Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Skydriving

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the it's-the-sudden-stop-at-the-end dept.

SanLouBlues writes "Autoweek has this article about a group of guys in Arizona who will drop your car out of a cargo jet for $15k. Parachutes for the car are optional. Their ultimate goal is to drop a Greyhound with forty people inside. More pictures here and here)"

23 of 329 comments (clear)

  1. Yes, but can they aim? by CBNobi · · Score: 3, Funny

    "There's no real science to it--it's hit or miss," says skydiver/skydriver Greg Gasson

    I don't want to know what would happen if they hit, let alone if they miss. Hit what? Where?

    (Although, I think this would make a neat little Junkyard Wars-esque competition.. or not)

    1. Re:Yes, but can they aim? by AntiNorm · · Score: 3, Funny

      any info on parachut clusters big enough for a greyhound

      You mean like a Beowulf Cluster of parachutes? :P

      --

      I pledge allegiance to the flag...
      of the Corporate States of America...
    2. Re:Yes, but can they aim? by polin8 · · Score: 3, Funny

      Keanu: if the bus drops below 50 mph ...

      well, on the bright side, we won't be around long enough to worry about the bomb.

  2. So... by Phexro · · Score: 5, Funny

    If you have an 802.11b-equipped laptop in the car on your way down, are you then warskydriving?

    1. Re:So... by Ogerman · · Score: 5, Funny

      I suppose.. but how could you leave your mark to let all the other warskydrivers know where you found the good networks.. hmm.. Ah yes.. WarCratering!

    2. Re:So... by Salsaman · · Score: 5, Funny

      Maybe. But imagine if you dropped several cars simultaneously, you could form a Beowulf cluster on the way down.

  3. Re:So, let me get this straight by Yorrike · · Score: 5, Funny

    I'd pay them $15K to drop a Greyhound bus packed with 40 people I don't like. Sounds like a great idea.

    --

    Looks can be deceiving. Or CAN they?

  4. Obligatory Deep Thought by ElJefe · · Score: 5, Funny

    "I bet a funny thing about driving a car off a cliff is, while you're in midair, you still hit those brakes! Hey, better try the emergency brake!"
    -Jack Handy

  5. Yet another reason to love duct tape... by thelenm · · Score: 5, Funny

    From the story: The hoods are duct-taped shut, since metal tearing off at terminal velocity could endanger the "drivers."

    Boy, I wish I had a nickel for every time duct tape prevented someone's violent death at terminal velocity.

    --
    Use Ctrl-C instead of ESC in Vim!
  6. Re:"Gaining speeds of up to 140mph"? by teamhasnoi · · Score: 3, Funny
    I have super big pipes on my Civic and a VTEC badge and an "R" sticker and a "Powered by Honda" decal and TWO white racing stripes down the center, so my Honda can go 340 at LEAST before terminal velocity.

    I can totally blow the doors off of any Mustang, so watch out! My plate says "00wnzU".

  7. Re:Save yourself 15K... by oyenstikker · · Score: 3, Funny

    Noone would want my car. ('89 Dodge Colt with 218,000 miles.) If this car gets me through 2 more years of college and these guys are still around, I think it would be a great way to pay my last respects to my baby.

    --
    The masses are the crack whores of religion.
  8. did anybody else get the feeling.. by mandolin · · Score: 3, Funny
    .. while they were looking at the second set of pics, that..

    maybe it's not such a hot idea to chase a cargo plane from below and behind, while a car is falling out of its ass?

    "Look bubba, *click* that car *click* just keeps getting bigger and bigSMASH

  9. A first ever. by Bimkins · · Score: 5, Funny

    "Their ultimate goal is to drop a Greyhound with forty people inside."

    This has the potential to be the first 40-way Darwin Award...

    --



    If you smoke after sex, you're doing it too fast.
  10. It's a great place.. by deathcow · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...to wake up a drunk friend.

  11. Read the article... by Zeinfeld · · Score: 5, Funny
    "There's no real science to it--it's hit or miss," says skydiver/skydriver Greg Gasson,

    How many times do the cars miss the ground?

    --
    Looking for an Information Security student project suggestion?
    Try http://dotcrimeManifesto.com/
    1. Re:Read the article... by kreyg · · Score: 5, Funny

      How many times do the cars miss the ground?

      Not often, but if distracted at just the right moment...

      --
      sig fault
  12. Flying cars.... by Jaysyn · · Score: 3, Funny

    I don't think this is what they ment when they said we'd have flying cars in the future.

    Jaysyn

    --
    There is a war going on for your mind.
  13. Again: "Perspective" by cribcage · · Score: 5, Funny

    But fast ROLLER COASTERS are the great, perilous danger from which we must protect the masses.

    Riiiight.

    Sometimes the funniest part of being American is comparing the things we can't do with the things that are perfectly legal.

    crib

    --

    Please don't read my journal
  14. QOTD by Devil's+BSD · · Score: 3, Funny

    If at first you do not succeed, then skydriving is not for you.

    --
    I'm the Devil the Windows users warned you about.
  15. people aren't subtle enough these days by Trepidity · · Score: 5, Funny

    Why back when I was a kid people were sneaky about their homicidal intent. Nowadays they just say "my goal in life is to cram 40 people into a bus, drop it from an airplane, and watch it smash to bits." Hmph.

    --
    10 PRINT CHR$(205.5+RND(1)); : GOTO 10
    1. Re:people aren't subtle enough these days by Tablizer · · Score: 3, Funny

      Why back when I was a kid people were sneaky about their homicidal intent. Nowadays they just say "my goal in life is to cram 40 people into a bus, drop it from an airplane, and watch it smash to bits." Hmph.

      The real tragedy is that the participants don't have any incentive to write maintainable code.

      --
      Table-ized A.I.
  16. Re:"Gaining speeds of up to 140mph"? by DemiKnute · · Score: 5, Funny

    140mph? Is that right? It seems awfully slow to me.

    That's only because you've never hit the ground doing 140mph. If you had, you'd realize just how fast that is.

    --
    .
  17. Re:Military by DarkHelmet · · Score: 3, Funny
    Either that, or have the bus go at a velocity so that it crashes into the side of one of their buildings.

    "That'll show you how it's done!"

    --
    /^[A-Z0-9._%+-]+@[A-Z0-9.-]+\.[A-Z]{2,4}$/i