Skydiving and soaring

[Mike2112 0]

Can anyone tell me if there has been any work done with combining skydiving and soaring/thermalling as done with a paraglider?

[shropshire 0]

Yes... do a search for one Jimmy Hall --->clicky

(.)Y(.)
Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome

[slotperfect 7]

Para Flite's PARIS high-glide canopy is essentially a slope-soaring design that has been tuned so it will open successfully from a free fall deployment as high as 25,000 ft MSL.

It is built for military applications, carrying up to 400 lbs, and has an L/D of 6:1. On an 18,000 FT HAHO I shifted my flight path over desert river bed and was able to ascend 600 feet and hold altitude for several minutes.

The designer and another skilled pilot from Para Flite, exiting over the mountains near Eloy in the afternoon from 18,000 feet were able to stay aloft about 4 hours riding the thermals.

Arrive Safely

John

[NewGuy2005 53]

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Para Flite's PARIS high-glide canopy is essentially a slope-soaring design that has been tuned so it will open successfully from a free fall deployment as high as 25,000 ft MSL.

I may be wrong, but I don't think they'll sell to civilians.

[NewGuy2005 53]

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Can anyone tell me if there has been any work done with combining skydiving and soaring/thermalling as done with a paraglider?

I inquired about this extensively and have only found the 2 options listed above. The d-bagging of the paraglider looks kind of nuts to me and the PARIS system would be wildly expensive if they would even sell it to a civilian. I've e-mailed them about pricing and never got a response.

Gaining altitude in thermals requires a low sink rate which you would be able to get with a really big zero porosity canopy like a 400sq foot tandem canopy. I think the most practical way to jump from a plane and stay aloft in thermals would be to adapt a tandem canopy to a sport rig and find ways to make the harness more comfortable.

You would not get the kind of glide rate or cross country performance you could get from a paraglider, but I think you could ride thermals in it.

I started looking into this a while back, but set it aside because I think I need to focus on getting my jump numbers up this summer.

I would be very interested in other opinions on this.

[slotperfect 7]

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I don't think they'll sell to civilians

I believe you are correct; my point was that the technologies have already been meshed together.

Arrive Safely

John

[NewGuy2005 53]

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I don't think they'll sell to civilians

I believe you are correct; my point was that the technologies have already been meshed together.

Cool. Did you get to jump it?

[porpoishead 8]

400lb load @ 6:1 ?? did you guys fly it loaded out or just body weight plus rig?

I saw a para glider the other day, pretty big wing, the pilot was flyin over N.O.L.A. for his altitude and location I figured he had to have one hell of a glide to get to safe landing area.

disclaimer: just curious, not looking to be piloting anything like that anytime soon.

if you want a friend feed any animal
Perry Farrell

[slotperfect 7]

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Did you get to jump it?

Twice. The first was an opening at about 16,500 FT; the jump where this quote came from:

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On an 18,000 FT HAHO I shifted my flight path over desert river bed and was able to ascend 600 feet and hold altitude for several minutes.

The second was an opening at about 6000 FT, during which I performed some different turning and descending maneuvers with the canopy.

I enjoyed it a great deal.

Arrive Safely

John

[slotperfect 7]

My rigged weight was about 290 lbs.

Arrive Safely

John