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Chapter 537 - 531, The Pitfall in the Parachuting Mission! (Second Update)_1

Chapter 537: 531, The Pitfall in the Parachuting Mission! (Second Update)_1

Skydiving above an altitude of 3600 meters and maintaining freefall for over 40 seconds, Ren He felt this was simply a huge trap.

In simple physics terms, a 40-second freefall would mean crashing to the ground, turning into a pile of mush, undoubtedly.

The Divine Punishment System flooded Ren He’s mind with a vast amount of information on parachuting techniques, these detailed data further affirmed Ren He’s suspicion that this mission was not going to be easy!

An altitude of above 3600 meters does not mean 3600 meters above solid ground— take the entire Henan area, for instance, its average altitude is already 110 meters, which means when you’re at an aerial altitude of 3600 meters, the actual distance from the ground is just 3490 meters.

Let’s set aside the deceptive issue of altitude for a moment, and talk about the designated freefall time. If Ren He were to jump based on the Divine Punishment System’s assigned altitude of 3600 meters and a 40-second freefall, his death would be certain.

There is air resistance in high altitudes, and the correct position for freefalling must be with the body parallel to the ground and legs stretched backward. It’s not just about air resistance, if one encounters an updraft from the ground without the correct freefalling position, and starts flipping in mid-air, Ren He wouldn’t even get the chance to open his parachute.

Therefore, when a human body freefalls through the air, one cannot simply calculate the gravitational acceleration due to this significant resistance, a force so great it’s unimaginable, and one that no one has actually measured.

However, Ren He had An Si confirm with professional skydivers— given a ground elevation of 110 meters, from what altitude would one need to jump to achieve a freefall time of 40 seconds?

The answer was 4600 meters...

Damn, Ren He wanted to curse at the Divine Punishment System right then and there. A 1000-meter discrepancy—if he were to jump so naively, wouldn’t he just die?!

Could you be any more shameless?

It was precisely because of the technical expertise instilled by the Divine Punishment System that Ren He realized a common misconception in skydiving: most people think there is a sense of weightlessness when skydiving. But there isn’t.

The sensation of skydiving is more akin to swimming, the sort of feeling you get when you’re falling through water. Furthermore, from a physical science perspective, the sensation of weightlessness is when the pressure of a body against its support is less than the force of gravity it experiences. Skydiving is a process of falling due to one’s own gravity, so there’s no such sensation of weightlessness. Compared to roller coasters and drop tower rides, it’s quite different indeed. Roller coasters and drop towers have their own velocity that propels you forward, leaving you in a reclined position, right? But with skydiving, you fall due to your own gravity, so it feels completely different.

Skydiving has always been an extreme sport played by those yearning for freedom. During freefall, one experiences a profound sense of emptiness and serenity, a kind of freedom that is hard to achieve with most other extreme sports.

Skydiving is also one of the extreme sports with the highest death rates, far surpassing climbing Mount Everest.

The equipment was ready-made; before heading to the U.S., An Si had prepared it, including parachuting gear, which Ren He had planned to try out. In order to purchase this equipment, Ren He had spent a good sum, so its safety was unquestionable.

After such a long time, Ren He simply asked An Si to have the gear rechecked at the factory; if there were no issues, it could be used right away.

An Si saw no problem with sending the equipment back for a recheck. After all, one only has one life, and it’s best to be cautious. Who knew if the equipment would still be safe after several months? Besides, the money had already been spent, so asking for after-sales service was perfectly reasonable.

The current issue was, how to reach an altitude of 4600 meters?

Logically, one would choose a helicopter, but most civilian helicopters fly below altitudes of 3000 meters. In the previous world, some helicopters even managed to land empty on the summit of Mount Everest in 2005. But in fact, China didn’t have helicopters capable of flying above 3000 meters until the Black Hawks were introduced.

Ren He certainly couldn’t go and ask the military to use a Black Hawk, could he? That would just be foolish.

So, forgoing helicopters, what about commercial airliners?

The truth was, the Divine Punishment System only equipped Ren He with parachuting skills and never told him how to prepare for other aspects.

The domestic parachuting industry was somewhat behind, whereas in the U.S., it was more advanced. But Ren He couldn’t just go to the U.S. to jump— if he landed, he might be taken away by the U.S. government, and then what would be the point?

In the end, it was An Si who contacted professional parachuting companies. Although some companies were stubborn about requiring a parachuting license otherwise forcing one to jump tandem with an instructor, Ren He felt that, first, there was no need to get certified specifically for this, and second, he had money.

In a society like China, where relationships and money were paramount, for someone with money, nothing was impossible, not even asking ghosts to run a mill.

Ren He believed that in vast China, there surely would be a company willing to conduct a parachuting session to his specifications for the right price.

An Si agreed and had set off to inspect the 23 companies on the list; in the end, he would select the most suitable one. Liu Erbao was also eagerly preparing to begin a new round of filming.

With a deadline of two months, there was still plenty of time for preparations.

At this time, Zhang Ming received the script for "Crazy Stone," as well as various refined character designs and storyboards.

The script was great, and even an experienced, renowned director like Zhang Ming was tempted upon receiving it. Each character in the script was a small fry in the current social torrent, embroiled in a series of darkly humorous events over money, fame, faith, and integrity—an intriguing setup.

Ren He also had his own suggestions for casting, like his roommate Zhang Jinglin, who could play the perpetually cool international dealer Mack. The guy was usually silent and had the right physique; plus, Mack didn’t have many scenes and wasn’t a particularly demanding role, which made it suitable for Zhang Jinglin, a student, to refine his acting skills.

Yang Runrun would play the factory owner’s son, Xie Xiaomeng, an inept and pampered wastrel—albeit not as overweight as the original character, Ren He thought his acting skills were more than enough to carry the role.

And for Li Shuaizhen, Ren He hoped he would break through his already excellent acting to play the heartless and cruel boss, originally portrayed by Xu Zheng.

Zhang Ming agreed with these suggestions; truthfully, all these roles were supporting ones. An investor only asking for these few actors, all of whom had decent acting chops, was hardly demanding at all.