Basejumper.com - archive

IT works...
120m... Even too high for Faber
http://steph.para.free.fr/JT_catapulte.wmv

if someone can upload it on skydivingmovies while it works....

That`s awesome!!!!!!!!!

Nice one!

I did hear that some whuffo thought that the 3 tall pipes coming out of the new Arizona wind tunnel were, in their own words, "a skydiver catapult". Maybe such thoughts aren't quite so far fetched after all.

that is freakin sic.... I wana ride...

Nice! Very nice!

So when is this gonna be the next attraction at Busch Gardens?

Coco

Where do we buy one of those, that's sick!

Who the hell told you a story as insane as tha-... wait, shit, that was me

They thought it was a skydiver cannon though, not a catapult

Holy crap!!! I want one!!!

Does it count as a BASE jump though?

Yes, it's an "S"

A very flexible span.

arright.....


Myth busters busted.

.

hey i jump 400ft/120m regulary.. well atleast some weekends

I would take a ride...what ...is that a E ticket???

I just saw the News on the TV just a minute ago with this Catapult/Para-jump. WOW !
The G-Force must be HELL For him to achieve that height. The English translation on the television said he was a French Stuntman ? who ? is he a base jumper ? He had exceptional body control and nice body position considering this is a human on a rubber band.
also: Nice BIG ( FLIK ) logo on the bottom-skin. Sweetest advertisement.
.
The G-Force would Scare me the most. Not necessarily the Reverse Bungee parajump.
.

I do not think he got more than 5gs. The launch took a second or so and to get to 120m he must have accelerated to 40-50m/s. 4-5 g for a second can't be too bad.

the g-forces may, for some, produce a "brown out," not a full black out, which could still comprimise the jump.

i've actually been thinking of trying to design and build a similar sort of contraption, but instead of just bungees, I was thinking it should be on some sort of rail/launch system that you could adjust the "boost" on, sort of like an aircraft carrier's catapult system. You could dial the launch rate for the jumpers weight, desired height of the jump, acceleration rate, etc.

if anyone has any ideas/feedback about this, let me know... i think it'd be cool to build.

You could design it so's you could aim it a bit giving different angles of throw.

I like the idea of adjustable boost. Making it compact enough to set up at a BASE site would be challenging.

Some form of combination throw may work to keep G's down like in a catapult that swings and throws as opposed to a simple slingshot. This could help keep it more compact as well.

Hope you get it done.

Are you two talking about the same brown out...?

His name is Jean Marc Mouligné, don't know if he's french or Belgian. Did his AFF 2 years ago IIRC. The goal was to do the catapult jump. He Also builds human cannonball cannons and stuff like that. He posts on the FBA forum.

um, i think not.

I'm not an expert, but I'd think a bungee system is an excellent option. they seem to release energy over a longer time span, thus lessening the acceleration (or g forces).

having bungee jumped, I never felt any harsh shocks...

you may be right... perhaps there's a way to establish a multi-stage bungee system so that at the beginning of the launch, acceleration is not drastic enough to balck someone out, but towards the end of the launch, there is a noticeable kick in the pants that will send the jumper into the ether.

and of course, there's the whole aspect of simplicity and low cost too...

Yes, he is basejumper, we just jumped together yesterday in our beautiful gorge :-)
Ps.: Hey, piifish, are you sure about AFF? He told me he started 30 years ago.

FINALLY!

Twenty years ago I wrote a sci-fi story about a school that used catapults and static-lines for first jump courses.
This catapult should relieve our reliance on expensive noisy airplanes. Even better that it is based on a couple of easily-moved cranes.

150 meters = 495 feet.

Great!

Well there was a guy doing his AFF in Empuria not so long ago, doing cannonball stuff and who wanted to build a catapult... Maybe he started 30 years ago though cause the guy already jumped rounds, but might have had a long layoff...

Or maybe it's another guy who had the same ideas.... Next time you go to EB ask Alain (who used to be working at Sonic)

And both guys are named Jean Marc :-) I guess long time out of sport is most probable answer. Anyway I'm sure he jump cliffs.

very probable.. Even more if you shared exit with him

That's crazy! Here's a mirror, just in case this one goes dead :D

http://rapidshare.de/...T_catapulte.wmv.html

Jimmy Halliday used to be a cannonball guy in the circus. Maybe we can build one of these things and he can teach us all to use it. If we put it in Miles Daisher's back yard, we ought to be able to launch people into the gorge and get an extra 500 feet.

