gus 1 #1 March 18, 2003 Found this on Blinc then this on the Aussie Daily Telegraph. It makes for a good story but 6.5 km horizontal from 15000 feet is hardly revolutionary. Sounds like it was a Crossbow, anyone have any more details? Quote Revolutionary wing suit helps man fly By Adam Hawse 16mar03 A SUIT designed on the aerobatics of a squirrel from Madagascar has helped a stuntman fly from the west to east coast of New Zealand. John Berry wore the revolutionary "wing suit" to complete the first unassisted flight across his native New Zealand this month. The daredevil, better known as "Chuck", described the experience as a "flying dream". Berry and cameraman Sol Vallis exited a Cessna fixed-wing plane at 15,000 feet above the northern tip of the North Island, then glided the 6.5km from Cape Maria Van Diemen to Tapotupotu Bay before deploying a parachute to land atop a four-wheel-drive vehicle. So why did he do it? "Well, why not?" Berry said. "It's just a real challenge – it has never been done before – and it's nice to fly across a geographical feature such as New Zealand." The flight was possible thanks to the special suit developed by a Frenchman who studied the Madagascan flying squirrel. Berry's get-up was a custom-made Italian suit with wings under the arms and legs. It is the wings that make the descent a flight, as opposed to a free-fall. "It's an amazing thing to wear," Berry said. "Imagine a dream where you are flying. It's just like that! Your arms and hands are your wings and that is what you are flying with. "Because your whole body is contained within the suit, you have to use your arms or move your shoulders to change how you fly. "And the view was absolutely unreal. We were right at the tip of the North Island, so the whole of the country just pans out below you." Berry said he was never scared or nervous. When you look at his resume, it's not hard to see why. He has completed over 45,000 sky dives and pioneered BASE jumping in the South Island, with a cool 250 jumps to his credit. He has also performed stunts for television commercials, which included jumping out of a helicopter on a mountain bike. Berry's latest adventure was eight months in the making as he and his support crew made several treks from his home town of Queenstown to assess the topography where he would attempt the flight. The flight has created some controversy, however, with claims it was not "west coast to east coast". The New Zealand Geographic Board said the west-east claim seemed "far-fetched", a spokeswoman claiming Berry landed on the north coast. Whatever the case, Berry is already looking at his next flight in the suit. He plans to fly near mountains, descending close to the hillside. He also wants to fly alongside a descending aircraft. GusOutpatientsOnline.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cpoxon 0 #2 March 18, 2003 QuoteHe has completed over 45,000 sky dives Wow! QuoteHe plans to fly near mountains, descending close to the hillside. He also wants to fly alongside a descending aircraft. This is the guy who was planning to land the wingsuit with a board strapped to his front on a snowy incline. Now it's just "near" and "close"? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cpoxon 0 #3 March 18, 2003 Quoteglided the 6.5km from Cape Maria Van Diemen to Tapotupotu Bay I can't seem to find an online map that marks both of these points as they are named here. This is the closest I could find Tapotupotu Bay seems to correspond with the little dip under the S of Spirits Bay. This area is the real tip of the "boot" Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ManBird 0 #4 March 19, 2003 QuoteThis is the guy who was planning to land the wingsuit with a board strapped to his front on a snowy incline. Now it's just "near" and "close"?Soon it will be, "I plan to fly while looking at mountains", and then it will be "I plan to think about mountains while flying". This guy's a freak. The 45,000 skydive figure is questionable, as are many of his claims. Though, that isn't to say that DD hasn't done some cool shit."¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ManBird 0 #5 March 19, 2003 Yeah, that's a Crossbow. I'm surprised he hasn't gone with BirdMan, especially if he's going for glide artio/distance. He'd be kicking his own ass by miles in a Skyflyer or Skyflyer 3, and would probably be doing at least a bit better in a GTi."¯"`-._.-¯) ManBird (¯-._.-´"¯" Click Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mccordia 74 #6 March 20, 2003 'Red Bull Mysterious Felix' has been talking about doing a skyray jump from the coast of the UK to the coast of France (from a crazy ass altitude). Crossing the channel in freefall would be a cool first....anyone know if this is still gonna happen?JC FlyLikeBrick I'm an Athlete? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ernokaikkonen 0 #7 July 12, 2004 QuoteThis is the guy who was planning to land the wingsuit with a board strapped to his front on a snowy incline. Now it's just "near" and "close"? I just read an old BPA magazine that had a link to the same site (http://www.digitaldog.co.nz/wingsuit.html). According to the article: "If everything goes according to plan, Chuck will attempt his project in winter 2002". Now, on the website, it says "If everything goes according to plan, Chuck will attempt his wingsuit-to-snow project in Winter 2004." Well, I'm not holding my breath. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
verticalflyer 11 #8 July 12, 2004 This guy's a freak. The 45,000 skydive figure is questionable, as are many of his claims. Though, that isn't to say that DD hasn't done some cool shit. Don Kellnor had over 29,000 in 1996 and he was bearing 60 and jumped everyday and held the record number of jumps so unless this guy dies hop n pops for aliving 45000 is a just a little dubious. I lookforward to seeing his planned landing which was supposed to be last year oh and the year before that i wonder if the weather will be ok this year?Dont just talk about it, Do it! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
