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#1
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Balloon-assisted jumping
Some friends of mine are obsessed with the idea of buying weather
balloons, filling them with helium, attaching them to a harness (with probably about -3 to -5 lbs of net lift) and jumping up into the air. If anyone has info on both the feasibility (with implicit danger) and cost of such an excursion, you input would be most appreciated. In addition, if this post better fits another group, please feel free to redirect me (I have already posted to .balloon and .misc). Thank you. JumpingMan |
#2
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They did that on the TV show Myth Busters. Didn't look very bright to me.
-- "Don't be misled, bad company corrupts good character." www.LCTPaintball.com www.LCTProducts.com "JumpingMan" wrote in message ups.com... Some friends of mine are obsessed with the idea of buying weather balloons, filling them with helium, attaching them to a harness (with probably about -3 to -5 lbs of net lift) and jumping up into the air. If anyone has info on both the feasibility (with implicit danger) and cost of such an excursion, you input would be most appreciated. In addition, if this post better fits another group, please feel free to redirect me (I have already posted to .balloon and .misc). Thank you. JumpingMan |
#3
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http://dsc.discovery.com/fansites/my...pisode_07.html
-- "Don't be misled, bad company corrupts good character." www.LCTPaintball.com www.LCTProducts.com "JumpingMan" wrote in message ups.com... Some friends of mine are obsessed with the idea of buying weather balloons, filling them with helium, attaching them to a harness (with probably about -3 to -5 lbs of net lift) and jumping up into the air. If anyone has info on both the feasibility (with implicit danger) and cost of such an excursion, you input would be most appreciated. In addition, if this post better fits another group, please feel free to redirect me (I have already posted to .balloon and .misc). Thank you. JumpingMan |
#4
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LCT Paintball wrote: http://dsc.discovery.com/fansites/my...pisode_07.html Lawn chair Larry really made his flight though it may not always be reported accurately--e.g. no helicopter rescue, he came down on his own by shooting the balloons as planned. However OP was talking about folks contemplating a sub-flight balloon-assisted jumping. I think this would be a bit less spectacular than one might imagine as the balloon will not rise as fast as the person does when jumping so that the jump would be only a little higher than normal, followed by a rapid drop until the slack in the lines is used up, followed by a a slow drop the rest of the way to the ground which I think won't be very far. A very rigid connection between the jumper and the balloon would have a smoother effect but wind resistance being much greater and inertia also greater than for the unassisted jumper I expect that would still be disappointing. Long jumping will be hampered by wind resistance. However, downwind long-jumping might be a real gas, stopping would be the hard part. Oh, OP said negative net lift. That means the pilot would not need to jump, he will rise on his own and should give careful consideration as to how to get back down. Keep in mind also that on a sunny day the lift may increase as the gas in the bag heats up. It will also increase if the pilot loses his lunch or pees in his pants in flight. -- FF |
#5
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wrote in message oups.com... LCT Paintball wrote: http://dsc.discovery.com/fansites/my...pisode_07.html Lawn chair Larry really made his flight though it may not always be reported accurately--e.g. no helicopter rescue, he came down on his own by shooting the balloons as planned. However OP was talking about folks contemplating a sub-flight balloon-assisted jumping. I think this would be a bit less spectacular than one might imagine as the balloon will not rise as fast as the person does when jumping so that the jump would be only a little higher than normal, followed by a rapid drop until the slack in the lines is used up, followed by a a slow drop the rest of the way to the ground which I think won't be very far. A very rigid connection between the jumper and the balloon would have a smoother effect but wind resistance being much greater and inertia also greater than for the unassisted jumper I expect that would still be disappointing. Long jumping will be hampered by wind resistance. However, downwind long-jumping might be a real gas, stopping would be the hard part. Oh, OP said negative net lift. That means the pilot would not need to jump, he will rise on his own and should give careful consideration as to how to get back down. Keep in mind also that on a sunny day the lift may increase as the gas in the bag heats up. It will also increase if the pilot loses his lunch or pees in his pants in flight. FF FF said; It will also increase if the pilot loses his lunch Agreed. Lunch goes overboard and net weight decreases. or pees in his pants in flight. Disagreed. Pee stays in pants and does NOT reduce net weight. MikeR |
#6
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MikeR wrote:
