Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site ubvax.UUCP
Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!bonnie!akgua!sdcsvax!sdcrdcf!hplabs!hpda!fortune!amdcad!cae780!ubvax!paul
From: paul@ubvax.UUCP (Paul Fries)
Newsgroups: net.rec.skydive
Subject: Re: No lift dive
Message-ID: <148@ubvax.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 1-Apr-85 13:56:24 EST
Article-I.D.: ubvax.148
Posted: Mon Apr  1 13:56:24 1985
Date-Received: Sun, 7-Apr-85 04:54:16 EST
References: <41800003@hpcvlo.UUCP> <571@ssc-vax.UUCP> <1098@phoenix.UUCP>
Organization: Ungermann-Bass, Inc., Santa Clara, CA
Lines: 50

Re: Brent's comments on no-lift dives.

> .
> .
> .
>
> It's no good either unless the formation is somewhere beneath
> you and not off to one side.  You lose altitude at such an
> enormous rate, that if you hold it just a tad too long you
> go way below where you want to be.
> .
> .
> .

I have found that, even if the formation is not directly below, the
no-lift dive can be quite useful.  There is no better way to pick
up airspeed quickly.  Transitioning to a max-track position is easy
and you end up being able to cover large horizontal distances in
short order.  While you might not be able to dive directly to the
formation, a couple of seconds in the no-lift attitude can be just
what's needed to get the job done quickly.  Of course, the formation
must be WELL BELOW (as Brent points out), as you will lose an
enormous amount of altitude in the blink on an eye.

> .
> .
> .
>
> Warning! - in a good no-lift, since you are looking back
> at your feet, you can't see where you're going.
> It's important to lift your head frequently to check your
> distance to the formation and make sure you're not going
> to drill some poor sucker flaring beneath you.
> .
> .
> .

(At the risk of being flamed by those for whom this is obvious...)

This particular point cannot be stressed enough.  Your airspeed
during a good no-lift dive can easily be in excess of 160 MPH (a
fellow at my DZ who is not known for exaggeration claims to have
been clocked in excess of 200 MPH).  Held too long, you may find
yourself closing on a formation at 50-60 MPH.  Hitting anything
at that speed is going to leave both you and whatever you hit in
no condition to skydive for a while, with a good posibility of
being unconscious for (literally) the rest of your life.

	Paul Fries
	C-17147