How do you make a skyball?

Can someone please tell me exactly how to make a skyball? I want to make one out of a tennis ball. How much weight should i add?

I played around with the idea of a sky ball a little while ago, and after a while, I worked things out pretty well. I made about a 2 inch cut in the tennis ball, and then filled it full of lead shot, about a full pound. On either side of the large cut, I made a smaller cut through which I threaded a pull up cord. In order to keep the ball closed and the lead shot inside, I ran a couple of wraps of duct tape around the ball, over the large cut. The pull up cord was tied tightly in a couple of square knots right over the large hole used to fill the ball with shot. You will most likely have to cut a bit off the two tails created by the pull up cord to increase its fall rate to match yours. When I first started this project, I started with about 8 ounces of shot, and I had to fly under the ball so it would fall in my burble so I could catch it. By adding weight, and then eventually trimming the pull up cord tails, I got the ball to fall at a good belly to earth fall rate. I never did go as far as to try and get it to fall at a head down speed. Just make sure that you jump with this thing over an unpopulated area in case you can't recover the ball before opening. Good luck

Someone had a sky ball at Coolidge last year. It was a neon yellow tennis ball filled with 'I thought' 91 pennies. The 'just long enough slot' was not sealed in any way.

Dave Brownell

Before you buy.

You need to weigh it at 2 to 2 1/4 pounds for head down speeds. Lead shot is most commonly used because it's easy to fill the tennis ball and you only have to cut a small hole to fill it.

If it 'was' one pound for 120MPH, then it would need to be 2.25 pounds for 180MPH.

Weight for 'new' fall rate= New fall rate divided by old fall rate squared X old fall rate weight.

Dave Brownell

Before you buy.

We were using one last weekend a guy made. It was full of pennies, had a 4' pullup tail and the ball weighed 1.967 lbs. The two guys I was jumping with weighed around 250-260 exit weight, myself 180. We were all belly flying (me with a FF suit and the other 2 with baggy RW suits) and the ball seemed to fall good for them but a little too fast for me (but so were the 2 guys) if I went into a sit it was too slow. It worked great for the guy who built it fallrate. Kerry Vail Owner Surf Flite-SkySurfing Equipment

Yeah, so there. At least someone knows what they're talkin about, thanks dude.

Brandon Chouinard

So, would it be around 1.8 lbs for 160mph? How many pennis is that?:o)

Espen ALF#1

Before you buy.

I built that ball, Dave, as an alternative method to the ones I typically build with lead-alloy shot. With 91 pennies and no tail, my Pro-Track Dytter clocked me at 187mph chasing that s.o.b. down; a little fast, considering your body position at that speed, not to mention that I was 'intending' it to be a belly-flyer's ball. I build balls to a total weight of around 10-3/4 ounces for an average fall-rate of around 115mph, depending on atmospheric density, etc- far below 1lb. I distinctly remember jumping some of my better balls with you at Coolidge.

Just wanted to make sure that I got it straight....I avg 180-200+ MPH when going head down. So you're saying that all I need is a tennis ball and 17 oz of lead shot/ pennies, and adjust the speed by the tail. Not trying to be smart ass. I want to know if I can still fly with that little of weight in the ball.

Before you buy.

You might have to experiment a little. 180-200+mph is pretty fast and it probably will take more weight.