Flag Jump!

[Chivo 0]

Hi all. I'm planning to do a flag jump with another friend this weekend. He has >150 jumps, I have >50. But before we go through this, I want to prepare myself to do it, as safely as possible. Or I will decide not to. Anyone done this before? Any suggestions?

It will be 2 guys holding the flag and a third guy w/camera. The flag is a little smaller than 8 x 5 ft. We can either fly the flag vertical or horizontal.

Any comments/help will be appreciated.
Thx,
Chivo

[Luminous 0]

Wow, that's a big flag! I thought you were talking about hanging it behind you under canopy.
My suggestion is to talk to locals that have done this type of thing before, (S&TA, "Old farts", etc...). Your very smart to preplan this thing.
Have fun. Post a pic later if you can.

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

[quade 3]

A smaller flag, say 3 x 5, might look a bit better and would be easier to fly with.

Loop type handles are NOT recommended. There is a possibility of tension making it difficult to extract your hand. Much better would be a golfball sized wiffleball or hacky type handle that you can just hold on to -- any issues come up and simply let it go.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[Bruno 0]

Chivo
are you sure to have the right experience in RW for that jump? the flag that you are planning to use is too big. Tray with a smaller one. Make a 2-way linked exit, the most experienced hold the flag folded in one hand, the other make a grip on that hand and fly parallel, wait for the video to position in front of you then the second change the grip on one of the flag's handle, rlelease the flag, plan a hi breakoff, the video track away, the man in the left side deploy while the other hold the flag till the opening starts then release the flag ( to avoid interference) and track away.
Are you sure? 50 jump experience is not enough.
Bruno

[Bruno 0]

ohps...
error
Not the left side but the other, the one with the hand free for opening.
sorry
Bruno

[Chivo 0]

Thanks to all for your replies & advice. We went through a lot trying to cover all the bases with this event. We talked to a lot of experienced skydivers at the local DZ, especially important, we found a few that had done this before. We finally decided to go through with it. So here's the result. Good planning --> good execution. Though there is still room for improvement.

Enjoy the pics...

I also have videos, but I still have to edit them...

L8r,
Chivo

[ernokaikkonen 0]

Whoa. That's one big flag.
What did you do with the flag during deployment? Did you let it go or keep it?

Erno

[Chivo 0]

We let it go. Neither of us had enough experience to try to deploy with it. It was just not worth taking the risk.

Since I held it with my right hand, I let it go first. (Remember that you need your right hand to deploy your main.) If it was hard for my buddy to let go, he had his right hand free to deploy w/the flag, if necesary. We also had 2 hook knifes each. In case we couldn't let go, we would cut the handles off. And the second knife... in case we dropped the first one.

We tried to find it later that day, without success. Maybe someone will take it to the DZ. I'm assuming that if someone close to a DZ finds a huge flag on their roof, they'll figure it out, and return it.
~Chivo

[ernokaikkonen 0]

>We let it go. Neither of us had enough experience to try to deploy with it.
>It was just not worth taking the risk.

Good call. I've had a flag tangle up in my main during deployment. The flag, made of a very lightweight material, got sucked up through one of my slider grommets! It had no ill effect on the canopy though, so I just pulled the flag back out and landed just fine...

Looks like you guys thought it out better!
Erno