For Don (and all others like us crazy enough to jump)

[Staiduk]

Oh yeah! Now THIS looks like fun! :D :D :D

http://www.alexisparkinn.com/photogallery/Videos/2006-5-29_air-launch-catapult.wmv

[Gruesome]

What will ACME think of next?

[Nicolas]

What went into the minds of the real companies calling themselves ACME?

[farmerjumperdon]

Either it is a huge file and/or it's blocked by the cybercops.

Have to look at it later.

"Us" heh? You jump?

[farmerjumperdon]

There's an old saying:

"Nothing more dangerous than a bored skydiver."

[Gillianren]

What went into the minds of the real companies calling themselves ACME?

Chuck Jones said that, when he was a kid, companies always used words for their company name. "Acme" is a real word that happens to come very early in the alphabet, which means they get an earlier listing in the phone book. What's more the name (at the time) implied quality, because an acme is a good thing.

And then Chuck Jones gave his childhood memories to a coyote's supplier, so I wonder what anyone is now thinking by calling their company "Acme."

[hhEb09'1]

You just know that something is going to go wrong sometime...

but that's part of the thrill :)

[Nicolas]

Chuck Jones said that, when he was a kid, companies always used words for their company name. "Acme" is a real word that happens to come very early in the alphabet, which means they get an earlier listing in the phone book. What's more the name (at the time) implied quality, because an acme is a good thing.

And then Chuck Jones gave his childhood memories to a coyote's supplier, so I wonder what anyone is now thinking by calling their company "Acme."

When Looney Tunes came up with the Acme Corp, was there a real company called like that back then, or was the whole "Acme Corp" completely fictive at the time?

It always interested me, I mean if you'd do thatto a real company you'd get quite a lawsuit nowadays :).

[Gillianren]

When Looney Tunes came up with the Acme Corp, was there a real company called like that back then, or was the whole "Acme Corp" completely fictive at the time?

It always interested me, I mean if you'd do thatto a real company you'd get quite a lawsuit nowadays :).

There wasn't an "Acme Corp," per se. The whole point was that a lot of companies were called "Acme"; it was kind of a generic name.

[Nicolas]

Ah ok, thanks. That's a lot clearer now. Google indeed finds lots of Acme corps on various brands.

Nice choice of name then, both a generic (realistic) name, and one that implies excellence while it doesn't always deliver that in the cartoons.

[Donnie B.]

Of course, there is a major computer company called Pinnacle. Not so different from Acme, that.

No idea whether they offer any rocket sleds or exploding bird seed, however.

[hhEb09'1]

what about "crest" :)

[Staiduk]

Either it is a huge file and/or it's blocked by the cybercops.

Have to look at it later.

"Us" heh? You jump?

Not any more unfortunately. #488 was one too many - broken knees, back and various other bits. It was that whole 'big round thing really should be open on landing' part that got me. ;)

[farmerjumperdon]

Not any more unfortunately. #488 was one too many - broken knees, back and various other bits. It was that whole 'big round thing really should be open on landing' part that got me. ;)

So you jumped when rounds were the norm? The veterans tell me any landing under a round without injury was a good landing. We still have one relic at the DZ (12,300 jumps) that had a round for his reserve last time I asked. You might even know him; he's way up on the list of people with the most jumps. I think he was #10 or so to get to 12K.

There was an Acme Steel in Chicago (or maybe it was over the boundary into Blue Island). I lived very near it when I was 9 or so. There was our neighborhood (Riverdale) then a big B&O switching yard (one of our playgrounds), then Whistler's and/or Pipe O' Peace Woods, and Acme Steel. My dad and a couple of my uncles worked there. Pretty big mill, it was bought out by US Steel. Don't know if it's even still there.

Fond memories.

[farmerjumperdon]

Correction, Interlake bought out the old Acme:

http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/2524.html

But they were definitely around before Mr. Coyote.

[Trebuchet]

Aaargh! Finally a catapult related topic and the PTB's at work have blocked wmv files so I have to wait until I can come home and download it on dialup. The launch acceleration on that thing must be wicked. Anybody have any idea where the video originally came from? The link is to an aviation-themed hotel in Iowa but the voices don't sound English to me.

