Question for the Army types

[mujie96 0]

Particularly you SF types...how often do you do HALO jumps that involve falling from 39,000 feet, opening under 1000 ft, over water, at night...sometimes having to swim to shore?
This info was extracted from a story told by a military type hitting on me at work last night and I wanted to make sure he was really full of crap...because I'd feel bad if I was having a hard time not laughing at him andI was wrong for thinking he was a shit talking whuffo.
A$$hole encounter #2, I quote:
"I don't think there's much to skydiving, you just fall and pull."
How many jumps do you have?
2.
Seriously......sometimes work is really good for comic relief.

Just keep swimming...just keep swimming....

[indyz 1]

Quote

opening under 1000 ft

go here

[mujie96 0]

See, I figured he was full of crap when he shut up after I asked him what kind of parachute they used....

Just keep swimming...just keep swimming....

[Guest]

I ran into a guy at a gun show recently who said he did the same thing, at night. Said it took him seven minutes to get down...

I still haven't decided whether he was just pulling my leg or just being a Jethro.

One other possibility exists: he may have been so jazzed on adrenaline that it felt like seven minutes...that and a bit of exaggeration.

Shoot, even Michel Fournier estimates about six minutes from 130,000...am I missing something?

Ah! I got it, I GOT it!

One word--- BIRDMAN!

Can ya say "Frozen Groceries"? BWAHAHA

"The mouse does not know life until it is in the mouth of the cat."

[bobsled92 0]

Well, 23,500ft from Mullin's King Air lasted about 107 seconds(according to video) and under full canopy at 1,500.
The old Altitude record was a 6 minute free Fall(no atmosphere=no resistance)
It's easy to catch a weasle in thier own "tale"
The people that are for "Real" deserve better and liars need "a kick in the crotch".
Real HALO jumpers are also serving thier Country and doing missions that would give us twitching nightmares.
-Grant

_______________________________
If I could be a Super Hero,
I chose to be: "GRANT-A-CLAUS". and work 365 days a Year.
http://www.hangout.no/speednews/

[Guest]

I thought I read that Kittinger's fall time was about 4 and a half minutes - he had an automatic deployment at 18,000 feet.

The more I think about it, the more I'm pretty sure the guy was a wannabe, but I wasn't going to stand there and demand to see his DD-214 (the phonies are getting pretty good at forging them, BTW).

That and he charged exhorbitant prices for buckskinning supplies, too.

"The mouse does not know life until it is in the mouth of the cat."

[bobsled92 0]

I'm still in awe that the 130,000ft in flat and stable position is still going to be fast enough to break Mach 1.(From the "Sterns Alti Jump" info I read).
The human body breaking the sound barrier with a sonic boom right behind.
This IS the fastest sport known to "Man kind".

_______________________________
If I could be a Super Hero,
I chose to be: "GRANT-A-CLAUS". and work 365 days a Year.
http://www.hangout.no/speednews/

[riddler 0]

Quote

just being a Jethro

Thanks markharju! This was the word I was looking for.

Whuffo - someone that doesn't jump.
Jethro - someone that doesn't jump, but brags that they do (or did).

Ayesta just didn't catch on like I hoped it would:

http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=321347;search_string=whuffo;#321347

Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

[CDRINF 1]

Very few folks in the Army are HALO qualified and those who are are almost exclusively in Special Ops. If he was a HALO dude he would have way more than 2 jumps. I doubt he is even a basic airborne course (military static line) graduate since you have to have 5 jumps to graduate. Also, if he works with you, I am guessing he is former military or a reservist, which makes it less likely he is telling the truth.

For whatever reason, there is a big phony "war hero" culture out there both in and out of the military. In general the guys who have really been there don't talk about it much.

Ask him how an MTX-1 flies (a military HALO canopy)

Chris

[Beerlight 0]

I'm not an SF type, but I am a military oxygen equipment expert that's been on many a HALO/HAHO (now coined High Altitude Airdrop Mission Support...ie HAAMS) missions.

