Basejumper.com - archive

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/07/10/flying.lawn.chair.ap/index.html


I know many of you are like me
in that when you see something
like this you think "Hmmm"

http://www.cnn.com/....chair.ap/index.html

they don't say what altitude he had gone to. would of been cool to know.

That was awesome!

Check out this guy's numerous flights:

http://www.clusterballoon.org/

In the local news here in Idaho. They said that he got up to 13k. Hope that wets your whistle.

I read on comcast that he reached over 14,000 ft.

anyone actually tried this? anyone interested in trying this? pm me.

Helium vs. Hot Air for lift

The former has more lift, hence less balloons,
but costs more.

The latter has less lift, hence huge balloon,
but propane is relatively cheap.

I have a case of weather balloons if someone
wants to try the helium route.... I also have
an old hot air balloon...once I get my syllabus
completed plan to continue working on that
project.

Once I have it completed and performed some
safety tests I will definately be offering people
to come and jump it. Of course Florida is a
long drive from Portland for a jump

Attached is a crude drawing I had posted before
in an earlier thread. I would update the image
to reflect use of hot air for lift and a lower jump
altitude thanks to BASE specific gear but alas I
no longer have access to MS-Paint.

Also attached is a cool solo balloon -- one name
brand version is called a cloudhopper. There are
plans available to sew your own and they can be
flown without a license if under a certain weight.

The amount of lift is based on the difference
between the ambient temperature and the
inside of the envelope.

So you guys who live in colder climates with
lower field elevations could get a lot of lift out
of a small balloon, enough to carry two so one
could jump.

If anyone wants, I got a copy of an Excel spreadsheet
that calculates lift at various altitudes based on a
set of input variables.

Oh, and before someone else says it, Yes, I know,
jumping from a balloon is not a BASE jump, but it
is a lot of fun!

"To ascend wife simply drives truck in reverse."

LMFAO man you got a helluva lot more faith in your wife's driving skills than I do in mine.

NO WAY JOSE!

I'd rather lose the balloons!!!!

-gardner

"Ian Ashpole set a new world record for highest ever flight powered by 600 ordinary helium filled party balloons, reaching a height of more than 11,000 feet on 28 October 2001, over Chatteris, Cambridgeshire, UK."

From " Guinness World Records"

He actually physically cut groups of the balloons away until he was in freefall then deployed normally.

Al

How much does the Helium cost to fill 600 balloons?

Dude, when are you going to make that balloon/pulley contraption? That looks like fun. I have a conference in Orlando in November...

Although I might just go buy 600 party balloons and a couple tanks of helium and drive to the Mojave Desert and figure something out on my own by then...

Every time I see this topic on the board, I think of balloon rides that have that wah wah wah sound. Quite teasing me!

the important question is: how much helium (ie how many balloons) does it require to lift a person? Ian Ashpole went up to 11K with 500-600 "toy balloons," which, if around 11-12 inches in diameters (requiring 1/2 cu ft each), could be filled by a single 250 cu. ft. helium tank.

However, helium charts list the lift of a 12" latex balloon as being about 0.03lbs, so 600 balloons of this size would only generate 18lbs of lift. Is this enough lift to take someone up to a reasonable altitude or do you just become 18lbs lighter?

If the balloons were slightly larger, around 16", the assembly would require 3 x 250 cu ft tanks and would generate ~60 lbs of lift.

Hey Guys,

how much helium & how many balloons
does it require to lift a person?

Depends on the weight of the person, air density,
air temperature, size of the balloons, and weight
of the balloons.

But basically 16.6 cubic feet of helium are needed
to raise 1 pound, so to lift 215 pounds which is me,
a BASE rig, helmet, boots, knee pads, etc. then I'd
need about 3,600 cubic feet of helium, depending
on the balloons used --- because different balloons
I researched differ in weight and back pressure.

http://www.howstuffworks.com/helium2.htm

Here is a great site for comparing lift of different gases:

http://www.chem.hawaii.edu/uham/lift.html

How much does the Helium cost?

I am not exactly sure because helium is sold
by weight and my calculations are based on volume.

I found a source for large cannisters of helium that
weigh 291 pounds for a price of around $50 to $60,
depending on deposit, delivery, etc. I think a pound
of helium weighs .84 of an ouce...

I thought a pound weighs, well, a pound!

reminds me of the old trick question, what weighs more, a pound of bricks, or a pound of feathers?

I thought a pound weighs, well, a pound!


Yeah, you got me, I wrote that this morning and
then hopped on my bike to run some errands...
that's when it dawned on me that I was not
fully awake.

The other thing I was thinking, was Helium might
be less expensive than I thought to do this...

IF one cubic foot of helium weighs .84 of an ouce
THEN a 291 pound canister contains more than
enough lift for 1 jumper + gear.

I will definitely double check this before I buy
the balloons and rent a huge tank of helium.

Did you see the Mythbusters episode where they used helium balloons to lift a little girl? If I remember right, they ended up using twice the helium than they thought would be required and ended up purchasing several hundred dollars worth of helium. The girl weighed something like 40 pounds.

Here's a remix some creep put together:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8i7ESjCw3o

Did you see the Mythbusters episode where
they used helium balloons to lift a little girl?

No, I do not have cable by choice so the only
TV shows we see are ones we rent on DVD.

BUT my dad loves that show and knows all
about my balloon plans/dreams so he has
mentioned it to me a few times.

ended up using twice the helium they thought

Did they explain how their calculations were
inaccurate or somethng they failed to consider?

several hundred dollars worth of helium

Yep, buying 3,500 cubic feet of helium is pricey.
But so is a plane --- if a crew of about 10 BASE
guys got together, built the set-up, and split the
costs then they could rock the house for any 3
day weekend they wanted.

Check out the 2 photos, the one holds like 16 people
while the other is much cheaper and designed for 1
or 2 people. This link has info about the company
plus plenty of other photos:
http://www.aerophile.com/pages_us/aerophile_groupe.php

I plan to do a very similiar thing with hot
air instead of helium to reduce my costs.

or buy a hot air balloon. and use it for the cost of fuel whenever you want.

http://www.bized.co.uk/...kdown/breakdown1.htm

22 000 Euros for a 3-4 person balloon...

The solo hot air balloons I mentioned
earlier in this thread can be purchased for
much less and flown without a license.

The hot air balloon envelope I bought was $300,
of course it is old and beat, but since it was a
2-3 place balloon it has more than enough lift
left for 1-2 people without a baket or burner...
especially at the altitudes we want.

Hey GreenMachine,

I'm a base jumper who just happens to work for Aerophile. Let me know if you ever have any questions.

would be cool to see a link;)

http://www.aerophile.com

http://www.aerophile.com/pages_us/aerophile_groupe.php

Faber,

GreenMachine was kind enough to give you some links to the balloons.

If you'd like to see some jumping from them, some Belgian jumpers put together a nice little clip of a legal jump day that they had at the balloon in Brussels:

http://aerophile.com/...le_video_jumpers.php

Enjoy!