Basejumper.com - archive

This is a survey for some research.

If there was a Balloon that you could legally BASE jump ALL DAY, even at night, would you pay $25 / jump? The Exit altitudes would be between 700-1200ft.


Thanks for your input!

i might do it once.

but as far as BASE jumping goes, i'd rather actually go BASE jumping.

it's a bad business idea IMO.

dont ballon pilots still have to follow FAA rules and regs? (at least in the USA)

whats the theory behind being able to jump a single parachute system legally from a balloon at those altitudes?

I would do it on occasion, legal or not

I would do it on occasion, legal or not



What he said^

ok,

Lets forget the legality factor. A balloon that you could jump 2 times / hour.

Thanks

Dont you mean skydive? Or are you considering a teathered ballon something like getting your "O" letter?

We do that here in Finland. Costs about 60-70e per jump. But still I don't count it as BASE but skydiving since it's not a fixed object.

"Balloon that you could legally BASE jump"........

balloon and BASE jump dont belong in the same sentence. its a skydive teather or not. jumping from it would still be a great skydive though, if the OP has the green to get something like that going..i say go for it!!

would low pulls be allowed?

$25 is a cheap price for a balloon ride, but we get 10x or more altitude for that in a plane. If I can use a base rig, I'd do it occasionally, but not "all day"

Very true, $25 is very cheap, our ballon guy charged $80 for a jumper and $160 for the passengers. That is until one skydiver had a horrible accident and he stoped taking us up all together. The pilot was a really chill dude who never checked for two cannopy systems but im pretty sure he just didnt know there was a diffrence. He even let us out at around 800 feet once since the clouds were much thicker than anticipated.

I would def skydive with my BASE rig for $25 out of a ballon. Where is this going to be located?

I would definitely do it, but I would log it as a skydive.

Our "regular" guy charges $100 per person, per lift, so $25 is a deal. I'd make a nice boogie out of it and force the low timers to use this for practice :)

I believe that a tethered balloon is not considered an aircraft by the FAA, so it does not need to follow those rules.

The ALL jumpers would be required to wear a base rig.

could a ballon be tethered at 1200ft?

funny I was just talking to someone about getting a balloon and pilot, and yes I would pay to not have to climb an antenna or travel across the world to get a sweet terminal ground rush ;-)

Correct, the FAA considers it a "Moored" balloon.
However, you can Not legally charge people $$
unless you are a licensed, commercial pilot.

My plan is to accept donations from jumpers
who want to help cover the cost of propane.

I own two old balloon envelopes, built a platform,
1472 donated 600 feet of nylon webbing for use
as a tether, plus I have 300-400 feet of rope.

The torch was purchased from Harbor Freight and
then modified to work better, more air-flow, etc.
Plus I now own 3 full tanks of propane.

The maiden voyage is going to happen soon

As for logging it, that would be each jumper's own
preference, for which I do not care. I personally
think jumping off a tethered object from 600 feet
with a BASE rig would Not be a skydive...

WTF (who the fock) cares whether you log it as a "skydive" or a "base jump" or "other". It's a jump. And usually pretty fun. Especially if you drift somewhere where you're not really sure whether that's a cabbage patch or a corn field below you... Practice your gainers...

btw: if you think a balloon jump is the same as an airplane skydive, you're dumber than you think I am. Dead air is fun.

down like doodoo brown!

cool. as far as a bunch of "friends" getting together, doing some tethered balloon jumps and sharing the cost... sounds fun.

if it were somebody trying to make money or a business out of it, i wouldn't be interested.

as far as i'm concerned, it falls into the same category as bandit loads in the airplane... it's just for fun. albeit, dead air exits from a balloon are possibly even more fun.

Yes.

The mechanics of tethering a balloon range from super simple to super complex, depending on how reliable and repeatable you want things to be, and how much money you want to spend.

There's a tethered balloon at Downtown Disney in Orlando that can run up to 1000 ft, although the operators generally limit it to 400 ft, as an amusement ride for tourists. I had a very interesting conversation with the manager there last year, and he pointed out that the same company has built a tethered balloon exclusively for parachute training for a military in the middle east. You can find photos of it on their web site if you google around a bit.

