Balloon Jump

A sunset balloon jump in Slate Hill, NY, with a few Ranch hands.

Skip to 4:28 for the jumps.

At 3:30, our recovery truck gets pulled over by the police.

Props to Dave, our pilot, for the good spot!
-----
Jump stats --
Exit Altitude: 3440 ft
Deployment: 2486 ft
Freefall time: 11 s
Max (vertical) speed in freefall: 80 mph
Max (ground) speed under canopy: 42 mph
Average balloon (ground) speed at altitude: 10-20 mph

The GPS trail is here (Note: Everytrail only does ground speed, not fallrate): http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=233117

If you want to play around with the 3D jump track in Google Earth, here's the link: http://www.rahulsengupta.com/files/balloonJump141.kmz

Balloon ride by Enchanted Balloons (http://www.balloon-rides-ny.com/)
Music: Children (Dream Version) by Robert Miles

Category:

People & Blogs

Tags:

• skydive
• skydiving
• balloon
• jump
• ranch
• rahul
• slate hill
• new york
• enchanted balloons
• hot air balloon

[oligrif]

hello i'm going to the paraclub namur belgium for my first jump balloon (31/10/09) adrenaline 100% great

blue sky ;-)

[rahul1987]

You'll have a blast! The lack of prop blast/noise is quite strange.

[christkids]

Man! I have wanted to do this ever since I got my licence! They have a helio at me drop zone, but I have still never jumped from it. About how long do you feel weightless before you hit terminal velocity? Do you get the full nine seconds? or do you get use to it...

[rahul1987]

@christkids From a heli the prop blast is coming from above. The first few seconds of the exit feel different in both a balloon and a heli (compared to a plane). Assuming there's no vertical component of velocity, all three should take the same time to hit terminal. As with any skydive, your freefall time will depend on your exit altitude and your pull altitude.

[OneSkiWonder]

I have a few questions:

1: how many jumps do you need to drop from a balloon?

2: how do you find a balloon pilot willing to let you drop out?

3: how much does it generally cost?

[rahul1987]

1. To my knowledge, there aren't any USPA guidelines for balloon jumps. I'd go by the minimum opening altitudes permitted by your license and the alti of the balloon as a rough guide. Contact an instructor at your DZ for more info pertinent to you.

2. Go to a boogie where they have a balloon, or get in touch with local balloon pilots.

3. Totally up to the pilot, but generally $50-70 (i.e. 2 or 3 times the cost of a normal skydive)

[colin28mac]

For balloon jumps do you use a BASE rig? Are you carrying a reserve?

[jockingman]

Got my heart beating

[abSURDub]

ive always wondered why you cant just buy a parachute and a fuck off helium balloon and hang onto it. then let go at a certain altitude. would that work?

[thestarlinesareright]

What's the name of the music I cam hear in this movie?

[sn4ckiboy]

nice landing .)

[chickadee172]

Amazing and awesome all at the same time!

[LebeDeinenTraeume]

Amazing. I like how you did that little reverse part.

[jonsoreal24]

4:28 Fall off the balloon

[christkids]

Well... Vertically it takes about the same time to hit terminal. But over all, you don't accelerate as much out of a plane as you do from a balloon. From a balloon, you get 0 to 120 relative to the ground. Out of a plane, it's more of a transfer from horizontal, to vertical free fall.