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Stremglove

Safety in skydiving from baloons?

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There is no wind and no noise - its scary and great fun. I love them.
The no wind means you will have no air pressure to push against for the first 5 seconds or so. In this time you can't get stable or track away. So don't launch a 4 way from 3000ft!
Also be ware that as the balloon drifts with the wind, it will have a much lower ground speed than an aircraft. In 5 knots of wind it is hardly moving. If there is more than 1 group there isa danger the second group will jump right on top of te first. It's worth waiting till group 1 are down before group 2 exit.
Have fun, take care
Rich M

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I've only made two balloon jumps to date, both were a blast, but here's my safety input. The first jumper on one of my jumps got edgy and basically pitched his pilot chute right as he stepped off, like a hop n pop. That works great in a plane because you have the relative wind from th eplanes forward speed to take the pc out and open your main, but out of a balloon with no relative wind.....LOL....let's just say he had a hell of a snivel and a way funky opening. Just give yourself enough time to reach terminal before pitching. Second thing, try to go at the end of your group. As each person gets out, the balloon gets higher, ie, more altitude for you! My first jump I was out at 2600ft, the last person on that same load got 4600ft. I got hosed!! Ha ha ha. And last, but not least,for reasons that escape me, alot of jumpers get nervous/scared about jumping out of a balloon. Remember your wearing a parachute, you have nothing to be afraid of!!! HA HA HA HA HA Good luck!
"I live to EFS"
Tom

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Along with what the others said - if you jump a slow opening canopy you might consider using a different main or at least packing for a sub-terminal opening. I jump a very slow opening main; I wouldn't jump it on a balloon jump if I knew I was exiting at or below 3000'.
pull & flare,
lisa

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<<aircraft. In 5 knots of wind it is hardly moving. If there is more than 1 group there isa danger the second
group will jump right on top of te first. It's worth waiting till group 1 are down before group 2 exit.>>>
Groundspeed is irrelevant to separation in a balloon jump even if the winds are strong (which they won't be 'cos balloons don't launch in strong winds). All jumpers and the balloon are in the same column of moving air regardless of how much delay you leave. If you exit in groups, do like the man said.

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Quote


All jumpers and the balloon are in the same column of moving air regardless of how much delay you leave. If you exit in groups, do like the man said.

Essentially correct , unless there's some sort of inversion layer / shear layer or you take into account surface friction.
I doubt that if you were to drop two objects with several seconds of separation they would impact each other on the ground. However, yes, for all practical purposes, don't time your balloon exits that way.
quade
http://futurecam.com

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Oops, I thought you meant something like this....
http://www.cameronballoons.co.uk/news/pr/arch/08aug01.html
..."Mike and Steve were each harnessed into 'swing-seats' under the stack of 'toy' balloons. 100lb of tap water was used as ballast, which was trickled through a tap to reduce weight allowing the balloons and the pilots to rise. They also had an air-pistol which, was used to shoot the balloons, to reduce the lift as required. " ....
"Facts
The stunt was filmed for "Ripley's Believe It or Not" which will be shown on Sky TV in November 2001.
They reached a height of 18,235 feet.
They flew for about 2 hours and for approximately three miles.
They used about 700 balloons for the challenge."

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>Also be ware that as the balloon drifts with the wind, it will have a much lower
> ground speed than an aircraft. In 5 knots of wind it is hardly moving. If there is
> more than 1 group . . .
Aaaahhh! Run! A groundspeed vs airspeed melee is brewing!
-bill von

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Watch for invisible, single wire electrical fenses while swooping the friendly farmers front yard.
They snap surprisingly fast when hit by a swooping jumper, and broken fenses tend to make famers angy.
Yes, there's a story here...
_Am
ICQ: 5578907
MSN Messenger: andrewdmetcalfe at hotmail dot com
AIM: andrewdmetcalfe
Yahoo IM: ametcalf_1999

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