Here's the real Acme Catapult Co., by the way: http://acmecatapult.com/6982.html

[farmerjumperdon]

They have something like that at the state fair in MN. Except you are strapped in a harness and never leave the sling. You get a good ride as it bounces up and down a few times until it settles. I think it's about $50 though. A bad deal considering that buys 2 1/2 skydives.

[HenrikOlsen]

Aaargh! Finally a catapult related topic and the PTB's at work have blocked wmv files so I have to wait until I can come home and download it on dialup. The launch acceleration on that thing must be wicked. Anybody have any idea where the video originally came from? The link is to an aviation-themed hotel in Iowa but the voices don't sound English to me.
French dialect as far as I can hear.

[Trebuchet]

They have something like that at the state fair in MN. Except you are strapped in a harness and never leave the sling. You get a good ride as it bounces up and down a few times until it settles. I think it's about $50 though. A bad deal considering that buys 2 1/2 skydives.
Yeah, I thought about that carnival ride thing after I posted. That looks like what it is. At least it works better than the one on Mythbusters!

[hhEb09'1]

So you jumped when rounds were the norm? The veterans tell me any landing under a round without injury was a good landing. I only tried it a few times, but it was under less than ideal conditions. The plane cost $20, took off from a cow pasture*, and my boss would lend us his old equipment if we would each pay $10 so he could jump for free. Not only were the chutes round, we landed above 7000'

*gravel cleared of rocks and brush, the drop zone was similar but uncleared

[Nicolas]

The Belgian army paracommando's use round chutes (http://www.syndic.be/Pictures/news/nt12b.jpg) (though the para demo team uses rectangular ones). Anyway the story goes that this went horribly wrong when Greek Army parachutists jumped with Belgian material on an exchange tour. They landed them as if it were rectangular ones (because apparently the Greek army uses rectangular ones), so many broke their legs.

[farmerjumperdon]

The Belgian army paracommando's use round chutes (http://www.syndic.be/Pictures/news/nt12b.jpg) (though the para demo team uses rectangular ones). Anyway the story goes that this went horribly wrong when Greek Army parachutists jumped with Belgian material on an exchange tour. They landed them as if it were rectangular ones (because apparently the Greek army uses rectangular ones), so many broke their legs.

One of the common questions new skydivers have is why anybody would jump a round for anything other than a novelty experience. The answer is that although the rectangular canopy (and it's variations) offers dramatically increased control and a tiptoe landing if desired, it also offers the opportunity to really hammer in if not handled properly. That's why the Army regulars don't use them; more training than they want to engage in to keep everybody from getting busted up.

I suppose that's why they don't build one into the seat of all airplanes. If the average person could even put it on correctly, they'd kill themselves trying to land it.

There's lots of other very wild videos out there if you know where to find them. People flying wingsuits down mountain slopes, base jumps off of and into everything you can imagine, people flying back into a diving plane during freefall, straightjacket escapes in freefall, skydiving in a car, etc. Gotta love people with imagination.

[Nicolas]

Those jumps with a car outside an airplane are very dangerous not only for the skydivers who might not get out of a tumbling car -even if it's a convertible- or get hit by that car, but also because the car will come down, which is a risk even in "inhabited" areas. For the rest, it's their own life they're playing with :).

[farmerjumperdon]

Those jumps with a car outside an airplane are very dangerous not only for the skydivers who might not get out of a tumbling car -even if it's a convertible- or get hit by that car, but also because the car will come down, which is a risk even in "inhabited" areas. For the rest, it's their own life they're playing with :).

They do quite a bit of prep work to make the car "relatively safe." If it's going to tumble, it's most likely to start doing it right out of the plane at subterminal velocity; easy enough to bail then. Even if it were to tumble at terminal velocity, it would not be difficult to exit as the people are near the center of gravity. There's nothing in the way of exiting, just a pushoff with feet and/or hands and manuever away form the vehicle. Gotta remember, it's falling with you, not at you. Much more likely is that it will "potato chip" which is not a big deal.

