of the whole thing.

And while you can use Guinness to suck in the sponsors, you absolutely must go FAI for it to be authentic. I mean break the most parachutes descents from a balloon in 24 hours and your name will forever appear with other aviation legends like Chuck Yeager and Joe Kittinger in the FAI record books. If you go with only Guinness your name will probably appear next to the guy who swallowed the most balloons . . .

NickD :)BASE 194

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If you go with only Guinness your name will probably appear next to the guy who swallowed the most balloons . . .

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Or me, the guy that bagged the most hags while on fire jumping into a 3 foot pool. . . thanks a lot Nick, I was hoping my record would stand forever!
:ph34r:











~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

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That is an absolutely valid point. It would almost be fun to make it an annual event for me to try and break the record...

But what, in your opinions, would be a fair number to aim for? I mean, I hold an advanced advantage in that I have a network of balloonists, so what would be a fair/fun number to shoot for? While I could easily have 100 balloons to help me out, it won't be the same for somebody in say, Florida, where there are only a handful of balloons in the entire state.

But yes, I do agree that having a complete blowout right away would be no fun in the long run. It would be interesting to see how people the "24-hour" period rule, which is one I have contemplated myself. Balloons can only take-off in the dark, and that is with additional training and strobes. They can't land until the sun comes up. I planned on picking up a "dawn patrol" pilot for the first jump... as soonas official sunrise time comes, the day begins.... not an original idea. But an important one for going for the max.
It's all fun and until someone loses an eye... then it's just a game to find the eye

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I would personally see how many jumps you can do in a day. After a while and the amount of down time can really take a toll on your body. Doing five jumps in a day is not like doing 25 and doing 25 is not like doing 100+. Do you have an indication on how many jumps in a day you can do? If you do, I would try for something like that. Say you can only do three jumps per hour there will be a lot of acids that build up in your joints and make those later jumps very hard.

One thing I would do is talk to someone who has done a lot of jumps in a day. There are a few of us out there that have done 100+ and see how much of their knowledge you can get out of them. There is a lot of things to take into account for a pile of jumps in a day. I would never advise to anyone to just go and start jumping like crazy as there is a lot to know before even taking on something like this.

As for holding an advanced advantage, I wouldn't worry about that at all. Someone who goes after the same record over and over again has an advanced advantage over someone who hasn't done it before. What it comes down to in reality is how much money you can throw at a situation for the part of physical help. But knowledge will allow you to perform the most efficiently and help you out in a lot of other ways.

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Can he provide any proof of it? I have been talking to the record book and they said they would need backed evidence. If so, I guess he would have to file the application in order for me to break it?



I am pretty sure that he did not do those jumps with any kind of record in mind, he might have his logbook or something but I'm not sure *I* would count a logbook as backed evidence!.... I'll let him know about this thread and he might 'jump' in!

Ramon
Rainman

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This could eventually become a true 24-hour event. You'd just need to get a "waiver" from the FAA on the night landing rule. The whole FAA wavier process is designed exactly for special circumstances like this. And they usually need to have a pretty good reason to turn you down. Being this is out in the desert, with pilots that are reasonably experienced and willing, and there are no innocents involved, then doing this on a full moon night shouldn’t be an issue. Besides wind wise it's only mid-day that's the worst for balloon landings.

NickD :)BASE 194

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