Skydiving In a T-Storm "Environment"

[cdcollura]

Good day all,

Jumping and opening my parachute nearly 3-miles above the earth can give you a whole new perspective on our planet - and weather to boot.

The following pictures were taken from a skydiving video in south-central Florida while "threading the needle" between lightning-shot thunderheads.

http://www.sky-chaser.com/image/skydive/sky0712a.jpg

Above: Exiting aircraft at 13,500 feet. The plane is a PAC-750 XL aircraft.

http://www.sky-chaser.com/image/skydive/sky0712e.jpg

Above: "Hop and pop" (opening parachute immediately after exiting - for a long, fun ride down to earth - 15 min).

http://www.sky-chaser.com/image/skydive/sky0712b.jpg

Above: Plane diving after I open chute. Yup ... I had to "circumnavigate" those dark clouds!

http://www.sky-chaser.com/image/skydive/sky0712c.jpg

Above: Vertical towering CU right next to me ... Don't fly through it, or you'll get "sucked up"!

http://www.sky-chaser.com/image/skydive/sky0712d.jpg

Above: View down at the clouds below me, and my "feet" ;-)

Seeing this from above gives you a "whole new" view!

[Dennis Sherrod]

Hey Chris. Question.. What would happen if you would go through some of these CU. I could see the sucked up on some of the larger, but what about some of the others?
What happens?
Is there the chance your parachute could become tangled due to turbulence?

[Susan Strom]

I once saw skydivers doing this during tornado warnings outside Henrietta TX. They were skydiving next to the updraft towers near storms that were warned on. Perhaps the turbulence is the draw...who knows?

[Verne Carlson]

Pretty cool stuff Chris! I imagine as long as you have some clearing to the ground it is doable. If the clouds thickened and 'pinched off' your location I'd imagine that'd be a hairy ride till you popped out under the cloud deck!

[Jason Foster]

Chris,

I seem to remember talking with you about an article in Weatherwise magazine about a skydiver getting stuck in a thunderstorm. I think he was a military skydiver or something.....do remember what I'm talking about?

[Bob Hall]

At a drop zone in Chandler, OK we had a fatality approximately 10 years ago. A downdraft completely collapsed the jumper’s canopy and he fell several hundred feet to his death. Needless to say we were a whole lot more careful with storms. I’m curious what a trip to 13.5K feet costs these days with the high fuel prices

[cdcollura]

Good day all,

I see a few questions...

First of all, flying through a cumulus clouds under canopy (parachute) usually gives the jumper no more than a wet feeling and sudden rush of warmer air (it's a thermal). There is usually a bit of turbulence, but it is not all that severe, and certainly not enough to collapse the canopy.

In the pictures, I am pretty much avoiding the clouds, just grazing the edges of them. In one instance, at 4,500 feet, my altimeter remained there for 30 seconds (normally, a descent-rate of 800-1000 feet per minute would be normal, as I was jumping a 190 Sq-Ft canopy). This was an updraft ... A weak one, but still enough to "hold me up" a bit ;-)

Flying into a thunderstorm is not only foolish, but extremely dangerous. Cloud suck is a serious (and can be a very bad) thing. A thunderstorm updraft can pull a person under a parachute to high-altitude in a short period of time. Remember, a supercell can have updrafts well over 100-MPH (this means 30,000 feet in about 3-minutes)!

In the jump here, the storms were the "garden variety" type (strong / multicell) and being avoided for the most part. Also, flying through clouds is a violation of FAR 105 (FAA rule) and can result in a fine (unless you have IFR (Instrument) aircraft and ratings). Skydivers fly through clouds all the time, but that is either by accident, or down-right illegal (like speeding in you car - we all did it at some point). It happens.

Turbulence is not a desired thing for skydivers. In the air, it's harmless. On final approach, it can cause problems.

Downdrafts in skydiving are to be AVOIDED like the plague. They are accompanied by gusty, and rapidly variable (shifting) winds, and turbulence. You can be down-right slammed into the ground - I have seen it happen, back in 2005 in Titusville, FL, after a gust front passed as the jumpers were on "final". This was on a load of jumpers I was (luckily) bumped off of (sigh). 3 people had broken bones, a leg, and the other a crushed face.

