magnumpi

I think he should do it again, but this time tandem and I'll go along with my own go pro....:@)

FYI He did a speed of Mach 1.24 OMG

ultrarunner

Someone is going to try and better this soon...there ain't going to be a wait of 50 odd year or so

Perhaps Richard flippin' Branson?

magnumpi

I don't think so IMO. It cost 100's of 1,000's just to fill the balloon with eelium. It would take a extreem big budget from a big sponsor. I don't see Red Bull wanting to do it again.

exenglishman

I disagree. Companies will be signing up to do something like this, huge exposure, they have been involved with breaking 2 world records and making history. Over 7 million watching it, and that was just live. I definitely see Richard Branson wanting to be involved. That or Red Bull's competitor, Monster.

Greenhill

I'm curious if he did that deliberately to leave Kittinger's record intact, as a tribute.

Apparently Kittinger opened his parachute at 5500m, a lot higher than Baumgartner. I'm not sure if that's height above elevation or sea level though. I also understand that Kittinger wasn't totally in freefall as he was towing a small drogue parachute - I suppose Baumgartner had the option of doing this too but he must have desired capturing the speed record above everything else.

So the question is, could Baumgartner have broken the freefall record yesterday, by opening his parachute later and still land uninjured?

I believe the answer is "yes" and here's why:

Baumgartner Freefall time: 4 mins 20 seconds (BBC)
Parachute opened 2516m above sea level (BBC)
Roswell elevation:1089m (Wikipedia)
Distance to ground when parachute opened: 2516-1089=1427m

Kittinger freefall: 4mins 36 seconds (wikipedia)
Difference between freefall times: 4:36-4:20=16 seconds
Therefore, 17 seconds required to beat the existing record

Terminal velocity of a skydiver (no open parachute): 200km/h or 55.6m/s (Various)
17seconds*55.6m=945m (3100ft)

Distance from ground when parachute had to be opened to break the freefall record:1427m-945m=482m

When to open a parachute (lowest heights allowed or possible):
Requirement: 610m (2000ft)(allowing time for issues to be resolved or reserve parachute to be used)
Reserve minimum: 213m (700ft)
Military: 152m (500ft)
Base jump: 30m (requires fast opening chute, not designed for high speed)


So, although he'd have to open his chute when under 482m, which is way under the US requirement of 610m, he'd still be above the height limits that someone of his parachuting experience could handle without getting injured.

So that's my guess, that he deliberately avoided taking Kittinger's freefall record, probably out of respect and a way of thanking him for the help.

Oakvillian

I suppose he might have done this as a deliberate nod to Kittinger. However, given the most-publicised record attempts were speed and exit height, I don't think it's likely to habe been a consideration. Freefall duration (in my limited understanding - I've never parachuted) is increased by presenting the largest possible surface area, the arms-and-legs-out star shape. High descent speed is the opposite of that, presenting a small profile by dropping head-first. I suspect the freefall duration record was never in Baumgartner's sights.

Greenhill

That makes sense, in that higher/faster are not recipe ingredients for a longer freefall.

Given that the jump can be made from a much lower height, that speed can be controlled by body shape and the use of a drogue is allowed, breaking the freefall record will be easy when compared to what Baumgartner achieved yesterday.

Any takers? There's got to be at least one forum member with parachuting experience and the military links that could fly him up 30+km??

Almost Canadian

I agree with this. I would like to know if his opening was controlled by him or his altimeter. He may have had no choice when to deploy. Opening a chute at such a low height as has been suggested above after falling from such a height would be very foolish IMO.

iaink

Is anyone going to remember this guys name a year from now?


More importantly, how many people are going to start drinking Red Bull because of this...

ultrarunner

It's like the Olympics, everyone gets caught up in the hoopla, but once it's done, it's onto the next best thing. Remember the walk over Niagara falls?

How many people even buy the Guinness book of records these days? I remember owning copies back in the 80s and early 90s, just for pub / student union bar quiz nights

I drank a few Red Bulls during University days, but noticed it isn't as big here compared to continental Europe. You walk into any petrol station today, and there is a myriad of similar drinks on the shelves with funky names to entice the teens and the 20 somethings