Many who travel through the lower Midwest know about Bug Brutus. It
is a huge electric-driven scoop shovel located in the extreme SE
corner of Kansas. When erected, during he early 1960's, it was the
largest shovel in the world; and was used for strip coal mining. It
was decommissioned several years later; but has been preserved as part
of a pretty neat coal mining museum near West Mineral, Ks.

Apparently some area base jumpers have been eying Brutus' 1960 boom.
One gave it a shot this past week.

http://fourstateshomepage.com/conten...xt/?cid=104441

Brutus won.

Uhhhh...........That boom would be 160'.

Finger palsy.

On 1/19/2010 8:34 AM, RonB wrote:

Apparently some area base jumpers have been eying Brutus' 1960 boom.
One gave it a shot this past week.

http://fourstateshomepage.com/conten...xt/?cid=104441

Brutus won.

Another product of pop culture and the American educational system bites
the dust ...

--
www.e-woodshop.net
Last update: 10/22/08
KarlC@ (the obvious)

On Jan 19, 8:38 am, Swingman wrote:
On 1/19/2010 8:34 AM, RonB wrote:

Apparently some area base jumpers have been eying Brutus' 1960 boom.
One gave it a shot this past week.

http://fourstateshomepage.com/conten...xt/?cid=104441

Brutus won.

Another product of pop culture and the American educational system bites
the dust ...

--www.e-woodshop.net
Last update: 10/22/08
KarlC@ (the obvious)

Unfortunately, we'll probably never know how many successful jumps
were made from "Big Brutus". I'd recommend static-lining off that low
of a height. Tom

tom wrote:
On Jan 19, 8:38 am, Swingman wrote:
On 1/19/2010 8:34 AM, RonB wrote:

Apparently some area base jumpers have been eying Brutus' 1960 boom.
One gave it a shot this past week.

http://fourstateshomepage.com/conten...xt/?cid=104441

Brutus won.

Another product of pop culture and the American educational system
bites the dust ...

--www.e-woodshop.net
Last update: 10/22/08
KarlC@ (the obvious)

Unfortunately, we'll probably never know how many successful jumps
were made from "Big Brutus". I'd recommend static-lining off that low
of a height. Tom

I'd recommend being _damned_ sure of my packing and my opening time as well.
You're _not_ gonna pop a reserve.

"tom" wrote in message
...

Another product of pop culture and the American educational system bites
the dust ...

--www.e-woodshop.net
Last update: 10/22/08
KarlC@ (the obvious)

Unfortunately, we'll probably never know how many successful jumps
were made from "Big Brutus". I'd recommend static-lining off that low
of a height. Tom


I'd recomend not doing it at all.

On 1/19/2010 12:59 PM, tom wrote:

Unfortunately, we'll probably never know how many successful jumps
were made from "Big Brutus". I'd recommend static-lining off that low
of a height. Tom

I would not. The training towers at Ft Benning are 250' tall and "jumps"
are made with an already-open canopy (note the shadow in this photo):

http://www.army.mil/-images/2008/07/...-28-145653.jpg

(In ancient days back when I was indestructible I rode to the top of the
tower in the background of that photo. The trip up is scarier than the
trip down, and I quite understand this young woman's slight nervousness.
)

I recall being told that the T-10 parachute needed ~200' to deploy and
fully inflate in a static line jump from an aircraft going ~125 mph -
and that the minimum (very high risk) static line combat jump altitude
was 300'.

--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto Solar
DeSoto, Iowa USA
http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto/

In article
,
says...
On Jan 19, 8:38 am, Swingman wrote:
On 1/19/2010 8:34 AM, RonB wrote:

Apparently some area base jumpers have been eying Brutus' 1960 boom.
One gave it a shot this past week.

http://fourstateshomepage.com/conten...xt/?cid=104441

Brutus won.

Another product of pop culture and the American educational system bites
the dust ...

--www.e-woodshop.net
Last update: 10/22/08
KarlC@ (the obvious)

Unfortunately, we'll probably never know how many successful jumps
were made from "Big Brutus". I'd recommend static-lining off that low
of a height.


