[extropy-chat] vertical wind tunnel

[Hara Ra]

As I recall one of the Las Vegas casinos has this toy. The cost to the user 
is in the $ per minute range.

I don't think deployment of a parachute makes sense as the radius increases 
by a factor of 30 or so, and if the tube just exits into the air, most of 
the chute will not be at full air velocity... The costs of skydiving for a 
day are close enough to make this economically useless.

At 10:17 AM 10/17/2004, you wrote:

>A local company is talking about building one of those
>vertical wind tunnels that is used as a freefall simulator
>for skydivers.  It blows the the air straight up so that
>you can fly motionless in the updraft, practice your
>midair maneuvers and such.
>
>I had an idea: what if you were in one of those things
>with a real parachute and you deployed it?  Wouldn't you
>go SHOOOM right up in the air?  Perhaps 100 meters?  Then
>you could float down nearby.  Or you could have a competition
>where you fly back and forth, staying in the updraft.
>You could practice your landings and parachute repacking,
>without ever having to take a plane off the ground.  Or
>perhaps you could use it as a means of launching hang
>gliders or parasails or something.
>
>Wouldn't that be a kick?
>
>How much do you figure it would cost to build something
>like that?  How much per hour to run it?
>
>spike
>
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=   Hara Ra (aka Gregory Yob)    =
=     harara at sbcglobal.net       =
=   Alcor North Cryomanagement   =
=   Alcor Advisor to Board       =
=       831 429 8637             =
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