Reuters Article on the Yemini army parachute balloon built by Aerophile SA.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2009/06/17/us-airshow-aerophile-sb-idUSTRE55G44M20090617

I believe I could invest in a tank of gas, a bag of licorice, and an audio book to make a road trip for this type of event.

And if I had to hand over a few buckaroos to cover the cost of shenanigans, that would be swell, too.

Being a balloon pilot, a teathered balloon generally doesn't go much more than 150ft but going higher is possible. Only thing to consider is how much larger the field you will be in needs to be as your teather lines are going to be extremely long. We use 3 300' ropes to get a 150' teather in a field about 300' squared with three vehicles to tie off to. Giving us a good spread for tie downs as well as the ability to lay down in any direction if the breeze picks up. So just scale everything up to get more altitude. And Tom if you have any interest in an actual hot air balloon burner I have a website I can show you for used balloon gear.

As far as disneyworlds balloon and the middle eastern balloon, as well we had one here on the Vegas strip. That failed. And they caged so jumping wasn't an option... Those are gas balloons with huge concrete anchors and cable and winch. Which cost well over a million... Where as a hot air balloon you can line up for around 10k hen all you need is a big field. Lots of rope. And a few trucks. The gas balloons have no problem with 1k alti because of the single line winch system. A H.O.B. will be a bot trickier, but affordable.

I'd def be down to donate some cash and some elbow grease to help out this project!

To the original post, ya I would rip a few jumps for 25 bucks a pop, it would be more appealing tho if you could get to 1200+

http://www.lindstrandtech.com/hi_flyer.html
I'd love to come play pilot for a day or two so you can leap off as well.
:)

For 25 dollars why not, I'm in!

The Belgian army regularly operates this balloon for staticline courses from 1200 ft or so.
Sadly its not accesable for civilians and is locked in a hangar most of the year....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21yUxNkBfRU

I know there is a tethered tourist balloon in Brussel or somewhere around that area that has been jumped with permission in the past as well.

if we could get some altitude i would definitely pay some cash to utilize this type of jump for learning to exit dead air with a wingsuit..........or a tracksuit

i dont think 1200 feet would quite suffice for a newbie practicing wingsuit exits though..........

so how much rope, nylon webbing and propane would you need to get to 1200ft?

I could defiantly donate for the cause. id rather do that then pay for a jump ticket for a commercial operation.

The propane is the least expensive part.
Word is I should be able to go up 500
feet per minute with no problem.

N. FL in winter time is a great place to fly
a balloon since we are only 222' above
sea level but it still gets very cold.

Lift is the difference between the internal
temperature of your balloon or envelope
and the ambient temperature outside.

I would never think of this as a business
venture because then I would have to be
professional, allow the public, etc.

This dream of mine began before I ever
even decided to BASE jump and part of
the reason I first went to Twin Falls...

Any one of you can join the balloon list
which is similiar to our forum except is
done via email, on there is where I got
both of my used envelopes.

Just as parachutes become porous
over time from UV exposure well so do
the balloons. My balloons are still air
worthy but would waste more propane
if I tried to use them for that.

A 77,000 firefly balloon is made to lift
a basket with 3 fat people & 2 propane
tanks, while my setup is going to be a
much lighter platform with only 1 tank
and start with solos, then 2-ways...

I have contacted very knowledgable guys
in the balloon word, who were super cool
friendly and taught me a lot -- guys such
as Julian Knot, Brian Boland, and the
captain of the Hooters balloon ( . Y . )

Count me in for a couple jumps. I'd also be interested in helping figure it out and set up.

How young and nervous do they look!

i´ll pay a ballon to get my arse up from the lz at TF,i hate climbs and hikes.. its a hobby not a sport for who ever you belive in sake..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R537DMwCJtQ

Check this sketchy shit out

ha ha back when people had balls

In 2004 I got two ballon jumps from 1500 feet outside of Charlotte, NC.
Base 719

my first balloon jump, out of our big balloon.