wrote in message oups.com... LCT Paintball wrote: http://dsc.discovery.com/fansites/my...pisode_07.html Lawn chair Larry really made his flight though it may not always be reported accurately--e.g. no helicopter rescue, he came down at on a sunny day the lift may increase as the gas in the bag heats up. It will also increase if the pilot loses his lunch or pees in his pants in flight. FF FF said; It will also increase if the pilot loses his lunch Agreed. Lunch goes overboard and net weight decreases. or pees in his pants in flight. Disagreed. Pee stays in pants and does NOT reduce net weight. MikeR Oh he'll lose weight as it evaporates! John |
#7
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"MikeR" wrote in message ... wrote in message or pees in his pants in flight. Disagreed. Pee stays in pants and does NOT reduce net weight. More likely much of it would run down your leg, so the effect on the flight would depend on if you were wearing shoes or not. Vaughn |
#8
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("Vaughn" wrote)
More likely much of it would run down your leg, so the effect on the flight would depend on if you were wearing shoes or not. Pee-toe system? Montblack |
#9
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wrote: LCT Paintball wrote: http://dsc.discovery.com/fansites/my...pisode_07.html Lawn chair Larry really made his flight though it may not always be reported accurately--e.g. no helicopter rescue, he came down on his own by shooting the balloons as planned. However OP was talking about folks contemplating a sub-flight balloon-assisted jumping. I think this would be a bit less spectacular than one might imagine as the balloon will not rise as fast as the person does when jumping so that the jump would be only a little higher than normal, followed by a rapid drop until the slack in the lines is used up, followed by a a slow drop the rest of the way to the ground which I think won't be very far. A very rigid connection between the jumper and the balloon would have a smoother effect but wind resistance being much greater and inertia also greater than for the unassisted jumper I expect that would still be disappointing. Long jumping will be hampered by wind resistance. However, downwind long-jumping might be a real gas, stopping would be the hard part. Oh, OP said negative net lift. That means the pilot would not need to jump, he will rise on his own and should give careful consideration as to how to get back down. Keep in mind also that on a sunny day the lift may increase as the gas in the bag heats up. It will also increase if the pilot loses his lunch or pees in his pants in flight. -- FF Sorry about the net lift mixup. I actually meant the person jumping would have 3-5 lbs of net weight. So yes, he would be on the ground but barely. In this case, even the slightest nudge with his toes would make him airborn...so I don't think there will be much rope slack to deal with, unless he tries to jump upwards very violently (although my gut reaction was the same as yours). We would have at least 2 tethers...one to the ground and one to another person. This seems pretty failsafe to me, barring shoddy tethering, with we would take the necessary precautions for. Perhaps the jumper could also have a pair of scissors in his pocket as an emergency solution to an airborn accident. It seems like this would have appealed to more people...I know it exists at some amusement parks. Here's the inspiration to my friend's idea: www.parabounce.com It clearly works there with no slack problem. You'll notice there are two kinds of harnesses used. One is mostly rigid, allowing for a more direct transfer of unward movement, while the other seems to be a more straightforward setup...like a parachuter's. The increase in lift due to heat is a good point...our tethers should have no problem with the additional pull...right? Does anyone have a cost estimate for this? They would be starting from stratch. JumpingMan |
#10
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JumpingMan wrote: ...I know it exists at some amusement parks. Here's the inspiration to my friend's idea: www.parabounce.com The video has me convinced. I want to do it too. Where are you? It clearly works there with no slack problem. You'll notice there are two kinds of harnesses used. One is mostly rigid, allowing for a more direct transfer of unward movement, while the other seems to be a more straightforward setup...like a parachuter's. The increase in lift due to heat is a good point...our tethers should have no problem with the additional pull...right? Yes, no problem. There woudl be at most only a little additional lift--very easy to pull back down and as the jumper rises more rope, and therefor more weight will be lifted. You just need to keep in mind that if airborn with no tether and net negative lift there will be no way to come down in a controlled fashion without releasing a little, and only a little gas. That can be done by adding a couple of smaller balloons that can be released or deflated. Does anyone have a cost estimate for this? They would be starting from stratch. Google can get you prices for balloons, helium, skydiver's harnesses, and rope. Rope is cheap. Helium is pricey. The rest is soemwhere in between. -- FF |
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