High-altitude jumps - The New Yorker

[howardwhite 6]

The Aug. 13 issue of The New Yorker, (a magazine probably not on the coffee tables of many dz.commers) has a long and interesting article on Michel Fournier and his ongoing plans to make a high-altitude jump. It includes a lot of description of the physiology, etc., and a lot of the history (Kittinger, etc.)
It concludes with the author's description of his own tandem at Fournier's home DZ in France.
Worth looking up if you're interested in the subject.

HW

[normiss 893]

Article Summary

[howardwhite 6]

Well, that's not the full article, just a summary.

HW

[piisfish 140]

now the question remains...

Will he jump ?

I hope he will

I seriously doubt it

Do a quick search for Fournier here.

My opinion is :

-he will have 50k $ missing to close the budget
or
-technical failure before takeoff
or
-bad weather

scissors beat paper, paper beat rock, rock beat wingsuit - KarlM

[normiss 893]

This was supposed to be attempted last September...what happened?

Superjump

[piisfish 140]

this august.. and next may ? august ?

scissors beat paper, paper beat rock, rock beat wingsuit - KarlM

[normiss 893]

I noticed the first attempt was supposed to have been in 2005...???
At least he has a champagne partner!

[jtval 0]

I heard about it when I was in australia in april 2002.


I was just in the planning stages but the way it sounded was as if it was only a year or two away.

My photos

My Videos

[piisfish 140]

Quote

I noticed the first attempt was supposed to have been in 2005...???
At least he has a champagne partner!

at least since 2000
www.thesuperjump.org/site_en/historique.htm

scissors beat paper, paper beat rock, rock beat wingsuit - KarlM

[PhreeZone 20]

He's canceled again this year:

Skydiver delays record attempt
The StarPhoenix
Published: Saturday, August 18, 2007
A French skydiver's long quest to achieve four new world records with a stratospheric balloon launch from a Saskatchewan field has been delayed once again.

The high-tech, triple-ply balloon 62-year-old Michel Fournier plans to take 40 kilometres into the air has arrived in Canada. But it didn't arrive soon enough to be thoroughly tested and cleared for use in time for an attempt this summer, according to the Regina-based adventure travel operator who manages the Canadian side of the endeavor.

"It's just a matter of making sure that it hasn't suffered anything, that it's inspected properly as it arrives and all those things, because so much rides on this that it's just best to just take the time to do it right," Claude-Jean Harel said in an interview Friday.

"It's not a big deal -- I mean, it's a big deal in the sense that it's kind of annoying for everybody, sort of frustrating to have another delay, and of course all our holidays are on hold every summer for the last five years," he said, laughing.

Fournier will wait until sometime next spring to make his next try at shattering the world records for the highest-altitude balloon ascent and the highest, fastest and longest freefall. He hopes to reach speeds capable of breaking the sound barrier.

The retired French army reserve colonel has been training for the 40,000-metre jump since the late 1980s. The mission depends on specific atmospheric conditions, making it difficult to set an exact launch date too far in advance.

His closest attempt was in August, 2003, when a previous, thinner balloon burst just before takeoff. Harel said the new balloon is a type already used at extreme altitudes, but has never carried a human payload.

© The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon) 2007

Yesterday is history
And tomorrow is a mystery

Parachutemanuals.com

[tbrown 26]

Cheryl Stearns is also supposed to be in a race with
Fournier to do her own version of the dive. She's planning on wearing a NASA Shuttle suit, ostensibly to research te viability of astronauts surviving a high altitude bailout. She's also encountered a lot of problems and delays.

this ain't your average balloon jump, it's really 'spensive.

Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity !