Anyone know anything about aerodynamics, etc.??
Ok so I'm wondering if anyone can help me out with this. It's going to sound crazy, I know. But I want to do it so bad. And I think it could work. I dunno maybe I'm nuts.
I live on the 14th floor of an apartment complex. The ocean bay is about, say...50ft from the building. Basically...I want to jump from where I am, into the bay. Yes. You heard correctly. I am thinking about flying squirrels, and how they sort of have those flaps that let them glide a bit. I'm wondering if I can attach something to like say...my wrists and ankles that would provide a good amount of drag. So I'd jump like flying squirrel style, with a little mini parachute to get me out far enough to make it into the water...and not hit at full force. I dunno, is it possible? There's also a LOT of wind up here.
This idea might be completely improbable but I can't stop thinking about how much FUN it would be haha.
Anyone know anything about aerodynamics, etc.??
I teach paragliding and hangliding and have spent some time with base jumpers and skidivers.
Basically what you want to attempt isextremely dangerous and likely to cause at least a certain degree of physical harm to you.
That said I can completely understand your desire to try it.
Firstly, you can't just jump - I know when you look down you feel as though you could probably make it with a good run but remember you have to think about how far you could long jump on the ground first. If you can jump 14 feet then thats how far away the water would have to be for you to hit it. From 14 storeys you'll be doing around60 MPH vertically when you hit - you might as well jump into the car park. It's gonna kill you.
Some sort of glider is the best option but you need to know what you are doing. A hanglider for instance, from a standing start needs to dive almost vertically until it gets enough airflow over the wing to start producing lift. It will start to fly at about 20 mph - from there you would have to round out to a glide - it could be possible by someone experienced but its very dangerous. The airflow in and around buildings is extremely turbulent and it's likely that loss of control and a crash would result.
Forget the wing suit, the wing area is so small the jumper has to be travelling way above 80 mph before a glide is produced - you simply dont have enough height for that!
The "best" way to achieve this is to base jump it. 14 storeys is enough. The jump rig would need to be set for a neck breaker with the slider down. What this means is the device on the parachute that normally controls the opening speed is, for all intents and purposes, disabled. Also I would recommend the use of an assistant to deploy the chute by holding the drogue - that way all you have to do is jump without worrying about deploying. The danger of this type of deployment is that the chute can often open facing away from theintended line of travel - basically it smashes you right back in through Mrs Johnsons living room window on the 6th floor!!
Have a look at some friends of mine base jumping in Norway, you'll get some idea of whats involved. Go here http://www.ekstremsportveko.com/ then select videos, then BASE
You should be aware that these guys are not allowed to base until theyve completed 1000 skydives!! It's a dangerous business.
Alternatively APCO aviation produced a rescue chute for people who work in hi rises - it came along after 9/11 - check it out here - http://www.apcoaviation.com/ go to Product then High Rise Emergency System
After all this, I think I'd recommend trying to Lucid dream it first!!
Re: Anyone know anything about aerodynamics, etc.??
Quote:
Originally posted by Aquanina
Ok so I'm wondering if anyone can help me out with this. It's going to sound crazy, I know. But I want to do it so bad. And I think it could work. I dunno maybe I'm nuts.
I live on the 14th floor of an apartment complex. The ocean bay is about, say...50ft from the building. Basically...I want to jump from where I am, into the bay. Yes. You heard correctly. I am thinking about flying squirrels, and how they sort of have those flaps that let them glide a bit. I'm wondering if I can attach something to like say...my wrists and ankles that would provide a good amount of drag. So I'd jump like flying squirrel style, with a little mini parachute to get me out far enough to make it into the water...and not hit at full force. I dunno, is it possible? There's also a LOT of wind up here.
This idea might be completely improbable but I can't stop thinking about how much FUN it would be haha.
Check out Paragliding. http://www.aerolight.com/store/agora.cgi
they took what used looks like larger and more elaborate sport parchutes and turned them into designs sophisticated enough to actually gain altitude given the proper thermal and wind conditions.
But what you want to do may qualify more as being a BASE Jump. See http://www.vertical-visions.com/faq.php.
But if you want to build something like wings... I used to be an airplane pilot and can give you a few clues. The most important thing for any wing is airspeed. One of the tricks one does with airplanes is to slow the motor down and then point the airplane straight up until it hangs still in the air. Well, it can't fly like that. So the next move is to point the nose straight down so as to build up flight speed quickly, but also to align the wings into the exact direction of the flow of the air -- to have the wings pointed into the air at exactly the proper 'angle of attack' they call it. In many amateur competitions, where people build things with wings, their typical mistake is to keep the nose up, never allowing the wings to cut directly into the air. If you have some altitude to start with, always dive into the air to build airspeed and to allow the wings to cut directly into the air. As speed builds to a workable flight speed, one can pull out of the dive. In your case you would need an airmachine that could build sufficient flight speed inside of 14 stories of distance, which does not seem so very impossible. Now, it still has got to be flying and controllable. You do not want something that will only angle you into the water from that great height -- you may still hit the water at a speed great enough to kill yourself. You need a wingspan that is great enough, or I should say a wing-loading that is great enough to allow for a slow enough flight speed so that you can land on land or water at a speed slow enough to allow you to run or roll safely to a stop. You would like to have something like a Paragliding Rig or a Basejumping Rig. Paragliding might be better, since the procedure there is to deploy the Chute and have it full of air and above your head even before you take off. With Base Jumping, you have to toss the chute as you jump and hope that the thing puffs out before you hit the ground.
Paragliding might be better, since the procedure there is to
Forget using a paraglider - it's like making a vertical cliff launch but worse - Believe me, a BASE rig is the way. Also regular skydiving and base rigs come with a "cutaway" system to release from the chute in case of unrecoverable tangles etc. A a cool trick that a friend of mine does is to base jump from my Tandem paraglider over water. He opens the chute at about 50 feet and then pulls the cutaway about 10 feet over the water - this would be the closest to satisfying your needs - the good thing about the cutaway is that you don't enter the water and get tangled up in your chute! I've seen a guy drown this way!
