Basejumper.com - archive

Anybody do a lot of it? i have been behind a boat and a car lately with my dagger 220, and a stilletto 150. just want to see if anybody has a lot of experience with it. maybe some does and donts. i have a background in hangglider and paraglider towing, so we -kinda- know what we are doing

PS- i KNOW it is really dangerous. as usual im not looking for a lecture. i have read about people who have died doing it.

No , but i saw a video that only a couple of copies exisited, of Patrick parasailing a stiletto or a Atom canopy behind a boat and when i talked with him about it he said" i almost killed myself" as well as everyone who was with him. He never tried it again. He had some very big balls...... I would drop it....


Yes, Patrick the frog...... God bless him......

the first few under the stilletto i said "that almost killed me" so we dont use the ZP eliptical high performance canopy anymore. but we seem to have the BASE canopy figured out, somewhat.

we will be carefull, thank you


..

Try here:

http://www.dropzone.com/...?post=994699;#994699

PS... i would say our balls are now medium sized. small enough to keep us aware and under control, yet heavy enough to keep us creative. we are trying to figure stuff out safely, with our modest testicles, and hopefully have some really cool stuff to give back to a really cool sport.

or here http://www.dropzone.com/...i?post=366032#366032

actually thats perfect, thanks rhonda. i just have never been to any of the skydiving forums. most of them say "11,899,675 New" or something like that.

cut and paste by Dexter from Dexter's forum- Thanks.


There was also a fatal incident very recently (a couple months ago) doing this. I will not post names or a location because it's not my place. However, since there seems to be an interest in attempting this, I will post a little.

*The jumper was being towed by a pickup truck.
*The rope length was approximately 200 feet.
*The canopy was a large 9 cell
*The jumper was a reasonably experienced canopy pilot.
*There was a cutaway system (3 ring) attached to the chest strap and connected to the tow rope. The jumpers were intentionally cutting away from the tow rope for landing.

The accident: Jumper is successfully launched and pulled to altitude. The canopy started to crab to the side towards a downsloping hillside. Jumper corrects heading and then the canopy drops to the ground.

It is unsure if the canopy collapsed or if the tension in the rope compounded the canopy corrections resulting in a dive.

A couple points to think about if you're going to try this.
*The tow vehicle should pull in a straight line and avoid turning!
*Keep canopy corrections to a minimum.
*If you're going to be cutting away from the tow line, make sure the handle is easily accessible.
*IF YOU ARE GOING TO TRY THIS, HOOK THE CANOPY UP TO THE RESERVE RISERS!!! An unintentional cutaway will be catastrophic.

*Consider not doing this at all. I lost a friend this way.

our release system is much better and faster than the ones these people were using, they are the same ones i used to tow hang gliders with. and the harnesses we are using are different. oh, and the tow line is 1200' long. altitude is good.

"*If you're going to be cutting away from the tow line, make sure the handle is easily accessible."

NOOOOO! there is not a chance in hell i would let myself be towed without a FAST release on me and a secondary on the tow vehicle. when i did it from the boat, a 2 people HELD the tow line in the boat, i think that is a very good way to do it.

In reality none of this makes a difference (at least very little compared to...) the biggest thing is if the tow line is static or if it pays out line as you're being towed. That is what kills people, a static tow line.

 hemmmmm...if you need to attempt to try this i think you need a new hobbie.....

Agreed, the fixed length is dangerous we are working on a "constant tension payout winch/belay" i have used these on HG tows, but they are kinda expensive to buy, and complex to build. tonight we are trying a brake bar.


--The cord we are using is very dynamic, the weak link is now 150lbs, and the line stretches 20% at 150lbs,we can tell this has helped a lot but we still think we need a payout winch, it will also help with absolute altitude, and decrease the launch area needed.

A PAYOUT WINCH IS A MUST! unless the tow driver is absolutely flawless, you have a HUGE chance of getting "lockout" of your wing due to over- tensioning your line. You cannot recover lockout unless line tension is released, and humans usualy cannot react fast enough. Dan Poynter almost died from paracending.......Try USHGA website.

yeah, we just built a payout system and it worked great just a half hour ago, the speed we needed seemed a lot more tame, we needed more distance but it worked great. went all the way to 700'. we are using a paraglider now also on the same system... we are going to have a lot of fun with this. ...

"You cannot recover lockout unless line tension is released, and humans usualy cannot react fast enough."

our release is in our teeth, a 3to1 step down much like a 3 ring but fabric, the last loop is held in ones teeth so releasing does not even take a reaction, just release jaw. we thought of this because we were worried about messing up a launch and getting knocked out before we could pull a release handle, it also does not take a hand away from flying the canopy.