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greybeard

Docking the aircraft

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No, Shit. That is just...cool. I'm having a hard time reading the photo. The tension in his fingers and the angle look like he was flying a steady dock but the angle of his body and tail look like he was in the act of getting blown back into the fuselage with his grip on the doorframe as the pivot. Whats the story... was he actually able to hold that and fly it? Or was it a momentary shot?
-B
Live and learn... or die, and teach by example.

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Judging the angle the plane would have to fly to get there, you'd be navigating in the wing and tail burble...so I say exit pic..

If you want to see plane docking..Loic and the glider are the closest you're gonna get I think..B|

JC
FlyLikeBrick
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The sailplane footage is really cool! I was wondering on the angle issue on the pic in the thread. I thought it might have been an exit but it does not seem to be a dock from coming back to the AC..... Still a cool looking pic no matter what.

Scott C.
"He who Hesitates Shall Inherit the Earth!"

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Agreed. After thinking it over for awhile if I had to guess, I'd say it was momentary. Although the airflow under the guy might be enough to hold him up, I'd bet the side forces would be too much to compensate for. I've actually got some experience with a similar situation on the ground...when I was a teen I got around in the Philippines by hanging onto cars trucks and jeepneys on a mountain bike. I'd grip with the right hand, keep the handlebars straight with the left, and lock my leg through the frame of the bike for rigidity. Up to about 45-50 mph it worked ok but by 60-70 mph the wind loading and side loading were too much and I'd have to let go for fear of being pulled sideways off the bike, even with my elbow planted against the side of the vehicle for leverage. That, and between 70-80 mph even if I could hang on, the tires expanded from centrifugal force enough to hit the top of the forks and I'd get spattered with burning melted rubber. But I had pavement to use for traction to fight the side loading, and all this guy has is airflow, and very dirty airflow at that.
If I remember right Scary Perry once tried to dock on a Caravan's wingtip, got a nasty burble surprise when he got within grabbing range of the wing and was almost thrown back in the door.
I still wanna know... Did the guy in the photo get slammed into the fuselage a split second after the photo was taken, or what?
-B
Live and learn... or die, and teach by example.

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After a little more thought I realized only way the airflows enough to hold him up is if that was one seriously high speed exit. My verdict: A second after that pic was taken he dropped clear of the fuselage, tail angle or no tail angle.
Still a wicked cool shot. In years of flying suit it has never occurred to me to interact with the doorway itself in such a fashion. Quinn gets creative exit points big time.
-B
Live and learn... or die, and teach by example.

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After a little more thought I realized only way the airflows enough to hold him up is if that was one seriously high speed exit. My verdict: A second after that pic was taken he dropped clear of the fuselage, tail angle or no tail angle.



1) Even on a normal speed exit there is enough speed to get "held up" by the relative wind... think about how many people have hit their heads on the horizontal stabilizer.

2) The issue is not vertical support but forward support. If this was indeed a high speed exit there would not only be more than enough lift available, there would be about 10x too much drag for him to hold on.

3) I don't think this happened, but if he was in fact holding a sustained dock, the most logical explanation would be that the plane is in a dive with the engines powered down. After all, we can't see most of the plane in that picture.
www.WingsuitPhotos.com

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Instead of theorizing, maybe you should all ask the guy himself how everything went?



Or just think for a second..look at the angle of the horizon (plane would have to be diving quite a bit to fly at the same angle), look at the body position, and take a look at the bazzilion other exit shots from wingsuits/airplanes..

Docking on airplanes..Loic..;)
JC
FlyLikeBrick
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Did anyone ever find out whether that was a momentary shot on exit or a sustained dock?

I'm betting it's the former, based on an experience I had this weekend holding onto the back of the door of the Otter and bouncing off the side of its tail for about 10 seconds.

My foot slipped off the camera step and my hand slipped off the camera step grip... so I held onto the door frame with both hands instead, legs floating... It wasn't what I would describe as comfortable or easy.
Skwrl Productions - Wingsuit Photography

Northeast Bird School - Chief Logistics Guy and Video Dork

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