mike | Shared With: Everyone - Dec 11 2007 | flying, parachute, sky diving, aerodynamics
With a 3:1 glide ratio, a wing suit should allow you to perform a landing on the ground w/o a parachute. Problem it - a very high stall speed for the wing; he can flare to land - but his forward speed is still high (my guess - 70 - 100 mph).
One technique (my own guess) would be to build a 2 mile-long slippery surface "runway" above which you would flare and then slide after touchdown. Wet grass might work (if you're sure there it is very level and there are no rocks on the surface).
Quoted: Jeb Corliss wants to fly — not the way the Wright brothers wanted to fly, but the way we do in our dreams. He wants to jump from a helicopter and land without using a parachute.
mike | Shared With: Everyone - Jul 30 2006 | video, sky diving, parachute, flying
click to playBeautiful!
An array of 81 parachuters gliding in the setting sun. Great camera work from multiple photographers who pan across the formation from every angle. A stunning video (great music for it too).
Video deleted - here's another copy:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3754293779500828561ShareViewed: 33 Times
- eric - Dec 12 2007
- royleban - Dec 12 2007
- kennykamada - Dec 13 2007
You must be Mike's friend before you can comment on this Fave.At the Banff Film Festival this year, the people's choice award went to an outstanding documentary on base jumping and included the dude from the wing suit guy from this article. You can find out more about the film here:
http://www.banffcentre.ca/mountainculture/festivals/2007/film/awards/twenty_seconds_of_joy.asp
Keep your eyes peeled as it was really good.
There was another article about this guy that said his ramp borrowed ideas from Alpine jumping. I could imagine a "V" shaped ramp which had a down part that curved into an up part to decelerate the diver, then ended with airbags or bungee cords like they use on aircraft carriers. If I were building it, I would build it near the top of a huge cliff and wear a backup parachute. If he's unable to make the ramp, he can overshoot the cliff and use his chute. Doing it without a backup chute at all seems crazy.
Mike, I think your guess of 70-100mph forward speed is right on from what I remember from the other article.
Check out Loic Jean Albert's videos of his wing suit jumps. He's a Salomon and Red Bull sponsored athlete.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GW24BBCStWk
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