Now, as jumping from 39K, (that's not far from the truth), I'm not gonna mention opening altitudes.......But, to really roust him, ask what type of equipment he's using to include what type of oxygen tank(s), helmet, and oxygen mask and did he have to prebreathe long! Gotta get rid of that nitrogen in the body..........That'll get him...

[jraf 0]

oh, i like the heroes. they risk life for us every day. tell the bionic rambo/commando/terminator to come and jump at ZHills. bunch of us socom guys jump with us. they will comment on his achievements

jraf

Me Jungleman! Me have large Babalui.
Muff #3275

[Zenister 0]

[replyA$$hole encounter #2, I quote:
"I don't think there's much to skydiving, you just fall and pull."

[LouDiamond 1]

He's full of shit. For one there are very few places you can authorization to go that high and 30k is usually the higest due in part to time on the bail out bottle. As far as opening under 1000 thats laughable, any thing under 1000 is gonna be static line for sure, HALO jumpers open at 4k. As for jumping in to the water, it is done but only if needed and once in a blue moon. Common sense would tell you a jump that high is gona be colder than hell and the thought of having to ditch all the cold gear once in the water is absurd. Dealing with a ruck and weapon alone is challenging in the water, a snowman suit and O2 is a nightmare of snags and things that can go wrong. He's so full of shit it isn't funny. If you see him again tell him a REAL SF guys says to shut the fuck up.

"It's just skydiving..additional drama is not required"
Some people dream about flying, I live my dream
SKYMONKEY PUBLISHING

[jraf 0]

hermanito, it's ok...don't get emotional...i mean i have never been to any armed forces aside for the montana millitia...and we jump without rigs

jraf

Me Jungleman! Me have large Babalui.
Muff #3275

[airtwardo 7]

I don't know if the Army SF guys have anything like it, but the SEALS have a website actually listing all ret. SEALS...
Should have seen the look on this Gomers face a few years back when I asked him why he wasn't listed as an ex-SEAL, during one of his many "black ops" stories in a San Diego bar...
...on the other hand I had a guy who turned out to be retired 101st, and the head of some 101st reunion committee, tell me I was full of it. He asked about the wings on my hat...and told me NO civilian has anywhere near 2000 jumps!
...A close buddy that has 'been there and done that'
( 75th Rangers, Golden Knight, 2 purple hearts) handles the Jethros in an amusing manner, after listening to the stories he simply says- " That's Bullshit, two minutes ago only you knew you are an asshole, now we both do...keep talking and EVERYONE here will know, so shut the fuck up"
Ranger Lead The Way!

~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

[quatorze 1]

Quote

the SEALS have a website actually listing all ret. SEALS...

fukt if I can find it, there are one or two peeps that I have some Q's about, got the address handy?

I'm not afriad of dying, I'm afraid of never really living- Erin Engle

[kmcguffee 0]

Quote

opening under 1000 ft

No experience with HALO. I've talked to a few of the guys who were trained in the Ranger Battalions and they told me they opened around 4,000 ft. I know for sure that it takes more than two jumps to earn your HALO badge though. It takes five to get your basic static line parachutist badge. He was bullshitting you.

"Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain and most fools do." Ben Franklin

[miked10270 0]

Hi there,

I seem to remember reading a freefall time table for high altitude jumps a long time ago!

So... after the usual yap about Northern Europe Summer Temps & Pressure, stable "Face to Earth Position" stuff, 35,000 ft came out at 2 mins 30, 45,000 ft came out at 3 mins 10. That was opening at 3,500ft

I also seem to remember the briefing stating that turns & tracking became progressively ineffective above 19,000 ft, and that it was impossible beyond about 25,000 ft (but that was some time ago - our technique may well have improved since then).

There were also MAJOR pre-breathing requirements for these jumps - an hour fefore jumping on Aviation oxygen, with the climb taking NOT less than 30 minutes for 24,000 ft! The times get exponentially longer for higher jumps.

