Aug 15, 2002, 2:18 AM
Post #1 of 6
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WARNING - whuffo birdman question alert!
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ok so when we (non birdmen) exit, we fall for 10 secs or so before terminal. Once terminal is hit, you dont really feel like you fall anymore because the wind is pushing so hard from below. However, when thinking about it, now that you lot (birdpeople) have such slow vertical speed, does it feel like you are in a constant downward fall? Do you have a prolonged effect of "stomach flip" on exit? I figured there would be a different feel because of the less vertical speed, which would equate to less air resistance on the body and therefore a prolonged feeling of falling. ANyway am i way off on this?
TomAiello (D 22400)
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Aug 15, 2002, 3:14 AM
Post #2 of 6
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I've never noticed any prolonged falling sensation. I'm pretty sure the falling feeling goes away once you reach terminal. You ought to actually reach terminal in the suit sooner (since birdman terminal is slower than boxman terminal and way slower than free fly terminal), so I'd think there is less "falling" sensation.
The reason a wingsuit flyer has less vertical speed is because he has the same amount of air resistance, so the feeling is roughly the same (at least in the downward direction).
Under most skydiving conditions (from aircraft that are flying forward at >75+knots), I've never gotten the "falling" feeling...not like BASE jumping or jumping from a balloon/hovering helicopter would give.
That said, the only difference I've felt between normal freefall and wingsuit-assisted freefall are faster forward/slower downward speeds (accompanied by higher endorphin release) with wingsuits.
I've had it in dead air out the door twice. Never on bungee or BASE jumps or cliff dives. I guess that roller coaster feeling is pretty much reserved for roller coasters.