To skydive from 13,500 feet (standard altitude), it costs roughly $22 dollars (average). Last year, it was $17 ... So fuel is a big factor in the increase. Fortulately, jump aircraft is governed by FAR part 91, not 125. This is simply maintenance (with 125, an engine is replaced at TBO time - whether it's working or not). Part 125 is very expensive with maintenance, 91 is cheaper. There's not much you can do about the fuel, though. Some places charge $25 a jump.

There is a story about a jumper (military) who ejected from a F-8 jet that had engine problems (of all places) above a strong thunderstorm near the Mid-Atlantic states at 47,000 feet. He skydived out of the plane, fell to 10,000 feet (where his round chute opened) - Only to be pulled back up by the storm updraft and got "stuck" in it for 30-45 minutes.

Thanks all for your input ... And I hope I answered a few questions.

[Danny Neal]

Pretty interesting read. (http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/safety/detail_page.cgi?ID=170)

Pretty much one mans story about getting caught up in an updraft/thunderstorm.

He landed 25 kilometres south of where he was supposed to!

[Aaron Wesson]

Amazing info and stories Chris, you answered all of my questions and I never had to ask them.

[cedwards]

Here is another one.
http://tierra.rediris.es/bloquesdehielo/antropo2.html

[Joel Wright]

Wow, some interesting stuff in this thread. Before reading all of the above, I always figured people skydived in optimal weather conditions. I never knew it sometimes takes place in a convective environment!

Just jumping out of a plane and enjoying the ride would be a thrill in it's own, but piercing through a cumulus cloud would be an incredible experience. I can definitely see how it'd give you a hell of a different perspective on things.

[Ryan McGinnis]

I'm somewhat surprised that nobody has intentionally high-altitude dived into a thunderhead with a high quality video camera. I suppose that'd be an expensive venture, but when you consider that there are guys out there planning to try to jump with space suits from 200,000ft + in the near future, thunderhead diving sounds relatively safe -- and thus far, it's something that's never been filmed. I suppose most of the video would be darkness interspersed with flashes of lightning.

[Ryan McGinnis]

Chris,

I seem to remember talking with you about an article in Weatherwise magazine about a skydiver getting stuck in a thunderstorm. I think he was a military skydiver or something.....do remember what I'm talking about?

I think you're thinking of this guy:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Rankin

You can find a book with a chapter about it here:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0340895896/ref=sib_dp_srch_pop?v=search-inside&keywords=William+Rankin&go.x=4&go.y=12

And the book written by the guy who actually did it here:

http://www.amazon.com/Man-Who-Rode-Thunder/dp/0135482712

[Dan Robinson]

I'm somewhat surprised that nobody has intentionally high-altitude dived into a thunderhead with a high quality video camera. I suppose that'd be an expensive venture, but when you consider that there are guys out there planning to try to jump with space suits from 200,000ft + in the near future, thunderhead diving sounds relatively safe -- and thus far, it's something that's never been filmed. I suppose most of the video would be darkness interspersed with flashes of lightning.

Unlike objects on the earth's surface, a small conductive object aloft in a thunderstorm can be a leader initiation 'nucleus' for lightning. There's a pretty good probabilty of getting struck if you're inside a thunderstorm's high electric field at the typical lightning initiation altitudes. The video would be pretty incredible though.

[Brandon Goforth]

I once saw skydivers doing this during tornado warnings outside Henrietta TX. They were skydiving next to the updraft towers near storms that were warned on.

Those skydivers are real smart. :eek:

[Stephen Levine]

I once read an article, I believe here in Storm Track about a fellow in Colorado who either sky dived or hang glided just a few miles from a developing thunderstorm. Clouds spread in and engulfed him, and he began to swiftly ascend into the building TCU. His description of encountering prec, night like darkness and struggling to break free was spooky and fascinating.
The article stated that just 15 minutes after he made it to ground (as did his team mates) a severe warned storm swept across the airport runway.
I have had no success in finding this story. If any of you remember it, please list the link.