Rig Test

[guest]

I have a low B in mind and was curious if anyone has tried to weight a rig in some fashion to see what happens on opening. The B is about 130-140 and was wondering if lobbing a rig off and pca'ing it would be a good idea to check this. any ideas?

[guest]

Yes - But what weight are you going to attach to the rig? How stable is it going to be? You will need to approximate your wing loading (weight) to test that theory out.

A parachute will open in 130 feet, but that ASSUMES ideal conditions/equipment/technique. Any slight variation from perfect and you are going in brother!!!

Although very possible and acheived on many occasions, your building is not thoroughly recommended. If you insist, ensure you get some experience on a low bridge, S/L it first, and use BR Vtec!!!!

Good Luck
Stay Safe
Have Fun

[guest]

That is a great start! I also have been considering this. IT has very many possibilities. I am a mechanical engineering student at UW Madison, and am wondering about things like this. Maybe a foam person, or some kind of weighted, balanced foam shape that is in boxman, and weighted to jumper weight, that should be a safe, legal way to test new BASE rig ideas. Let's here from the manufacturers. Does CR, BR, Vertigo, Gravity sports, and other not listed test their craftmanship with humans always? Anything done in a wind tunnel? I thought I saw that the Icarus canopies are flown in wind tunnels. Would their be a way to test deployments in a wind tunnel to study turbulence? Just thinking.......
Tom

[guest]

If you go in to BR's shop you can see a (beaten and battered) 150 or so lb cast iron dummy that has more low static line jumps than anyone I've ever met. (He's also been hauled up a 175' cliff on a pulley system more times than anyone would ever want to).

Maybe someone at BR can give us a little more on the launch procedures or difficulties involved with this testing method?

--Tom Aiello
tbaiello@ucdavis.edu

[guest]

Madison BASE eh? I just graduated from the UW and have opened a site in our backyard... Send me an email...would like to talk with ya...cheers... mmcclone@abcwi.org

[guest]

We use a dummy that weighs 150 pounds empty and we can add more weight as necessary. We have used this dummy from a 175 object on several occasions. It is quite the ordeal to make it work. A minimum of 3 people – one to drive the truck when we use 400 feet of rope and a pulley to get the dummy to the top. 2 people to pull the dummy over the edge and dress it with the rig. The same 2 people would toss the dummy off, while the third shot video. We have done some freefall drops from the same cliff and then we need an extra person to handle the pilot chute. Most of the drops have been static line. Extra video is nice and well worth the effort. The “toss” is all timing and both persons must be tied off so they do not fall.
It is a lot of work but well worth the information gained. We got to the point we could get 3-4 jumps in a morning if we did not have to pack. Beware you can totally trash the canopy and /or the container because you have no control over the landing. We damaged containers, harnesses, risers, and lines all from poor landings and the dummy rolling around upon landing.
As far as doing dummy drops from a building. Not sure it’s a good idea. An off heading opening or an object strike or a landing that is not where you want it could be bad news.

Todd
Basic Research