McConkey/Rollover

[imported_Tom Aiello]

>How low would you say the lowest "safe" McConkey is?

I'd say that a McConkey opens perhaps slightly slower than a static line. Still, it's definitely faster than a go and throw. So (depending on the landing area, of course) 70 meters (215 ft) should be plenty of altitude.

I would personally be willing to McConkey a 50 meter jump, but I wouldn't recommend it as a first McConkey unless it was over water.

--Tom Aiello
tbaiello@mac.com

[TVHigley]

If you have an un-packed parachute and you kite it off a steep hillside, would you consider that a BASE jump? I don't think so. A McConkey, in essence, is a form of launching.(paragliding)
-TODD:P }(

[yexotay]

That my friend is the post that started this whole thing

[cj]

Forbasket glad to see you're thinking along the same lines my friend :-) Embrace the laziness! Hopefully we'll have a no-wind day soon so we finally can have go down here! Stavanger area should have heaps of fun possibilities. Enjoy!

CJ

[base587]

Hi there

I'm not sure what the lowest McRollover is, but I've done several from 50m (165 ft) over hard ground.

Personally I wouldn't go any lower than that (except over water)

BEWARE If you have a less than perfect launch in less than perfect conditions from this altitude you could femur in!!

What I've learned at this height is:

>Launch STRAIGHT out REALLY HARD

>Don't use a tailgate...for all the above reasons posted PLUS it slows your openings and will tend to give offheadings

>If you get on the toggles too soon and/or let up too quickly you can create a lot of forward surge.



As far as the tailwind goes (gulp)...

I almost went IN one of these jumps a few months ago.

I was jumping from a 350' S and had a very slight tailwind (conditions I have jumped in the past) but which possibly gusted as I launched...it was a strong launch out but maybe slightly downward.

The canopy came forward with me and the tail rolled onto the nose more than usual. I cleared my body over the top of it....but with a lot of line slack. The whole thing balled up above my head....and for almost 3 seconds I was wrestling with this sushi roll of lines and fabric. I eventually managed to clear the left side of the canopy with some major tugging back and forth on the risers giving me a 180 opening....barely giving me time to clear some trees and make a landing.

This was the closest to death I have ever been on a BASE jump.

These jumps are still experimental. Even starting out on a high bridge is no guarantee.

[space]

Yexotay wrote;
>That my friend is the post that started this whole thing

Yep, you be a starter dude! It is so cool that some now think it is possible to McConkey a paraglider. LMAO... very diverse we have become now. Keep it up! Great work.
take care,
space

[Yuri]

Yo!

>mcconkeys aRE base jumps. It isn't paragliding, but you can
>mconkey a paraglider as well.

By definition, a difference between a base jump and a paragliding launch is a packed canopy. McConkey is a fun variation of a paragliding launch.

Now, TARD comes closer to a grey area - does coiling lines approach "packing" ? ;-)

bsbd!

Yuri.

[imported_Tom Aiello]

>Now, TARD comes closer to a grey area - does coiling lines approach "packing" ? ;-)

Perhaps arranging the canopy, as it hangs below the exit, counts as "packing"?

I bet I spend more time arranging my hanging canopy than you do packing your canopy into a container.

--Tom Aiello
tbaiello@mac.com

[freeradical]

So

Quads, Tards and mcConkeys and unders/ swing unders... they are all base jumps. Some of this stuff might have been paraglider inspired but it was all invented by mCconkey and his crew of A-team bad ass mofos that know how to have more fun with BASE gear than anyone else world wide.


by defintition BASE jujmping is parachuting from earthbound objects the B>A.S.e objects

the defintition of base jumping isnt jumping PACKED parachutes...the word packed has never been included in ANY of the the definitions that I have read.

unpacked jumps are base jumps cuz yer parachuting from the object and yer even jumping and freefalling from the object

Hill soaring with a base rig mite not be considered a base jump because there is no real jump involved and there is no free fall either, although freefall isnt part of the defintion either.

I am right and you are wrong. I even read this in a book... my log book!

and Tard aways and roll aways are cool as hell.

[Yuri]

>Perhaps arranging the canopy, as it hangs below the exit,
>counts as "packing"?

>I bet I spend more time arranging my hanging canopy than you
>do packing your canopy into a container.

Maybe there is a parallel:

- Did you score last night ?
- Well, i was jerking off kinda slowly...