A trailerable device might make roof access easier. Of course, you'd have to re-pack on the roof, or go unpacked...
...oh wait -- a perfect use for the Sorcerer!

I saw a similar device YEARS ago. Only in that case the guy was sitting instead of lying down. The biggest danger for them was blackout. Due to the G-forces blood might flow out of the brain. Needless to say you can't afford a blackout or brownout (that's when you don't actually go out but your vision becomes blurred/impaired) even if i's only a few secs.

perhaps an alternative could be something that spins round and round faster and faster and then just lets go when the G's get too much .. like those astronaut training rotors... or David's little sling.

.

That was wicked. I've wondered about that for ages.

Such a shame about the dance though, such a shame.

Hi Fido!
Yes I started skydiving 35 years ago and dropped out, it was no fun at this time, very military and so on.
Started all over again, skydiving and BASE, just for this catapult jump.
jm

I am the same Jean Marc, from Empuria and Tignes.
The catapult is not bungee operated, but uses a giant conterweight instead.
The G force is 4.5 to 5 G all the way up, and is easily bearable because of the lying down position.
No browning at all, just PURE FUN!!!!!!

where and when did you see it in English??????

FELICITATIONS Jean-Marc.
english version below...

Au départ à Empuria j'ai pensé que tu étais un illuminé et j'espérais ne jamais lire la suite de tes exploits dans les journaux tellement je n'y croyais pas.
Avec le temps et suite à des discussions avec d'autres personnes, j'ai compris que tu es un rêveur, un passionné, et que tu as franchi un pas dans l'accomplissement de tes rêves.
Si plus de gens avaient des rêves fous et faisaient ce qu'ils peuvent pour qu'ils se réalisent, le monde irait bien mieux...
On n'a qu'une vie, faut la vivre à fond.
Merci Jean Marc.

****
When I first met Jean Marc in Empuria, I thaught he was some illuminated guy and hoped never to read about his exploits in the news because I didn't believe in them.
With time and after discussions with people, I realised he was a dreamer, a guy with a passion, and that he made a step forward to make his dreams come true.
If more people had crazy dreams and did what they could to make them come true, the world would be a better place..
We only have one life, let's live it to the fulelst.
Thank you Jean Marc

well, you came back with style!
congrats.

yeah, sorry for the dance, but I was freezing, waiting for a friend in a tandem parapente to take off to film me going up at him.....

Where's the vid of that. Oh and by the way SICK jump. When's the catapult tour starting, Moab, Norway, any dz.

Haha, that's alright then, I thought ya might have just been getting down for the ladies.

Congrats on the jump (is it a jump or a throw?) been waiting to see someone to do that for ages!

I think you mean "greyout"
"Brownout" refers to reduction in supplied electrical power below normal levels.

(or after watching this video .......a very real biological possibility requiring a swift change of underwear )

Red Bull VERTIGO à Villeneuve (Suisse)

Thanks, I am already talking to those guys.... Let's see what come out of it....
Good jumps!!!!!!!!!!
jm

Only one question. How much did it cost?

here is a link to Pramag, the french skydiving magazine... http://www.para-mag.com/...article/article.html

Nah! When it comes to launching something, Russians are traditionally the first. -->

Anyone want to talk to these guys about modifying their ride to release BASE jumpers?

I spent the weekend in Orlando at the tunnel and finally took the time (this trip) to see the sites... Rode the slingshot which is just a few blocks down the road. It was pretty cool.


If someone built this, would base jumpers pay $10 a shot?

I rode one of those a few years ago and it's quite possible to jump, or get catapulted, from it. The problem would be attitude. There is nothing to keep it from being upside down when you reach the top. And it wasn't $10 a ride it was like $60.

i dont think there will ever be a commercially available catapult in the usa... liability is too high. but you could ff those pylons...the ones in orlando are about 220ft to the deck...