The movie "Eraser".

[UnAnswerd]

Remember that movie, with Arnold Scharzenegger? There is a scene were his parachute is blown out of the jet, and about 20 seconds later, he too is blown from the jet. He then dives down, to "catch up" with the parachute and straps it on. Here's the question. Is that possible? Science says gravity accelerates objects towards the center of the earth at the same speed, regardless of weight...

 

[Ralgha]

You're forgetting about air friction. If you position yourself such that your coefficient of drag is less than that of the parachute, then you could catch up to it.

 

[Whiskey Tango]

... in a vacuum. Different objects have different terminal velocities, or the maximum speed something will free fall. A feather has a different terminal velocity than a baseball due to shape and wind resistance.

In your normal free fall position with your body parallel to the ground you fall at about 115-130 mph if you dive you can reach speed of 180mph or so.

i don't know how fast a packed parchute falls.

 

[FracCapt]

In your normal free fall position with your body parallel to the ground you fall at about 115-130 mph if you dive you can reach speed of 180mph or so.

If you're wearing the right jumpsuit, and in the right body position, 300+ is possible. There is this thing they call "Speed Skydiving" that the objective is to reach the highest vertical speed possible. They wear those tight, slick jumpsuits, and the smallest, most streamlined rig they possibly can.

I can easily reach 220 when flying a tight head down position wearing shorts and a T-shirt. I generally wear freefly pants and a T-shirt and average about 170-180.

i don't know how fast a packed parchute falls.

No clue here, either....but I'd bet it's a lot slower than a person would. I can't imagine a rig would fall stable by itself, though.

 

[mattpilot]

I can easily reach 220 when flying a tight head down position wearing shorts and a T-shirt. I generally wear freefly pants and a T-shirt and average about 170-180.

Just curious - how do you measure that while you're falling?

 

[minitour]

Just curious - how do you measure that while you're falling?

There's a gauge on your sun glasses that measures BSPS...Bug Splats Per Second

-mini

 

[UnAnswerd]

Just curious - how do you measure that while you're falling?

Point a radar gun at the ground...

 

[FracCapt]

Just curious - how do you measure that while you're falling?

There are a couple of different computers(normally referred to as "audibles" or "audible altimeters") that are made that measure, based on pressure change, the average freefall speed, max freefall speed, exit altitude, deployment altitude(it senses this when you slow down below a certain speed, then backs up about 5 seconds to determine a rough estimate as to where you deployed), and freefall time. The one I use is called a Pro-Track. One of the benefits, for me, is that it functions as a logbook...because I quit logging my jumps years ago.

http://www.l-and-b.dk/protrack.html

 

[FN FAL]

Remember that movie, with Arnold Scharzenegger? There is a scene were his parachute is blown out of the jet, and about 20 seconds later, he too is blown from the jet. He then dives down, to "catch up" with the parachute and straps it on. Here's the question. Is that possible? Science says gravity accelerates objects towards the center of the earth at the same speed, regardless of weight...

Did you ever notice that you cannot get one each, a fat college student and a skinny college student, to jump out of a plane and test that weight acceleration theory out?

Hahaha...yes you can, if they were skydivers.

Skinny people float...believe me, I have logged quite a few hours of freefall time trying to float up to them.

UnAnswered...if you would like to jump out of a plane and catch a flailing parachute rig, I would love to geek the dive. Just leave me the pink slip to your car before you go.

 

[FN FAL]

There are a couple of different computers(normally referred to as "audibles" or "audible altimeters") that are made that measure, based on pressure change, the average freefall speed, max freefall speed, exit altitude, deployment altitude(it senses this when you slow down below a certain speed, then backs up about 5 seconds to determine a rough estimate as to where you deployed), and freefall time. The one I use is called a Pro-Track. One of the benefits, for me, is that it functions as a logbook...because I quit logging my jumps years ago.

http://www.l-and-b.dk/protrack.html

Ditto on the "ditters"

We got a couple of bricks at our drop zone that would love to make a 300 knot 4 way attempt.