Quote:
Originally Posted by carpediem200
There is a vid with the mess from when it does go wrong!
Jeb Corliss said in an interview he saw the guys stuff flying past him in the air and when he landed he saw the guys leg land on the floor. Now i'd think that'd be enough to put anyone off but obviously not as he's still jumping!
I guess the helmets are to protect their eyes and also any minor knocks becase they do get ridiculously close to stuff.
helmets and kneew pads and elbow pads are more for landing because the landing areas are sometimes very dicy
Quote:
Originally Posted by microbet
I've been skydiving a couple times and it didn't seem very dangerous.
I don't think comparing wingsuiting as a hobby to taking pills or cutting wrists is much of an exaggeration. Seems like almost 10% of these guys have already killed themselves and they probably aren't through yet and this sport is pretty new so there aren't a lot of retired survivors. Maybe as many as a third of these guys end up dying this way unless the mounting deaths start to cause people to change their minds. And, I don't know the stats, but the few people I've known who have taken pills or cut wrists have all survived - except for one guy who took pills and put a plastic bag over his head.
sure just make up statistics and compare them to drug adicts and suicidal people. have you ever met any base jumpers and had a talk about them about how dangerous it is or why they do it? im sure you also get offended if people call all poker players degenerate alcoholic scumbags.
Quote:
Originally Posted by IcyHotMonkey
wonder how many years until the redbull wingsuit race course.
the only race where the fattest athletes will prove to be the fastest
Quote:
Originally Posted by carpediem200
Anyone know what speed you reach sky diving? I think these wingsuits you can get upto 120mph
anywhere from 10 mph with the most experienced lightest and tallest wingsuiters for a short period of time to 300 mph in a headdown orientation
Quote:
Originally Posted by atakdog
I'm surprised they seem to have no ability to stall them, or even temporarily alter their glide ratio much in exchange for speed. They're more in controlled falls than flight; seems a bit more surface area would give them a much bigger set of possibilities (but less speed, and probably huge control issues).
they can very well stall them and even go into flatspins which become extremely dangerous in a very short period of time. i remember an experienced wingsuiter once get into a flat spin and when he landed both his eyes were filled with blood from the g forces exerted on him. also the glide ratio is very easy to change because you have a very large range of motion with the wings between your arms and your legs. and yes more surface area means a better glide ratio but harder to control precisely thats why it takes hundreds of jumps in small wingsuits before you can advance to bigger ones if you even are able to advance at all