Just thought this up last night.
Been reading about world record of how high some people fell and lived. I think the record is 19,000 feet. Some of them landed on grassy fields with broken bones. What got to me is I know it does not matter how high you fall from: there is something called terminal velocity. Once you are higher than about 400 feet, all that matters is how you land and where you land and your body, not how much higher than 400 feet you fell from.
Terminal velocity is about 120mph for a person without a parachute, if you go belly first and spread your arms. Head first will get you to 300mph, or 600mph if you start higher up. Obviously a sport should be safe though, so here is how you do it:
Did you know if you fire a high riffle into water, after about 4 feet of water it can't pierce your skin? They used a 50-cal on myth busters, and the bigger bullets actually slowed down sooner. Entering velocity had little to do with how far the bullet went. Size mattered more. Water has an interesting impact property at high speeds.
Did you know if you jump from high up (10 meters), and land in water on your back, you will sink about 1 foot? It won't kill you, but will give you some bad injuries, and need hospitalization maybe. If you dive head first into water from 10 meters, and go straight, you will stop after at most 5 meters. But most high divers curve under water and rarely go below 2.5 meters.
The world record for high diving, which dis done head first (hands first actually) is 182 feet. The dive tank is 25 meters deep, though I don't know if they need it or if it just so they don't get sued. Trying to find out how deep they sink, and if they curl. From that height, they reach greater than 50% of terminal velocity. Probably going 65 or 70mph.
When you are ski diving, you can do flips and such very easily. You can angle your body how you want. If you see a body of water down there, you can angle your body so the air sends you towards it. Not sure what fall/drift ratio you can get, but I think 30 degrees might be possible.
Once you are above the water, you slow to 120mph by fanning your arms and legs out. You use fine adjustment to aim for a deep part. As you get really close, you flip a bit so you are going down feet first. Do not do this too early though, or you will accelerate to 300mph. Do not do it too late either. You must hold off, and then turn just in time, and go in perfectly vertically so your belly, chin, or back do not hit the water.
OK, so maybe 130mph feet first vs 70mph hands first. Sound doable? Well make sure your feet are just in front of you a bit when you land. Because as soon as you enter the water, you want your feet to go out in front of you more and make you curl and swoop under water so you don't go as deep. Even if you do go straight down, I'm sure the bullet effect would slow you down a lot.
So we know the water must be at least 2.5 meters deep. Probably deeper actually. But how much deeper? 2.5 meters is about 8 feet. Maybe aim for 20 foot deep water? Or do it over the ocean, but have markers on the water and you get points for getting close to the bulls eye.
Been reading about world record of how high some people fell and lived. I think the record is 19,000 feet. Some of them landed on grassy fields with broken bones. What got to me is I know it does not matter how high you fall from: there is something called terminal velocity. Once you are higher than about 400 feet, all that matters is how you land and where you land and your body, not how much higher than 400 feet you fell from.
Terminal velocity is about 120mph for a person without a parachute, if you go belly first and spread your arms. Head first will get you to 300mph, or 600mph if you start higher up. Obviously a sport should be safe though, so here is how you do it:
Did you know if you fire a high riffle into water, after about 4 feet of water it can't pierce your skin? They used a 50-cal on myth busters, and the bigger bullets actually slowed down sooner. Entering velocity had little to do with how far the bullet went. Size mattered more. Water has an interesting impact property at high speeds.
Did you know if you jump from high up (10 meters), and land in water on your back, you will sink about 1 foot? It won't kill you, but will give you some bad injuries, and need hospitalization maybe. If you dive head first into water from 10 meters, and go straight, you will stop after at most 5 meters. But most high divers curve under water and rarely go below 2.5 meters.
The world record for high diving, which dis done head first (hands first actually) is 182 feet. The dive tank is 25 meters deep, though I don't know if they need it or if it just so they don't get sued. Trying to find out how deep they sink, and if they curl. From that height, they reach greater than 50% of terminal velocity. Probably going 65 or 70mph.
When you are ski diving, you can do flips and such very easily. You can angle your body how you want. If you see a body of water down there, you can angle your body so the air sends you towards it. Not sure what fall/drift ratio you can get, but I think 30 degrees might be possible.
Once you are above the water, you slow to 120mph by fanning your arms and legs out. You use fine adjustment to aim for a deep part. As you get really close, you flip a bit so you are going down feet first. Do not do this too early though, or you will accelerate to 300mph. Do not do it too late either. You must hold off, and then turn just in time, and go in perfectly vertically so your belly, chin, or back do not hit the water.
OK, so maybe 130mph feet first vs 70mph hands first. Sound doable? Well make sure your feet are just in front of you a bit when you land. Because as soon as you enter the water, you want your feet to go out in front of you more and make you curl and swoop under water so you don't go as deep. Even if you do go straight down, I'm sure the bullet effect would slow you down a lot.
So we know the water must be at least 2.5 meters deep. Probably deeper actually. But how much deeper? 2.5 meters is about 8 feet. Maybe aim for 20 foot deep water? Or do it over the ocean, but have markers on the water and you get points for getting close to the bulls eye.
