bert_man 0 #1 February 26, 2006 I was just watching a wingsuit video and just thought of this: If you jump a wingsuit and want to know your glide ratio, why not just jump with smoke and have somebody fly next to you with video? Then just measure the angle between the horizon and the smoke trail. This measurement would be independent of winds aloft, and would be a very good indicator of your L/D. The only problem is that the smoke trail isn't exactly a thin line, but you could still get a reasonably accurate result. Any thoughts on this? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tr027 0 #2 February 26, 2006 That sounds like a good idea, and could work for alot of us mortals. What about those unlucky guys who nobody can keep up with?? They would have to be filmed from a plane flying next to them. "The evil of the world is made possible by nothing but the sanction you give it. " -John Galt from Atlas Shrugged, 1957 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bert_man 0 #3 February 26, 2006 Well maybe for those guys, you could have somebody measure the angle off the horizon from a spot on the ground (not directly below the flight line), then use GPS and a little trig to calculate their true glide path. If you know the location of the person watching, the gps coordinates of the line of flight, and their altitude at a few points, you might be able to figure it out with a little math. Other than that, I guess they're just SOL unless they have boobs to show to the pilots Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
