Ski Jumping & Skydiving

[Zennie 0]

So I'm sitting around watching the Olympics when ski jumping comes on. I'm watching these guys sail down and it occurred to me that a skydiver or BASE jumper would probably make a pretty good ski jumper.
Most of these guys had sort of a track going, but nothing like a hard RW flat track. Seems to me you take someone who can really track well and he'd kick butt. BASE jumpers might be even better suited because they have to track hard at subterminal speeds.
That and landings... You get someone who knows how to swoop... who has the discipline to fly a canopy until it abosolutely won't fly anymore and apply that to flying the track until you just can't track anymore, you'd get some serious distance.
Things that make you go "Hmmmmmmm......"
"Zero Tolerance: the politically correct term for zero thought, zero common sense."

[PhreeZone 20]

Ski jumping id not totally based on distance, part is style points. there is only so far they can fly untll they hit the bottom flat part. The entire goal of ski jumping is to go untill right before the flat while having the maximum style points.
The 120M hill guys never get more then about 15 feet above the snow during their entire jump......
Cause I don't wanna come back down from this cloud... ~ Bush

[Viking 0]

ya holyshit what a ride! plus they give you those slick silver suits! I swear you must have footprints on the back of your helmet - chicagoskydiver

[Remster 30]

The style points are (afaik) only for the landing.
And I bet it would be the other way around: these guys could teach us a thing or 2 about tracking... How many hours in a areodynamic wind tunnel have you spent? lol
Remster
Muff 914

[wildblue 7]

I was thinking of that too.
I wonder if they'd let a ski jumper wear a birdman suit.
But it's a weird track, because you have to balance tracking "up" to hang in the air longer with tracking "out" to get the distance.
Never argue with stupid people.They just drag you down 2 their level & beat you with experience

[3fLiEr 0]

There was a post about this on BLINC some time ago............ seems some BASE'rs were interested in the "penguin" type position for optimum track distance.................. quite an interesting post
bsbd
"In a world where we are slaves to gravity I am pleased to be a freedom fighter"

[mccordia 74]

I was thinking the same thing.
Something which I was wondering; the ski-jumpers wear real baggy clothes (probably to maximize lift/amount of body they present to the relative wind?) but for some reason a lot of them tuck their hands/arms almost behind they're backs, and only use them to correct/counter-balance..
Wouldn't using they're arms present them with more lift?
I was kinda wondering if they (because of the 'short' distance/time they're up there) maybe their trick is not to minimize the amount of drag/body presented to the wind, as they might get more distance out of the speed at which they move forward?? Anyone know of what gives them the most distance? Their forward momentum (thus drag/arms and such slowing them down=less distance) or the lift/amount of surface presented to the wind (lift=more distance?)
About birdsuits..I think there are rules which state that 'modifed' clothing may only be used, and anything resembeling a spoiler/fins/wings is not allowed..
I remember a (Dutch) Olympic swimsuit which wasn't allowed to be used because of rubber 'fishy-scales' on the arms and legs, which gave the body more speed...
I gues the same rules would apply for ski-jump-clothing??
And I'm also real curious what a good base-jumping sub-termional tracker would do...