There was a place in Cali that did a 3 jump high altitude course, but I think it's something like $700 and that culminates in a jump from about 25,000ft.

I'm pretty sure that military mass drops are at 800ft for training, but now go down to 250ft for operational jumps with the new doughnut shaped parachutes. DERA certainly did at least one live drop from 250ft.

Short version, the whole "There I was, 42,000ft on the back door of a Herc, with the CO giving me a handshake and saying 'Make us proud son'" owes more to the James Bond stunts than real life. Perhaps the real acid test would be to ask something like "What were they saying to you just before you left the plane?" The right answer should be "nuthin" 'cos if the plane's depressurised then EVERYBODY'S ON OXYGEN!!! This is something that's missed on the Bond films - he's in full kit with bail-out bottle, and the J/M, etc... are standing in their street clothes without O2 chatting away.

Mike D10270.

Taking the piss out of the FrenchAmericans since before it was fashionable.

Prenait la pisse hors du FrançaisCanadiens méridionaux puisqu'avant lui à la mode.

[airtwardo 7]

I got it from a magazine article a few years ago, some city Mayor was making false claims about Navy SEAL involvment...at one time I had some cards printed with the web address on it...I lived a few miles from Coronado, and "I was a Navy SEAL" claims were everywhere....
I'll look around for it and get back to ya.
-Twardo

~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

[SkymonkeyONE 4]

Jess, the guy is full of shit. Refer to my boy LouDiamond's post. Did you wrassle him anyway?

Chuckie
MFFJM and a former member of ODA 724, among other things.

[BikerBabe 0]

Quote

I'm still in awe that the 130,000ft in flat and stable position is still going to be fast enough to break Mach 1.

Well, it happened to Col. Kittenger, as well.

See, Mach 1 isn't a set number of feet per second...it depends on the temperature of the air, among other things. So as you go higher (to a point), not only can the body fall faster, the speed of sound is lower.

So at sea level on a standard day, Mach 1 is about 1116 feet per second. Up at the altitudes we're talking about, the number falls below 1000 (though it's on it's way back up)

Check out the following(yes, I'm a geek):

http://www.digitaldutch.com/atmoscalc/index.htm

Never meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup!

[airtwardo 7]

I recall reading about some Russian test jumper that went higher / faster than Col. Kittenger, about the same time period...except he didn't use a drouge chute?
Cool web link...now that we have the numbers, lets go high...track hard...and make some noise!!!
BOOM!!

~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

[mujie96 0]

Quote

Jess, the guy is full of shit. Refer to my boy LouDiamond's post. Did you wrassle him anyway?

Chuckie
MFFJM and a former member of ODA 724, among other things.

No, he quit talking to me after I asked him about his parachute and went and hid in a corner. I offered to get him a coupon for a tandem though....I can usually pick out the pathological liars, I mainly posted for everyone's amusement and because I couldn't believe someone could be that stupid.

Just keep swimming...just keep swimming....

[bobsled92 0]

Quote

Quote

I'm still in awe that the 130,000ft in flat and stable position is still going to be fast enough to break Mach 1.

Well, it happened to Col. Kittenger, as well.

See, Mach 1 isn't a set number of feet per second...it depends on the temperature of the air, among other things. So as you go higher (to a point), not only can the body fall faster, the speed of sound is lower.

So at sea level on a standard day, Mach 1 is about 1116 feet per second. Up at the altitudes we're talking about, the number falls below 1000 (though it's on it's way back up)

Check out the following(yes, I'm a geek):

http://www.digitaldutch.com/atmoscalc/index.htm

Thanks for the tech/info.
Just the idea of it leaves me in awe and respect to these people.
(it took me my entire 1st season to understand that I was hitting 4.5 G force when sliding through turn 9 in Lake Placid/yesterday's luch being pulled through your "O"ring)
-Grant

_______________________________
If I could be a Super Hero,
I chose to be: "GRANT-A-CLAUS". and work 365 days a Year.
http://www.hangout.no/speednews/