Basejumper.com - archive

 
In considering flag size as the only variable, does wind responsiveness/'flight' linearly decrease as area increases, or does the graph (size vs responsiveness) have an inflection/max point?

Can you mathematically define flag responsiveness?

aha. How's about: How much of it's area is showing, on average?

It'd be fairly easy to calculate wind speed needed to cause it to not be limp or to be fully extended, but everything in between has so much inherent chaos that you will not be able to reliably calculate anything.

I was just thinking that my old dz has a 2,200 sqft US flag, and at whatever speed a solo tandem flies through the air, it sticks straight out.

 
How I was picturing it was if you have all the exterior flag sizes lined up in a row, from the small flags on C's to the largest flags at B's, with a constant wind (say 10) hitting them, is their observed behavior predictable?

couldn't the tandem be going slower than its current speed and the flag still be pegged?

Given highly accurate measurement over a long enough period of time, most likely yes. However, I really doubt you'll be able to calculate wind velocity based off the intermediate responsiveness of different sized flags.