Skylark 0 #1 December 2, 2002 I've just passed AFF, I'm 32 years old and I want to fly. I used to dream of flying when I was a child and since passing AFF and learning how to track, I have those same dreams again now, clearer and more intense. My question is, how truly different is the experience of flying a wingsuit, compared to very good tracking? How much more closer is the feeling of 'flying'? I ask the question because in order to fulfill my dream, my life will need to change from now on as I will need to throw myself into skydiving for the next few years to obtain enough experience to learn to fly a Wingsuit. In other words, is it really worth it? I recently watched a point-of-view video clip of a Wingsuit BASE jump from Kejrag, Norway. Although the freefall time approached half a minute, the clip still didn't give the impression that the Birdman was truly tracking forward at any great speed. Maybe it was the type of lens used on the camera? Any comments welcome... I've also noticed a seperate discussion on here about landing Wingsuits. Apparently someone is already trying it: http://www.digitaldog.co.nz/wingsuit.html "Into the dangerous world I leapt..." William Blake, Songs of Experience Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
vesatoro 0 #2 December 2, 2002 I'd say that the difference between feelings is quite big. While tracking you are quite fixed to one body position to get the good performace out of it, but flying a wingsuit is much more relaxed kind of flying. With a wingsuit you can have that flying feeling with less effort and stay longer up there. With a good track yo can have 90sec flight, but with wings you can double it so, keep on going Vesa BMI "Fear is the path to the Dark side" (Master Yoda) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TomAiello 26 #3 December 2, 2002 Quotethe clip still didn't give the impression that the Birdman was truly tracking forward at any great speed. Go to the skydivingmovies.com ftp server and have a look at the clip entitled FastestMotherFuckerInTheValley.WMV. Link to the thread referring to it (see posting by cpoxon). Estimates of forward speed on that flight were 200-250km/h (that's over 120mph). If you still don't get the impression of great speed, I can't help you. Blue Skies, Cold Steel.-- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kevin922 0 #4 December 2, 2002 QuoteQuotethe clip still didn't give the impression that the Birdman was truly tracking forward at any great speed. Go to the skydivingmovies.com ftp server and have a look at the clip entitled FastestMotherFuckerInTheValley.WMV. Link to the thread referring to it (see posting by cpoxon). Estimates of forward speed on that flight were 200-250km/h (that's over 120mph). If you still don't get the impression of great speed, I can't help you. Blue Skies, Cold Steel. Hey tom - no one ever replied to me on that thread, do you know the stats from that jump? How high it was he jumped from, what he deployed at? Kevin Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TomAiello 26 #5 December 2, 2002 Quotedo you know the stats from that jump? How high it was he jumped from, what he deployed at? I don't know the actual numbers (I've never been to that site, myself). I remember Lukas saying he though he was over 1000' when he crossed the river, and he was a very safe (i.e. conservative) jumper, so I bet he was over 500' when he pulled. I know that minute flights are happening off that cliff, so I'd guess the total exit to landing altitude somewhere between 5000' and 6000'. As I said, though, I've never been there, so I could be way off base (pun intended) on that. If you want to know for sure, I bet there are several people on headdown.net that know the site very well. If i had to ask someone, I'd start with Flare (who was the guy standing just behind Lukas in the video) or cpoxon (you could PM him on DZ.com), who posted the video.-- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cpoxon 0 #6 December 3, 2002 QuoteI know that minute flights are happening off that cliff, so I'd guess the total exit to landing altitude somewhere between 5000' and 6000'. Robert has done 1 minute from the big, legal, terminal wall in Northern Italy and that's only 4,000 feet. With regards to the place where Lukas did the jump in the video, I've not been there either but I found this from Jim Jennings' review of the Birdman Pantz: QuoteIn late August 2002, I made three consecutive jumps at a 4,500-foot mountain named K with a 14 seconds to impact rock drop of approximately 1800 feet. The next 2,000-ft. is a steep talus with a 400 to 500 foot almost sheer cliff on top of another 300 feet of talus. To clear the 2,000-ft. talus ledge, the jumper has to get into a really good track right away and hold it throughout the jump to clear the ledge at the bottom and this is a post from Blinc when the talus was first out-tracked: QuoteHe (Stein Olsen) tracked app.. 900m (3000ft) with ca 900m total drop!!! moving the record in K from 17s to 30s!!!!!. He is 180 cm tall and weigh in on 78 kg, nothing unusual about that! (no booties, slicksuit, just a plain outfit) After this jump, all the jumpers walk around on the exit prior to jump, looking like penguins! Later a girl smashed the record (31) humiliating the machos! (you hit water at Kjeraag at 24) Saying that you'd hit the water at Kjerag after less time would imply that it's lower (depends on the exit point?) but I reckon there's a bigger motivation at K to have a more efficient track with more visual feedback! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Skylark 0 #7 December 3, 2002 Having said all that, I do vividly remember seeing a short clip of Patrick De Gayardon tracking with a wingsuit over a snow capped mountain with a smoke canister, on the film 'Lord of the Skies' about Adrian's world record attempt. Does anyone know where I can access more of that footage? EDITED TO ADD: Wow!!!!!! I have a feeling that fastestmotherfuckerinthevalley clip has likely changed the course of my life from now on... "Into the dangerous world I leapt..." William Blake, Songs of Experience Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
