Closer to Human Flight

negativeblue writes "Dropzone.com has (had) a story about the preparation of a man (Jeb Corliss) who prepares to land a wingsuit without a parachute. If you don't know the current abilities of parachutes, now-a-day, you should do your research. Basically airfoils, they can perform close to an airplane wing (high performance turns and lift)."

Closer?

[SlayerofGods]

Damn those fictional airplanes landing all the time without a parachute!

Don't get to close to the sun!

[bildungsroman_yorick]

I sure hope he hasn't used wax and feathers as the material for his incredible man flying machine.

Batman!!!

[nbharatvarma]

So we are gonna have Batman soon.. Position of Robin is probably available. Any takers ?

Reminds me of Gomez Addams...

[Anonymous Coward]

...from the Addams Family. Every time he did a jump, he used a smaller parachute. By his theory, eventually he would not need any paracute at all.

And of course, he was correct. Eventually, he would have no need for a paracute...

Re:Batman!!!

[mpathetiq]

I'm a top, not a bottom*... you can have Robin's position.




*not gay.

That's not flying...

[Beolach]

That's falling... with STYLE!

Way cool... nice photos in TFA.

Thought they might have been....

[Mr. BS]

--it's very important to land with zero injuries," said Corliss after analyzing data from the test flight.

Thought they might have been rocket scientists or maybe brain surgeons to figure this one out!

lol

[moro_666]

a madman on fire imagining that he can fly like batman ???
c00l .....

Hmm

[Anonymous Coward]

If Jeb lands the wing-suit without a parachute and survives-he is going to be my hero

That's one big caveat. ;-)

Re:jeb is the man

[websaber]

I don't see what the big deal is. In the early days of flight many people flew with out wings. They just made sure to fly downward (really fast).

Downer

[JustOK]

Be a real downer if it doesn't work. He'll probably be in a big depression.

Re:So how'd he get down?

[Alioth]

If you've ever seen a skydiver's jump ship (the plane that takes them up) you'll realise that there's no way you'd ever describe it as "perfectly functioning". The old joke is they make the jump ship scary enough that the skydivers would rather jump out than land with it, but not so scary that the pilot wants to do the same.

The other joke is:
"What's the difference between skydiving and golf?
In one you go "Whack! Uh oh!" and in the other you go "Uh oh! Whack!"

Re:Batman!!!

[seweso]

The position of Batman will soon be available too!

Best Quote

[Bob(TM)]

Best quote from the article:

"If Jeb lands the wing-suit without a parachute and survives--he is going to be my hero," added Cani.

Between the lines:

And, if he doesn't survive - he'll be dead. Hero/dead ... mutually exclusive.

This flight has been predicted long ago

[lxs]

I believe that Douglas Adams actually channeled this guy's thoughts during the attempt:

And wow! Hey! What's this thing coming towards me very fast? Very very fast. So big and flat and round, it needs a big wide sounding word like... ow... ound... round... ground! That's it! That's a good name - ground! I wonder if it will be friends with me.

Another DNA tidbit on flying...

[speedphreak]

The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy has this to say on the subject of flying:

"There is an art, it says, or rather, a knack to flying.

The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.

Pick a nice day, it suggests, and try it.

The first part is easy.

All it requires is simply the ability to throw yourself forward with all your weight, and willingness not to mind that it's going to hurt.

That is, it's going to hurt if you fail to miss the ground.

Most people fail to miss the ground, and if they are really trying properly, the likelihood is that they will fail to miss it fairly hard.

Clearly, it is this second part, the missing, which presents the difficulties.

One problem is that you have to miss the ground accidentally. It's no good deliberately intending to miss the ground because you won't. You have to have your attention suddenly distracted by something else when you're halfway there, so that you are no longer thinking about falling, or about the ground, or about how much it's going to hurt if you fail to miss it.

It is notoriously difficult to prise your attention away from these three things during the split second you have at your disposal. Hence most people's failure, and their eventual disillusionment with this exhilarating and spectacular sport.

If, however, you are lucky enough to have your attention momentarily distracted at the crucial moment by, say, a gorgeous pair of legs (tentacles, pseudopodia, according to phyllum and/or personal inclination) or a bomb going off in your vicinity, or by suddenly spotting an extremely rare species of beetle crawling along a nearby twig, then in your astonishment you will miss the ground completely and remain bobbing just a few inches above it in what might seem to be a slightly foolish manner.

This is a moment for superb and delicate concentration.

Bob and float, float and bob.

Ignore all considerations of your own weight and simply let yourself waft higher.

Do not listen to what anybody says to you at this point because they are unlikely to say anything helpful.

They are most likely to say something along the lines of, 'Good God, you can't possibly be flying!'

It is vitally important not to believe them or they will suddenly be right.

Waft higher and higher.

Try a few swoops, gentle ones at first, then drift above the treetops breathing regularly.

DO NOT WAVE AT ANYBODY.

When you have done this a few times you will find the moment of distraction rapidly becomes easier and easier to achieve.

You will then learn all sorts of things about how to control your flight, your speed, your manoeuvrability, and the trick usually lies in not thinking too hard about whatever you want to do, but just allowing it to happen as if it was going to anyway.

You will also learn about how to land properly, which is something you will almost certainly cock up, and cock up badly, on your first attempt.

There are private flying clubs you can join which help you achieve the all-important moment of distraction. They hire people with surprising bodies or opinions to leap out from behind bushes and exhibit and/or explain them at the critical moments. Few genuine hitch-hikers will be able to afford to join these clubs, but some may be able to get temporary employment at them."

-- Douglas Adams, 'The Hitch-Hikers Guide To The Galaxy'

Re:"no one has..survived a landing without a chute

[tekunokurato]

I remember reading about all those people in my Second-Edition Dungeon Master's Guide! Wow, what a nerd I am!

Re:Speed is good

[i.r.id10t]

I thought the tricky part was throwing yourself at the ground and missing....