Condor

I am writing a fiction in which the main character needs to open his parachute in the last instant. Then he’s going to have to base jump and land again (he’s being chased by monsters from hell). What is the minimum height from which a person can open his parachute and land unharmed? I ran this by the General Skydiving Discussion Forum and got an average of about 300 feet with one down to 80. What if he’s wearing a wingsuit? This, by the way, is the same guy who plays “Airball” (see Airball thread, this forum). Oh, and, he’s going to have to land his wingsuit later if he wants to avoid being eaten. If someone is going to do it the first time, it may as well be a fiction character.

Ya’ll have been very helpful. Thanks.

I am writing a fiction in which the main character needs to open his parachute in the last instant and he lands in water. Then he’s going to have to base jump and land again (some very bad dudes are after him). Can someone tell me what the minimum height is that a person (about 170 pounds) can open his parachute from and land unharmed? Not minimum safe height but minimum possible height (under ideal conditions). Also, can you repack a wet chute and expect it to work 4 hours later wet?

By looking up some stats on an F-16 and doing a little math, I concluded the wingloading of the jet is about 68 lb/sqft. Compare to about 7 lb/sqft for us. The jet has the obvious advantage of thrust but it can land without thrust (see http://www.cnn.com/US/9606/29/spectacular.landing/). I think this is amazing. Like you said, wingloading isn’t the whole story but then what is the rest of the story and can it make up for an nine fold difference in wingloading?

Anyone want to venture a scientifically (mathematically) based estimate as to the surface area it will take to land a person of a given weight safely?

Theoretically, the same thing that allows a sailplane to obtain high horizontal speeds while maintaining constant altitude in a thermal.

The danger is in the speed of the players. What happens when two football players hit at full speed? What if they are flying at 50mph plus?

The reason you need wingsuits is to reduce the amount of wind needed to keep airborne. Since speeds can get (I’m assuming) over 80 mph, you need a huge court. This means a lot of wind machines. The large number of wind machines is the only reason it is science fiction. Since I am striving for a certain amount of verisimilitude I am putting them in wing suits to cut back on needed wind. Also as the sport got more competitive they would add something to their gear to make them maneuver faster then the other team (you know how them 20 somethings are).

The developers of airball started with a ball but that didn’t work. They changed to a stick which can be grasped while wearing a wingsuit. You don’t fly as well while holding the stick so there is a lot of passing, which adds to the action.

I have almost completed a science fiction which involves characters playing a game called airball. In airball, players play a form of football in wingsuits in a giant round court with fans blowing wind upward at a speed needed to keep them airborne. The court is wider at the top so wind is stronger near the bottom (where there is a net covering the fan blades). One of the important aspects of the game is to not loose your momentum because it is easy to turn but not easy to start from a stop. My question is, does this sound like a plausible albeit dangerous game where players use gravity and a reliable updraft to keep things fast and furious? Or does it sound like it would just be a bunch of stalled out frustrated people flopping around and kicking their feet while trying to reach for the ball (which is actually a stick)? Since I have never jumped, I don’t have a feel for it. Thanks for your advice.