| 30,000 Foot Skydive, 9/19 - 9/20 2003 |
Participants
and jumpsuit colors
Kevin McCoy (Black w/ Purple & Silver grippers),
Hans de Graef (Silver hair), Jouko Puikkonen (Blue w/ Purple grippers),
Tom
Phelan (Hawaiian freefly), Nigel Jordan (Cyan and Yellow container),
Alan Thompson (Green), John
Lewis (Black w/ Orange & Red stripes), Bill Miller,
Tad Smith (Jumpmaster, Jumpsuit:Gray) |
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On the 19th we practiced jumping out at 12,500 feet
with
our extra clothes, masks and oxygen bottles.
On the 20th, we did the actual HALO jump from 30,000. Outside
temperature at 30,000 feet: -40F! We jumped from a Cessna
Caravan, a single engine turboprop plane specially equipped with oxygen
for the jumpers and pilot. The first load actually went up to 32,000,
since Alan was there to set a new
altitude record for deaf skydivers.
The jumps took place at Skydance
Skydiving, near Davis California.
Click here to
see Kevin's airspeed and
altitude
graph, as measured on a recording altimeter (ProTrack) mounted in his
helmet. Note that 30K is greater than the maximum operational altitude
of the ProTrack,
so it only measures 28K at exit. The view was awesome at
altitude. We could see the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco and
Sacramento by doing a slow turn in freefall. Kevin's total freefall
time: 2 Minutes; Top Speed 169 MPH. Sorry, no photos in the air. We
really had our hands full with the oxygen gear and trying to stay
warm/alive :-) Not much time left for cameras. Click on the
images for higher resolution images (there are three levels of picture
details - thumbnail, medium and high)
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