Either process involves similar sensory inputs and, physiologically speaking, outputs are the same. Perhaps it's just a matter of terminology and bragging rights ? ;)

bsbd!

Yuri.

[base587]

Subject: RE: McConkey/Rollover
In spite of its name, the TARD can be a very reliable way of dispatching one's carcass from solid low objects.

The heading reliability is really quite exceptional when you follow a few guidelines:

1) Short delay...things get squirelly when you hold on too long.

2) 2 stage 'deployment' Don't chuck canopy and lines into the air at the same time. Release canopy with one hand then feed the lines out with the other. Use largish loops...they won't cinch your hand.

3) Setting the nose. Set it up for center cell inflation. Fold the other cells of the leading edge under the exposed center cell. This is KEY.

NOTE Don't waste your time doing a full on standing pro pack. Wasting your time flaking and folding between every line group flys in the face of everything the TARD stands for!

4) Don't use a tailgate. They lead to off headings. And it takes longer to achieve full inflation. With TARDS, line stretch and inflation are occuring at the same time. This is why it opens FASTER than anything else. (And hey, it's supposed to look messy.)

My gut feeling is lineovers are LESS likely to happen with a canopy inflating this way, compared to a packed canopy without a tailgate. It allows symmetrical inflation throughout the canopy. You avoid the surge of air to the tail sending control lines awry. The canopy opens with a 'w-h-o-o-s-h', not a 'CRAAACKK'.

5) Allow a little inflation pressure before you release the canopy. Your hand is acting as the primary stow.

6) Think Mary Poppins. Step off in a very upright position. Don't lean forward on the launch.

7) And most importantly....disregard everything I've said.

Although I may feel just as comfortable TARDing a low solid object as I would a PCA or S/L, the sushi(mc)roll from a few months ago surprised me and almost killed me.

I don't claim to be any kind of expert in this area. It's just what has worked for me so far...


TARD BASE #1
(160'B)
(235'A)
(110'S)
(210'E)

[TVHigley]

Spence-
You must be the most experienced paraglider I have ever met!! I'm sorry, I can't resist!!
-TODD:7

[imported_Tom Aiello]

While I generally agree that unpacked jumps are BASE jumps (and I also agree that it doesn't really matter anyway)...

>the defintition of base jumping isnt jumping PACKED parachutes...the word packed has never been included in ANY of the the definitions that I have read.

I do have to call you on that.

The traditional definition of BASE is generally accepted to be a parachute jump from a fixed object with a closed container.

As I recall, a few years ago the subject of discussion was whether or not static lines counted as BASE jumps.

--Tom Aiello
tbaiello@mac.com

[Clif Huckstable]

McConkey - Dive over yer hanging canopy. Third fastest deployment.
T.A.R.D. - Totally Awesome Rapid Deployment. Throw yer canopy and lines up into the air and step off. Second fastest deployment.
C.W.A.D. - Canopy Wad Assisted Deployment. Like PCA except yer buddy holds the whole canopy till line stretch instead of the PC. Fastest deployment.
Under or Swing Under - Opposite of a McConkey kind of. With a tail wind, let canopy inflate and blow out in front of you, step off. Fastest under canopy by far. Within a couple feet sometimes but there is no deployment. Closest to a paragliding launch. Requires most canopy management.

Of course there is the IROC and the switch McConkey and probably several more I haven't heard about.
By the way Spence, I no longer hold my lines in a loop on the Tard as you mentioned bcause I recently had a tention knot doing a Tard off a 180 foot bridge. It never cleared and I spun into the water hard and fast. I now s fold the lines into my free hand. Like two or three big long ones. Should have been doing that from the beginning. Duh!

[imported_Tom Aiello]

>By the way Spence, I no longer hold my lines in a loop on the
>Tard as you mentioned bcause I recently had a tention knot
>doing a Tard off a 180 foot bridge. It never cleared and I
>spun into the water hard and fast. I now s fold the lines into
>my free hand. Like two or three big long ones. Should have
>been doing that from the beginning.

Has anyone else considered using little (loose) rubber bands to organize the lines? I did this and used both hands to hold the canopy and loft it over myself. It worked well. I don't have enough data to draw any conclusions, but I wonder if it might improve heading (or opening speed) because I am holding the center cell open and forward as I let to of the canopy.

--Tom Aiello
tbaiello@mac.com