DSE (D 29060)
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Feb 21, 2009, 9:10 AM
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13 miles from 35K
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This is an official wingsuit world record attempt but since it's wingsuit specific, thought y'all might want to read it. Shouldn't 13 miles from 35k be reasonably easy depending on winds? I watched Scott Callantine do 6.78 miles from 22 (I had a measly 5.88) We were also flying into a 30kt headwind. Go Ben (and Scott)! Publicity is a good thing!
That would be passing the Red-Bull guys with a few meters I guess? Which is the old (informal?) record...
Their bodyposition doesnt look like they (Gibraltar crossing guys) are giving it their full performance though at 5+ mins of freefall I think it definitely takes some of that Army muscle to be able to fly max for the full jump length/duration.
Doing a jump like this in a bigger/newer suit (stealth, V3, sm1, XS etc) would probably be worth doing....do make sure that Ipod is full for the way down..cause thats some long falling/flying...
From Ueli's page: 01.06.2008 thanks to very strong tailwinds, it was possible to fly my profly-wingsuit from above inis mor, aran islands over galway bay to connemara regional airport close to galway. a distance of over 15 km over cold water finally reaching the atlantic coast of ireland. what a spectacular view of irish historic history.
Doing a jump like this in a bigger/newer suit (stealth, V3, sm1, XS etc) would probably be worth doing....do make sure that Ipod is full for the way down..cause thats some long falling/flying...
Given that Ben is wearing a Tonysuit XS...it'll be interesting to see what distance he does.
No I didnt, but I couldnt find any exact quotes/data on his jump outside 5:45 'crossing-time' (including canopy)
But if you have some exact data somewhere, please do send it, and Ill gladly ad him (as the video on that one looked awesome)
A big problem with these kind of things, is that its not always clear if its a real record (meaning, damn..thats a performance-level/feat not many people could accomplish with that altitude) or just a media-record (make any kind of jump from X altitude, and dub whatever you do a 'record' because nobody else claimed it before)
Given that Ben is wearing a Tonysuit XS...it'll be interesting to see what distance he does.
I hope Scott is also using something other than his Blade then, or he'll be watching a dot in the distance.... But perhaps he is also flying an XS or (sticking with his brand) a new 'borrowed' wingsuit design Ive seen floating around..
No I didnt, but I couldnt find any exact quotes/data on his jump outside 5:45 'crossing-time' (including canopy)
Hi Jarno,
the altitude must be around 4500 meters, the distance was 17,6 km. It was the jump without oxygen mask and with base rig.
Ueli wrote per E-Mail only (in German): "...Gleitzahl auf Absprunghöhe war rund 1:4.5 und ist dann mit abnehmenden Winden auf rund 1:3 gesunken. Gleitzahl nur mit sehr starken Höhenwinden möglich, fliege in ruhiger Luft Gleizahl 2.9 auf kürzere Flüge bis ca. 1500 Höhenmeter. Dieser Flug war nur möglich mit Rückenwind auf Absprunghöhe von rund 100 km/h..."
(This post was edited by Deniq on Feb 22, 2009, 2:24 AM)
The Professor posted same basic information we received here at Eloy today; one of the pilots became ill, coupled with weather. Too bad, was really rooting for Ben and his Tonysuit XS. Looking forward to seeing the five-minute video though. That's got to be one of the longest wingsuit vids, ever.
High altitude jumps have it all, apart from being risky, time consuming and expensive
Fear and anxiety before Joy and solitude on exit Reflection and deep thought during long flight Pain and discomfort from the cold and muscle fatigue Elation to be back on the ground again
Adrian's mask froze and he was breathing through his tear duct
Adrian dedicated his record to Patrick - so the Spanish decided not to register their record with GBR.
Glen and Heather will have another go this year i believe.
Hope Ben & Scott have better luck next time..
(This post was edited by unclecharlie95 on Feb 23, 2009, 7:52 AM)
LouDiamond (D 25931)
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Feb 23, 2009, 8:23 AM
Post #21 of 28
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Re: [unclecharlie95] 13 miles from 35K
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I'll post a small synopsis of the event either later today or in the next few days. Thanks for the support gang.
A good deal is already covered in the linked articles so I won't re-cap that. So I will provide a short version that covers what wasn't in the articles.
After a considerable amount of planning and preparation, all was in place to conduct this event. However, no plan ever survives it's first contact and this one was no different. As I've said in the past in the forums here, conducting high altitude jumps is no joke and has an added degree of risk involved. On saturday the aircraft had ascended to 32k feet AGL and was 6 minutes out from the drop time. At this point one of the aircrew members started displaying symptoms of hypoxia that was noticed by 1 of the 3 phys techs on board and fellow aircrew members. It was determined that the aircrew member was indeed displaying effects of hypoxia and the necessary corrective actions were immediately taken. The aircraft was diverted to San Diego to drop the air crew member at a facility that could treat him as he was displaying additional symptoms that were of concern to his overall well being. As the article stated, the aircrew member recovered after being treated.
Due to this incident and being one man short now, the aircrew could only ascend to 25k AGL on Sunday. It was decided to go ahead and follow through with the jump since we had all the assets in place and were prepared to do it. On Sunday morning the jump was made from a drop altitude of 24,550 feet AGL and a distance of 10 miles was flown. Due to last minute logistical complications in my schedule, I was unable to travel to the event in time. However, as planned, I calculated the winds and did the route planning each day and passed the information to Ben prior to the pilot briefing each morning so he could relay it to the pilots. This information along with real time collection of winds during the climb were compared and slight corrections to the drop heading were made if needed in flight. Based on the calculations, saturdays jump would have yielded a distance of 17 miles and that was how far away the drop was going to be from the DZ until the aircrew member became hypoxic. Sundays jump at 24, 550 feet AGL was 10k feet lower than the previous record jumps and we knew it was a big disadvantage. However, based on the calculations we knew we could get at least 10 miles from that altitude. On sunday Ben exited the C-17 at the airplanes GPS verified exit point and flew 10 miles back to the DZ where he deployed his main canopy directly over top of the intended landing area at an altitude of 3500 ft AGL with a total flight time of 5 minutes 16 seconds. Despite jumping from 10k lower than the previous record jumps, Ben still came very close to the 12 mile mark.
Had Ben been able to exit the aircraft on saturday, we are confident that he would have easily flown 17 miles back to the DZ and deployed at the calculated opening altitude. Aside from the aircrew member becoming hypoxic, everything else went according to the plan that was in place and the calculations proved accurate. As of right now, there are already plans to re-visit this attempt at a undetermined later date when time permits.
On saturday the aircraft had ascended to 32k feet AGL and was 6 minutes out from the drop time. At this point one of the aircrew members started displaying symptoms of hypoxia that was noticed by 1 of the 3 phys techs on board and fellow aircrew members.
Quick question Scott because I don't have this straight: How did that crew member get hypoxia while on air? Or if somehow he wasn't on air, why wasn't he on air after passing above 15K ?
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