Most amazing glide approach ever???

[Pace]

Jeb Corliss " Grinding The Crack" - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=TWfph3iNC-k)

Pace

[Obi_Wan]

I want one.

[Obi_Wan]

No seriously, I want one of those.

[Mark1234]

Also check out jokke sommer's 'dream lines' - seriously impressive.

Then there's this: Jeb Corliss - Grounded - YouTube - jeb getting it seriously wrong and being lucky to escape with his life. Very quick decision making..

Mind you, whenever I see these I'm reminded of toy story: "That's not flying, that's falling with style" ;)

[Madbob]

Absolute nutter! If he keeps this up I don't give him much longer on this planet....:yuk::yuk:

MB

[mad_jock]

Very quick decision making..

Yep same here. I watch it and thought :mad: that, way too dangerous in a nano second.

In a split second I stopped myself getting smacked off a rock trying to hit a helium filled balloon.

[Armchairflyer]

Besides the preoccupation with my bodily integrity, given that after a team-jump gone sour and his fellow "glider" hitting a bridge at high speed "Corliss had to take evasive action to avoid colliding with Weston's remains"[1] that's a kind of traffic avoidance I gladly give a miss :bored:. Impressive to watch and I wish them all the best, but not for me, thank you.

[1]: Jeb Corliss - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeb_Corliss)

[Madbob]

Armchairflyer

No further proof necessary! Total nutter IMHO.....see my earlier post above.

2012
On 16 January 2012 in an accident while proximity flying off Table Mountain (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Table_Mountain), Cape Town (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Town), South Africa (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Africa) Jeb broke both ankles, three toes, his fibula bone, tore his left ACL, and sustained a gash in his shin that required skin grafts to close. He struck his legs approximately halfway between the hip and knee on a rock ledge he was attempting to skim over while aiming at a target balloon. The impact caused him to tumble forward one revolution before he regained control in order to clear some additional ledges. He then deployed his chute. He was airlifted out by the Red Cross (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Cross) Air Mercy Service Agusta 119 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AgustaWestland_AW119_Koala). He has recovered, is up and walking and plans to return to life as usual. A video of the accident has been released.



MB

[Armchairflyer]

True, MB, on the other hand I suppose that, e.g., motorcycle racing can result in similar injuries, maybe even at a similar rate (that's why it's no thanks for me as well).

Might actually be an interesting question: how safe could one make wingsuit flying? But then I suppose that's not quite the mindset of these guys :E.

[Pace]

Is there a wing shape to the suit as in the picture it looks like yes!
So I presume the suit does generate some lift rather than purely direction control!
If it generates lift can the suit stall or loose efficiency by too abrupt a avoidance manoeuvre ?
His other video with a jump out of an aeroplane at 2500 feet without a parachute was amazing too.
No parachute and only the body suit to control his path to a pile of cardboard boxes!! The guy has guts as a tiny mistake and he is dead !


Pace

[Obi_Wan]

Well if you're going to aim at a small balloon, 2 foot off a rock outcrop... :{

Still want one though.

[Pace]

Obi Wan

I want one too :E My trouble is I do not know who to put in it ? :E Not me!!!
Good presents for Christmas I have a mate who would love to stick his wife in one any other ideas ?

Pace

[Obi_Wan]

Pace,

I've tried and I've tried, and tried some more, but I can't write a constructive response that doesn't deteriorate into a soap-box moment that would yield massive thread drift.

Time for me to make a Jonnie Walker Ovaltine ("no dear, justmaking my night time malt drink" ;)) and turn in for the night.

Old Ben

[bam160]

Pace, the guy landing in a pile of cardboard boxes wasn't Jeb Corliss but Gary Connery.
Jeb only got famous for talking about landing a wingsuit for years on tv-shows and trying to convince sponsors to give him millions to build a landing ramp on the Vegas strip.
Then Gary came along, bought some cheap cardboard boxes and made history without being a glory hound. :ok:

Concerning lift and directional control: yes and yes...

[flybymike]

The guy has guts
And it probably won't be long before we see them.

[Bushfiva]

Can't show you his guts, but here here are his mate's.

[Pace]

Bushfiva

This is obviously a very high risk sport but looking at our own I could put up tragic videos of nasty crashes with loss of life at Air displays or the recent awful air racing crash in the USA.
I am sure to that the regular GA fatals would make for gruesome watching if such videos existed.
Every sport has risks from Horse riding to my hobby Scuba Diving which claims more lives every year than we want to know.
It would be interesting to see sport risk data as I am sure base jumping must be one of the highest.
You still have to admire their (guts) courage and I am sure they are aware of the very high price to pay for the smallest mistake as your video link shows.

Addendum
Looking at that very sad clip it is apparent that he arched quite considerably to extend and adjust his glide angle.
If these suits are wing shaped and do create lift I wonder whether he in fact high speed stalled the thing thus hitting the bridge?

Pace

[mad_jock]

I had a look at the design of them PACE.

They are based on the same theory as square parchutes inflating to create a foil. The foil is then adjusted by moving your body to give you some control.

[Mark1234]

True, MB, on the other hand I suppose that, e.g., motorcycle racing can result in similar injuries, maybe even at a similar rate (that's why it's no thanks for me as well).

Might actually be an interesting question: how safe could one make wingsuit flying? But then I suppose that's not quite the mindset of these guys http://images.ibsrv.net/ibsrv/res/src:www.pprune.org/get/images/smilies/evil.gif.

It's an interesting question about psychology I think - the safer we make life, the more esoteric ways man (I mean the animal, not the gender) comes up with to push the envelope. I don't believe it's a deathwish, ignorance, or any deliberate inclination to 'risk'. I'm inclined to believe that some people are just 'wired' differently - in the past, they served a purpose, to break new ground for the species. In our modern day H&S society, not so much - as fast as you make things 'safe' they'll find new outlets.

Yet to get around to watching this, but I suspect it might be interesting along those lines: Daredevils: Life on the Edge - 4oD - Channel 4 (http://www.channel4.com/programmes/daredevils-life-on-the-edge/4od)