I'd recommend rocket assist.

--
Dennis

In article ,
Morris Dovey wrote:
On 1/19/2010 12:59 PM, tom wrote:

Unfortunately, we'll probably never know how many successful jumps
were made from "Big Brutus". I'd recommend static-lining off that low
of a height. Tom

I would not. The training towers at Ft Benning are 250' tall and "jumps"
are made with an already-open canopy (note the shadow in this photo):

http://www.army.mil/-images/2008/07/...-28-145653.jpg

(In ancient days back when I was indestructible I rode to the top of the
tower in the background of that photo. The trip up is scarier than the
trip down, and I quite understand this young woman's slight nervousness.
)

I recall being told that the T-10 parachute needed ~200' to deploy and
fully inflate in a static line jump from an aircraft going ~125 mph -
and that the minimum (very high risk) static line combat jump altitude
was 300'.

I recall the 300' minimum as well. that that's what it took to deploy,
inflate, _and_ slow you to a 'safe' landing speed. FSVO 'safe', that is.

RonB wrote:
Many who travel through the lower Midwest know about Bug Brutus. It
is a huge electric-driven scoop shovel located in the extreme SE
corner of Kansas. When erected, during he early 1960's, it was the
largest shovel in the world; and was used for strip coal mining. It
was decommissioned several years later; but has been preserved as part
of a pretty neat coal mining museum near West Mineral, Ks.

Apparently some area base jumpers have been eying Brutus' 1960 boom.
One gave it a shot this past week.

http://fourstateshomepage.com/conten...xt/?cid=104441

Brutus won.

Needed the right equipment. Here's a video of a 60+-year-old woman
rappelling down an abandoned bridge abutment to rescue a kitten.

http://www.viddler.com/explore/cheezburger/videos/283/

'Course she had some skill, too. Second oldest woman to scale Mt Everest,
oldest woman to climb the tallest mountains on each of the seven continents,
etc. She's climbed the following (among others):

Rainier
Athabasca
Adams
Kilimanjaro
Mt. Hood
Shasta
Glacier Peak
Elbrus
Aconcagua
Denali
Ecuador Volcanoes
Baker
Cho

She heard the kitten on her morning four-mile jog. And so on.

Still, the kitten got to the ledge before she did...

On Jan 19, 8:34*am, RonB wrote:


Brutus won.

Just saw another local news article. Apparently the guy was a dentist
and a very experience skydiver, with 4,000 jumps including 400 base
jumps. Musta miscalculated.

"HeyBub" wrote

Needed the right equipment. Here's a video of a 60+-year-old woman
rappelling down an abandoned bridge abutment to rescue a kitten.

http://www.viddler.com/explore/cheezburger/videos/283/

My wife eats stuff like this up. I will send it to her. Thanks.

Whoever first reported on that accident got quite a scoop.

Lee Michaels wrote:
"HeyBub" wrote

Needed the right equipment. Here's a video of a 60+-year-old woman
rappelling down an abandoned bridge abutment to rescue a kitten.

http://www.viddler.com/explore/cheezburger/videos/283/

My wife eats stuff like this up. I will send it to her. Thanks.

Yeah, it made my day too.

Serendipity? Perhaps.

But what are the chances of a world-class mountain climber just passing by a
kitten in distress?

I prefer to think somebody upstairs watches over the wee ones.

"Robatoy" wrote in message
...
Whoever first reported on that accident got quite a scoop.



Oooooooo!

On Jan 19, 12:53 pm, Morris Dovey wrote:
On 1/19/2010 12:59 PM, tom wrote:

Unfortunately, we'll probably never know how many successful jumps
were made from "Big Brutus". I'd recommend static-lining off that low
of a height. Tom

I would not. The training towers at Ft Benning are 250' tall and "jumps"
are made with an already-open canopy (note the shadow in this photo):

http://www.army.mil/-images/2008/07/....mil-2008-07-2...

(In ancient days back when I was indestructible I rode to the top of the
tower in the background of that photo. The trip up is scarier than the
trip down, and I quite understand this young woman's slight nervousness.
)

I recall being told that the T-10 parachute needed ~200' to deploy and
fully inflate in a static line jump from an aircraft going ~125 mph -
and that the minimum (very high risk) static line combat jump altitude
was 300'.