They do have to get special permits and jump into a sufficiently sized completely uninhabited area. They do this most often at one of the big DZ's in AZ. It's called Junk Day and people take bicycles, shopping carts, hot water heaters, rubber rafts, couches; all kinds of stuff (including cars) out the back of a tailgate plane. There is increased risk of course, but the dives are well planned and the risk is thoroughly managed. The ground crew is probably most at risk Don't take your eyes off the sky!

What's amazing is how flat most things are after hitting the desert floor. The cars almost look like they've been through a crusher.

p.s. - It certainly would be a risk in "inhabited" areas.

[Nicolas]

That should have been "uninhabtied" of course :D

If the ground crew sees something coming at them, do they have any time to step away, and a clue as to where it will land exactly?

[hhEb09'1]

That should have been "uninhabtied" of course Of course. :)

I'm adding it to my dictionary.If the ground crew sees something coming at them, do they have any time to step away, and a clue as to where it will land exactly?They don't bomb the ground crew! :)

[Nicolas]

boohoo everybody laughs at me. It's too hot here, give me some credit ;) :D

One more time: uninhabited. Everybody happy? ;) :D

Where is the ground crew compared to the landing spot (don't start about the vertical differences :D), what are they doing there? I was aware that they were no targets :).

[Doodler]

You just know that something is going to go wrong sometime...

but that's part of the thrill :)

There was a bungee variation like this called catapaulting where you started from the ground and we launched. They stopped it after a few people slammed into the platform above.

[Gillianren]

One more time: uninhabited. Everybody happy? ;) :D

Hooray! (For what it's worth, you're on my list of people with Special Spelling Dispensation. English isn't your first language, right?)

[Nicolas]

English isn't my first language indeed. Dutch is my first language. French used to be my second language, but nowadays I consider English to be my second language. My French really could use an update...

Using "inhabited" instead of "uninhabited" was due to lack of attention ("in" sounded already enough as reversing the meaning to my sleeping mind) so that's a genuine mistake by me; I should have paid more attention to avoid that. "uninhabtied" obviously was an ordinary typo :). Of course, that too could be avoided by paying more attention, but you know how that goes on the internet...

The lesson to be learned from this event is to be less hasty and more attentive when posting on a message board. I will not -repeat: NOT- guarantee that I will improve on that though :D. As I said, you know how that goes on the internet...

(btw is it "as I said", or "like I said"?)

[HenrikOlsen]

I'd use "As I said" as well, "Like I said" seems wrong somehow, but then I've realised lately that several phrases I think sounds wrong are perfectly acceptable english, so I'm definitely not a good reference.

[Gillianren]

I use them interchangeably. (Dang. Did I spell that word correctly?) I believe that, in formal writing, you ought to use "as I said," but "like I said" is a perfectly valid idiom.

[Nicolas]

OK, thanks all :). Things that sound wrong to you, but are right, can be a problem indeed. You tend to keep making the same mistake then.

To me "Did I spell that word correctly?" sounds wrong, and "Did I spell that word correct?" sounds right. Though I know that "correctly" is the adverb, and "correct" the adjective. (Right? :)) But still, if I don't pay attention, I'd use "correct" as an adverb just because it sounds better to me.

[Gillianren]

Right. If it ends in "ly," it's usually an adverb. As in that sentence.

[Nicolas]

"fly" ends on "ly", but can be used only as a verb or noun.*

I hope the Universe does not implode.


;) :D




(unless you've got lots of bling-bling and homeys, in that case "fly" suddenly can be used as an adjective or adverb :)).

[hhEb09'1]

(unless you've got lots of bling-bling and homeys, in that case "fly" suddenly can be used as an adjective or adverb :)).OK, then, what about jelly :)

[Gillianren]

Hence "usually" making an adverb. Some people, poor souls, get taught that it always means an adverb, which isn't true, but it does make a pretty good mark of which one's the adjective and which one's the adverb.

[Nicolas]

I know Gillianren, but it's always nice to find silly examples of exceptions. :) (silly ends on ly...)

Like the gender of words ending on "ion" in French, and the "avion" exception :).