Pull offs (McC. style)

[Thomas]

Asked before, noone said much. I'll ask again.
What about "pull-offs" from an antenna? I see a tailwind of "MORE THAN PARACHUTE SPEED" velocity as a friend. I could "technically" open facing the antenna, and be blown BACKWARDS as the canopy hasn't the forward velocity for me to STRIKE the OBJECT.
40-50mph tailwind should work.
Faults in this logic well accepted. Please tell me.
Thanks,
Thomas

[JOMAN]

they are called floaters and 40 to 50 mph is a bit much. I did mine in about 15 mph winds. Also the winds should be out the middle. However i am not an expert on this subject.

[guest]

Yea 40-50 is a bit much. You will need at least 2 others holding you so that the wind won't yank you off the object as your canopy inflates. Also, your canopy won't just sit there inflated in those winds. It will slam violently all around making it very difficult to manage. 20mph has almost ripped me off the object before. If you insist on jumping an unpacked canopy in these winds then I would recommend (well, I wouldn't really) just doing a Tard. You're canopy won't be as torked by the wind. I have done them off As in considerable wind 20-30 ish. Jump with the wind as you normally would. You will be open very fast. Faster than a st. line.
A rear floater with a packed rig in those kind of winds off an A should be fine. I know lots of people who do that.
- McConkey

[guest]

Technically a, "pull off," means standing outside the tower facing into the wind and throwing out your pilot chute and letting the inflating canopy, "pull you off." the tower.

This was first done back in the late sixties (with a ripcord rig) when Rod Pack (a skydiver/stuntman) climbed a 2000-foot antenna tower in Oklahoma and did it with a round parachute. As an aside, this method is also used from aircraft back in the very early days before actual freefall is thought possible.

Stepping off backwards into the wind and freefalling is a, "Floater," and if you're doing a relatively short delay all you really need is more wind than the forward speed of your canopy. However, I've only seen these done when the winds are really honking . . .

A McCky would be tough for the reasons mentioned upboard, it would be hard to handle an open canopy prior to launching, so in that case, no-wind would serve you better, a situation rarely found on towers above 1000-feet.

Nick
BASE 194
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