--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto Solar
DeSoto, Iowa USAhttp://www.iedu.com/DeSoto/

That jumper doesn't have his feet together...Fort Benning is a haven
for broken ankles. The equipment has changed drastically since we went
from round to square parachutes, silk or pongee to zero-porosity rip-
stop fabrics. I think when the figures you recall were accepted, they
took into account the oscillation factor, the swinging that occurrs
when your round canopy opened in a horizontal configuration. Jumping
from a moving platform, you must also add that "forward throw"
distance into the mix. At 125 mph, you'll probably travel 300 feet
horizontally before you've gone a hundred feet vertically.

On Jan 21, 3:12*pm, tom wrote:
Jumping
from a moving platform, you must also add that "forward throw"
distance into the mix. At 125 mph, you'll probably travel 300 feet
horizontally before you've gone a hundred feet vertically.

Right, which means you've actually travelled a much greater total
distance than if you were base jumping. Unless I'm missing someing,
given the same chute you would need MORE altitude to open the chute in
a base jump because you're not traveling that added forward distance.
(I'm just talking about getting the chute open, and for all I know
reducing the "swinging" that you mention may negate the difference.)

On Jan 23, 12:00 pm, Larry The Snake Guy wrote:
On Jan 21, 3:12 pm, tom wrote:

Jumping
from a moving platform, you must also add that "forward throw"
distance into the mix. At 125 mph, you'll probably travel 300 feet
horizontally before you've gone a hundred feet vertically.

Right, which means you've actually travelled a much greater total
distance than if you were base jumping. Unless I'm missing someing,
given the same chute you would need MORE altitude to open the chute in
a base jump because you're not traveling that added forward distance.
(I'm just talking about getting the chute open, and for all I know
reducing the "swinging" that you mention may negate the difference.)

Yes, "given the same chute". That's why I mentioned the newer fabrics
and designs, which have changed the sport phenomenally. Not too long
ago, a manufacturer was espousing the effectiveness of its reserve
static-line design, called the Skyhook. They were static-line base-
jumping the rig from insanely low altitudes at a major U.S. skydiving
event. Tom

On Sat, 23 Jan 2010 11:00:02 -0800 (PST), Larry The Snake Guy
wrote:

On Jan 21, 3:12*pm, tom wrote:
Jumping
from a moving platform, you must also add that "forward throw"
distance into the mix. At 125 mph, you'll probably travel 300 feet
horizontally before you've gone a hundred feet vertically.

Right, which means you've actually travelled a much greater total
distance than if you were base jumping. Unless I'm missing someing,
given the same chute you would need MORE altitude to open the chute in
a base jump because you're not traveling that added forward distance.
(I'm just talking about getting the chute open, and for all I know
reducing the "swinging" that you mention may negate the difference.)

AIUI, base jumpers don't start with a fully packed chute, though. They
pitch the folded chute in the air, rather than pull a rip cord,
opening the pack. IOW, it opens much faster.

"krw" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 23 Jan 2010 11:00:02 -0800 (PST), Larry The Snake Guy
wrote:

On Jan 21, 3:12 pm, tom wrote:
Jumping
from a moving platform, you must also add that "forward throw"
distance into the mix. At 125 mph, you'll probably travel 300 feet
horizontally before you've gone a hundred feet vertically.

Right, which means you've actually travelled a much greater total
distance than if you were base jumping. Unless I'm missing someing,
given the same chute you would need MORE altitude to open the chute in
a base jump because you're not traveling that added forward distance.
(I'm just talking about getting the chute open, and for all I know
reducing the "swinging" that you mention may negate the difference.)

AIUI, base jumpers don't start with a fully packed chute, though. They
pitch the folded chute in the air, rather than pull a rip cord,
opening the pack. IOW, it opens much faster.


All that I've ever seen used a throw out pilot chute. I would think that the
method you are talking about would lead to more chute malfunctions though I
have heard of it being done.