Talk:Parachute Jump

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

An entry from Parachute Jump appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know? column on 5th May, 2006.

This article has been nominated for Selected article, at the Architecture portal.

	This article is within the scope of the National Register of Historic Places WikiProject, a collaborative effort to improve Wikipedia's coverage of listings on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.
B	This article has been rated* as B-Class on the assessment scale.*

[edit] Defunct

I dislike being pedantic, but in terms of concrete objects, defunct means no longer functioning. Preservationists list buildings as "defunct" or "demolished", thus they are not synonyms. Defunct abstract entities such as businesses, committees, or governments do "cease to exist" when they cease to function, but this is not true of buildings, structures or machines. Despite the presence of non-English speakers, we need not always write as if for the simple English Wikipedia. --Dhartung | Talk 04:07, 6 May 2006 (UTC)

FWIW, I agree that's what defunct means; then again, when I started the article, I deliberately decided not to use the word for fear of confusing people. This isn't Simple English Wiki, true, but the lead sentence should be as accessible as possible, don't ya think? —Bunchofgrapes (talk)

"Defunct" could be interpreted to mean that the parachute jump is there but not operating, but you could also call Luna Park and Steeplechase "defunct amusement parks." Sometimes a little precision trumps what seems like elegant economy of language. -- Cecropia 06:02, 6 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Free-fall/ chutes deploying

Well. The World's Fair guidebook makes it quite clear that the chutes are held open all the time, while travelling up as well as down. This is confirmed by pictured like this: the domed chutes are presumably coming down and the "pointed" ones going up. So where did I get the crazy idea that this thing actually deployed a closed chute and had the rider go through a few seconds of freefall? It was from two bits of Coney Island: Lost and Found. Especially this part, from p 123:

The parachute jump was developed for the military in the 1930s as a training simulator for airborne troops. Each furled parachute with its rider seated in a harness was carried aloft by a lift rope and guided by six steel cables. When the parachute reached the top, a release mechanism was tripped, and the parachutes and riders went into free fall for several seconds until the chutes opened and slid down the cables.

I guess they are talking about the military versions only, but the blasted book doesn't have the courtesy to mention that. In fact, a couple pages later the author is describing riding the 'chute at the age of nine: "Then without waning we reached the top. The chute hit and exploded. We were falling."

So you could see where I got the wrong impression. Grr. —Bunchofgrapes (talk) 03:31, 9 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Picture

I recently took a photo of the jump; i'm entirely biased, but i think it's better than the one on the page (it's got more contrast, and you can see the layout of the crown better), and i'm quite happy for it to be used if anyone else thinks so. There's a bigger version here. -- Tom Anderson 2006-09-20 1518 BST

It's lovely. Thank you. —Bunchofgrapes (talk) 14:41, 20 September 2006 (UTC)

As well-appreciated as your contribution is, I'd like to point out that the article doesn't carry any historical pictures of the jump in operation. I am hoping that we may be able to see what the thing looked like in its heyday.—The preceding unsigned comment was added by 192.31.106.34 (talk • contribs).